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Emperor Xuan 陳宣帝 (r. 568-582), personal name Chen Xu 陳頊 530-582, courtesy name Shaoshi 紹世, was an emperor of the Chen dynasty 陳 (557-589), one of the Southern Dynasties 南朝 (420-589). He was a nephew of the dynastic founder Chen Baxian 陳霸先 (Emperor Wu 陳武帝, r. 557-559).
He served the Liang dynasty 梁 (502-557) as a military officer, but was captured when the Western Wei 西魏 (535-556) army invaded central China and occupied Jiangling 江陵. Chen Xu was brought to the Wei capital Chang'an 長安 (today's Xi'an 西安, Shaanxi). When the Chen dynasty was founded, he was made Prince of the Commandery of Shixing 始興郡王, and then Prince of Ancheng 安成. In 562, he returned to the south and was appointed Minister of Works (sikong 司空) and Director of the Imperial Secretariat (shangshu ling 尚書令). With the accession of Chen Bozong 陳伯宗 (the Deposed Emperor 陳廢帝, r. 566-568) to the throne, Chen Xu was made regent, holding the titles of Minister of Education (situ 司徒), Overseer of the Imperial Secretariat (lu shangshu shi 錄尚書事), and Commander-in-chief of all central and local armies (dudu zhong-wai zhujun shi 都督中外諸軍事).
In 568, he forced Chen Bozong to abdicate and assumed himself the title of emperor. He made his son Chen Shubao 陳叔寶 (Emperor Xuan 陳宣帝, r. 568-582) Heir Apparent. Emperor Xuan dispatched inspector to all commanderies to observe the local situation. During his reign, Emperor Xuan was able to reconquer some territory that was lost to the Western Wei, and later the Northern Zhou 北周 (557-581). He also pacified the rebellion of Ouyang He 歐陽紇 (538-570) in the province of Guangzhou 廣州. In 573, sent General Wu Mingche 吳明徹 (504-580) launching an attack on the Northern Qi empire 北齊 (550-577). Wu conquered three commanderies and captured Wang Lin 王琳 (526-573), who had helped the last Liang princes to survive in the Later Liang dominion in central China.
However, when the Northern Zhou destroyed the Northern Qi, their military power grew substantially, and they launched, in 579, an attack on the Chen empire and conquered the Huainan region 淮南.
When Emperor Xuan died, he was buried in the tomb mound Xiaoling 顯寧. His posthumous title is Emperor Xiaoxuan 陳孝宣帝, and his temple name Emperor Gaozong 陳高宗.