Emperor Xuan of Chen

Emperor Xuan of Chen
陳宣帝
Tang dynasty portrait of Emperor Xuan by Yan Liben
Emperor of the Chen dynasty
Reign5 February 569[1] – 17 February 582
PredecessorEmperor Fei
SuccessorEmperor Houzhu
BornChen Shili (陳師利)
530
Died582 (aged 51–52)
Burial
Xianning Mausoleum (顯寧陵, in present-day Yuhuatai District, Nanjing)
ConsortsLady Qian
Lady Liu of Hedong
IssueSee § Family
Names
Family name: Chen (陳)
Given name: Xu (頊)
Courtesy name: Shaoshi (紹世)
Childhood name: Shili (師利)
Era name and dates
Tàijiàn (太建): 569–582
Posthumous name
Emperor Xiaoxuan (孝宣皇帝)
Temple name
Gaozong (高宗)
DynastyChen dynasty
FatherChen Daotan

Emperor Xuan of Chen (陳宣帝) (530 – 17 February 582[2]), personal name Chen Xu (陳頊), also called Chen Tanxu (陳曇頊),[3] courtesy name Shaoshi (紹世), childhood name Shili (師利), was an emperor of the Chen dynasty of China. He seized the throne from his nephew Emperor Fei in 569 and subsequently ruled the state for 13 years. He was considered to be a capable and diligent ruler, who at one point militarily expanded at the expense of the Northern Qi. After the Northern Qi fell to the Northern Zhou in 577, however, the Chen dynasty was cornered, and soon lost the gains it had previously made against Northern Qi. Emperor Xuan died in 582, leaving the state in the hands of his incompetent son Chen Shubao, and by 589, the Chen dynasty would be destroyed by Northern Zhou's successor state Sui dynasty.

  1. ^ jia'wu day of the 1st month of the 1st year of the Tai'jian era, per vol.170 of Zizhi Tongjian
  2. ^ jia'yin day of the 1st month of the 14th year of the Tai'jian era, per Emperor Xuan's biography (vol.05) in Book of Chen. Emperor Xuan's biography also indicate that he was 53 (by East Asian reckoning) when he died.
  3. ^ 新唐書·宰相世系表》