Chen Dynasty 陳 (557-589)

The Chen dynasty 陳 (557-589) was the fourth and last of the Southern Dynasties 南朝 (420~589). It was founded by Chen Baxian 陳霸先 (503-559).

Chen Baxian (posthumous title Emperor Wu of the Chen 陳武帝, r. 557-559) inherited the imperial throne as King of Chen 陳 because he forced the last Liang emperor to hand over to him the "Heavenly Mandate". After the collapse of the Northern Wei empire 北魏 (386-534), there was a new time of political unrest and military activity in the north and along the borders with southern China. During the disturbances of the last decade of the Liang period 梁 (502-557), the Northern Zhou empire 北周 (557-581) was able to conquer the whole western part of southern China, that is, modern Sichuan and Yunnan. Chen Baxian's empire was thus only half the size of the Liang dynasty's. The Northern Qi 北齊 (550-577) occupied the Huai River 淮河 region, and much of the rest of the Chen empire was controlled by warlords.

Furthermore, Chen Baxian could never control all territories of his empire fully and could not check the political and military activities of the local gentry. His power base consisted of men from the southern regions, not the lower Yangtze area. It took him a long time to subdue all claimants to the throne from the Xiao family that had survived the foundation of the Chen dynasty. Several Liang princes continued the rule of the Liang dynasty in the so-called Later Liang empire 後梁 (555-587), in the middle Yangtze region, as a puppet state of the Northern Zhou.

The most powerful person in the Chen empire after Chen Baxian's death was Hou Andu 侯安都 (520-563), who replaced the new emperor, Chen Baxian's son Chen Chang 陳昌 (537-560), immediately with the latter's cousin Chen Qian 陳蒨 (522-566; posthumous title Emperor Wen 陳文帝, r. 559-566). Chen Qian's son Chen Bozong 陳伯宗 (554-570), called the "Deposed Emperor" (Feidi 陳廢帝, r. 566-568) was toppled by his uncle Chen Xu 陳頊 (530-582; posthumous title Emperor Xuan 陳宣帝, r. 569-582). Chen Xu's reign was relatively calm and peaceful, except for the few unsuccessful military campaigns of Wu Mingche 吳明徹 (504-580) against the north.

Meanwhile, at the northern frontier, a profound change had taken place. The Northern Zhou empire had conquered its neighbouring state, the Northern Qi, and thus controlled China's whole north and west. The Northern Zhou dynasty was destroyed by general Yang Jian 楊堅 (541-604), who founded the Sui dynasty 隋 (581-618). For Yang Jian, it was an easy game to conquer the small state of Chen in the south and to reunite the whole of China.