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Chen Yan (Tang Dynasty)

Chen Yan
Traditional Chinese
Simplified Chinese

Chen Yan (d. 891) was a Chinese warlord in Fujian during the late Tang. He served as governor (t 觀察使, s 观察使, guāncháshǐ) of the Fujian Circuit, headquartered in what is now Fuzhou.

It is not known when Chen Yan was born, but it is known that he was from Jian Prefecture (建州, now Nanping). In or around 878, when the major agrarian rebel Huang Chao was pillaging the Fujian region on his way south toward Guang Prefecture (廣州, in modern Guangzhou, Guangdong), Chen gathered several thousand men around him to protect their home territory, and named the army Jiulong Army (九龍軍). Then-governor of Fujian, Zheng Yi (鄭鎰) thus made Chen his deputy in his position as the military prefect (團練使, Tuanlianshi) of Fujian's capital Fu (now Fuzhou).

While Chen was serving as deputy military prefect, there was an occasion when Li Lian (李連) the prefect of Quan Prefecture (泉州, in modern Quanzhou, Fujian) was found guilty of a crime. Fearful of punishment, Li hid in mountainous caves and gathered troops to attack Fu Prefecture. Chen led his army and repelled Li's attack. Zheng became apprehensive of Chen's hold on the army, and he made a recommendation to then-reigning Emperor Xizong that Chen be made the governor instead. In 884, Emperor Xizong approved of the request, and Chen became governor. It was said that Chen ruled with authority and grace, and that the people of the region were pacified. (However, his rule might not have been over the entire Fujian region, as such places as Ting Prefecture (汀州, in modern Longyan, Fujian) and Jian Prefecture were not described to have fallen into line under the command of the circuit government until after Chen's death.) At some point, his family and that of Dong Chang the military governor (Jiedushi) of neighboring Weisheng Circuit (威勝, headquartered in modern Shaoxing, Zhejiang) entered into a marriage relationship.


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