Chen Youliang
| Chen Youliang | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reign | 1360 - 1363 | ||||
| Predecessor | (none) | ||||
| Successor | Chen Li | ||||
| Born | 1320 | ||||
| Died | 23 August 1363 | ||||
|
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| House | Dahan | ||||
| House | House | ||||
| Father | Chen Pucai | ||||
| Full name | |
|---|---|
| Family name: Chen (陳) Given name: Youliang (友諒) |
| Chen Youliang | |||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 陳友諒 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simplified Chinese | 陈友谅 | ||||||||
|
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| Transcriptions | |
|---|---|
| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Chén Yǒuliàng |
| Wade–Giles | Ch'en Yu-liang |
Chen Youliang (1320 – August 23, 1363) was the founder of the insurgent state of Dahan (大漢; literally: "Great Han") in the late Yuan Dynasty period of Chinese history.
Chen was born with the surname Xie (謝) to a fishing family in Mianyang (沔陽; in present-day Hubei). He once served as a district official before becoming a general under Ni Wenjun during the Red Turban Rebellion. Chen later killed Ni Wenjun on the excuse that Ni planned to assassinate Xu Shouhui, the Red Turban rebels' leader. Chen later turned on Xu Shouhui and killed him.
In 1357, Chen proclaimed himself "King of Han" in Jiangzhou (江州; present-day Jiujiang, Jiangxi), and emperor the next year after Xu Shouhui died. His era name, as well as his empire's name, was "Dahan" (大漢; literally "Great Han"). For 1359 to 1363 Chen's fleet was the strongest on the upper Yangtze River. His power was at least as great as that of another rebel state, Wu, led by Zhu Yuanzhang, founder of the Ming Dynasty.
In 1360 the Dahan fleet and army began a long war against Wu forces - based at that time in Jiqing (present-day Nanjing) and was later renamed "Ming" in 1368. An attack on the Wu capital was defeated thanks to excellent Wu intelligence (likely due to the defection of part of the Dahan fleet earlier in the year). The war continued till the climactic Battle of Lake Poyang where the Wu fleet narrowly defeated the larger fleet of Dahan after three days of fighting.
A month after the battle at Lake Poyang, the Dahan fleet tried to break out from Lake Poyang, during the resulting ship battles Chen was killed (he was alleged to have died from an arrow wound in the head). He was 43 years old at the time of his death.
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Wikipedia