Tan Goan-kong
Chen Yuanguang, courtesy name Tingju, pseudonym Longhu, was a Tang dynasty general and official. He was from Gushi County, Henan. The people of Zhangzhou, Fujian, along with the descendants of immigrants from Zhangzhou to Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia, all refer to him as the "Sacred Duke, Founder of Zhangzhou".
Joining the army
At the age of 13, he accompanied his father Chen Zheng, commander of the Southern China military expeditionary force, on a march to Fujian, for the purpose of setting up a regional administration. In April of the second year of the Emperor Gaozong of Tang, Chen Zheng died in the line of duty, Chen Yuanguang took over his father's duties, and led the troops in place of his father. At this time, the emperor granted him the title "General of the left guard, and jade bell defender of the county seat". He then proceeded to quell uprisings by local ruffians such as Chen Qian of Guangdong, as well as Miao Zicheng and Lei Wanxing, both of whom were leaders of a bandit gang named the "savage colleagues". As a result, the southern Fujian region was pacified, and Chen Yuanguang was promoted to the rank of senior magistrate of upright character, and granted the title of commander of the Southern China military expeditionary force.Settling Zhangzhou
The Zhangzhou of Chen Yuanguang's time was a place where dozens of various ethnic tribes, known in records by the name "She", were mixed together with ethnic Han peoples. Chen Yuanguang believed that courtesy trumped the use of military force as a tactic for winning over the local people. In order to strengthen his authority, he submitted an application to the emperor to grant prefecture status to the areas between Zhangzhou and Quanzhou. In the second year of the Emperor Ruizong of Tang, Wu Zetian approved the application, and issued a decree which granted permission for the creation of the state of Zhangzhou. Zhangzhou was to have jurisdiction over Zhangpu and Huaien Counties. Wu Zetian also ordered that Chen Yuanguang be given the position of chief magistrate of Zhangzhou, as well as commissioner of Zhangpu County.Pacifying Fujian
After this, Chen Yuanguang established order among the various hamlets, built fortresses, trained troops, and pacified the border areas. As a result, the entire area, from Quanzhou in the north to Chaozhou in the south, and from Ganzhou in the west to the islands in the Taiwan Strait, became stable and prosperous. He then introduced advanced farming and production techniques to the area, and oversaw the planting of economically sound crops such as rice, flax, sugarcane, bananas, litchis, longan and flowers.On November 5, in the second year of the second reign of the Emperor Ruizong of Tang, the children of Miao Zicheng and Lei Wanxing staged a rebellion in Chaozhou, then hid in the high mountains. After Chen Yuanguang heard the news, he led a troop of light cavalry to defend against the rebels. He fought the whole day long, but was killed by the sword of the enemy general, whose name was Lan Fenggao. The people of Zhangzhou were devastated. To them, it was as if a parent had died. Chen Yuanguang was buried at Daqiyuan. Later on, his remains were moved to Zhangzhou.