Founding and expansion: Chen Baxian In the twilight of the
Liang dynasty (548–557), the
Hou Jing Disturbance (
侯景之乱) occurred. The insurrection caused the downfall and ruin of the Liang. In 557,
Chen Baxian a former high-ranked Liang general, took the initiative to establish a new empire in Southern China: the Chen dynasty. Its founder
Chen Baxian had been granted the title of "Prince of Chen", and on taking the throne he followed the Chinese practice of using his former princely title as the name of the new dynasty. Chen Baxian was a visionary leader whose conquests helped revive the economy and culture of South China, bringing it to new heights. Near the start of the dynasty, Chen's northern neighbors the Eastern and Western Wei were later replaced by the Northern Zhou and Northern Qi, with the north of the Yangtze river held by the Qi, and the southwest including Sichuan was held by the Zhou. Chen Baxian defeated the Northern armies in one swoop, securing the prosperity and dominance of the Chen dynasty, and making further territorial gains in the north.
Vietnam: Defeating Lý Thiên Bảo In 541, the people of
Giao Châu Province (Chen
northern Vietnam) rebelled under
Lý Bôn. Xiao Ying sent the generals Sun Jiong (孫冏) and Lu Zixiong (盧子雄) to attack Lý Bôn, with Xiao Ying overseeing the operations. In spring 542, Xiao Ying and Xiao Zi ordered Sun and Lu to attack, but they lost to Lý, and soon infighting broke out between Sun, Lu, and another general Zhou. Xiao Ying then sent Chen Baxian to clean up the situation, and Chen Baxian defeated all of them, killing Du Tianhe and capturing
Du Sengming and Zhou. Believing that Du Sengming and Zhou were both good soldiers, he released them and retained them on his staff. For this accomplishment, the Emperor Wu of Liang created Chen the Viscount of Xin'an and had an artisan draw a portrait of Chen. In January 544, Lý Bôn proclaimed himself emperor and named his small state Vạn Xuân. In winter 544, Xiao Ying died, and initially, Chen started escorting Xiao Ying's casket back to Jiankang for burial. On the way, while he was still at Dayu Mountain (大庾嶺, on the borders of modern
Jiangxi and
Guangdong), he made a rendezvous with the new governor of Giao Châu Province, Yang Piao (楊瞟), and another nephew of Emperor Wu's, Xiao Bo (蕭勃), to attack Lý Bôn. Xiao Bao did not want to set out on the campaign, and therefore tried to persuade Yang not to advance. Chen persuaded Yang otherwise, and in spring 545, Yang, with Chen as his lieutenant, attacked Lý Bôn, defeating him and forcing him to flee into the mountains and conduct
guerilla warfare instead. In 548, Lý Bôn died of illness, and when Lý Bôn's brother
Lý Thiên Bảo succeeded him and attacked Ái Province (愛州, around modern
Thanh Hóa Province,
Vietnam), Chen defeated Lý Thiên Bảo. Emperor Wu made Chen the governor of Gaoyao Commandery (高要, Chen
Zhaoqing,
Guangdong) as well as the commander of the forces of the surrounding commanderies. At the same time,
Wang Lin, who controlled modern
Hunan and eastern
Hubei, suspicious of Chen's intentions, refused his summon to Jiankang and prepared for battle instead. Chen sent Zhou and Hou Andu against Wang Lin. In winter 557, Chen had Emperor Jing yield the throne to him, establishing the Chen dynasty as its Emperor Wu. He created Emperor Jing the Prince of Jiangyin. He posthumously honored his parents emperor and
empress, his deceased wife Lady Qian empress, and his deceased son Chen Ke crown prince. He created his wife
Zhang Yao'er empress. From 590 to 618, the short-lived Sui dynasty experienced numerous rebellions, not just from the former Chen territory, but also the Wang, Liu, and Li clans.
Sui general
Yang Su tried to suppress the rebellions in the early 590s, but eventually the Sui collapsed, and Yang Su's sons were executed.
Li Yuan then murdered the last emperor
Yang You of the Sui dynasty and founded the
Tang dynasty. During the Tang, numerous members of the former Chen family became high-ranked officials in the Tang court, with some like
Chen Shuda holding powerful political offices. == Culture ==