Emperor Wen of Chen

Chen Qian
Tang Dynasty Portrait of Chen Qian by Yan Liben
Emperor of Chen Dynasty
Born	522
Died	566 (age 44)
Reign	559-566
Predecessor	Chen Baxian
Successor	Chen Bozong
Names
Traditional Chinese	陳茜
Simplified Chinese	陈茜
Pinyin	Chén Qiàn
Wade–Giles	Ch‘ên Ch‘ien
Courtesy name	Zihua
Posthumous name	Emperor Wen (Chinese: 文帝; pinyin: Wéndì; Wade–Giles: Wen-ti) literary meaning: "civil"
Temple name	Shizu (Chinese: 世祖; pinyin: Shìzǔ; Wade–Giles: Shih-tsu)

Emperor Wen of Chen (陳文帝) (522–566), personal name Chen Qian (陳蒨), courtesy name Zihua (子華), was an emperor of the Chinese Chen Dynasty. He was the nephew of the founding emperor, Emperor Wu (Chen Baxian), and after Emperor Wu's death in 559, the officials supported him to be emperor since Emperor Wu's only surviving son, Chen Chang, was detained by rival Northern Zhou. At the time he took the throne, Chen had been devastated by war during the preceding Liang Dynasty, and many provinces nominally loyal to him were under control of relatively independent warlords. During his reign, he consolidated the state against warlords, and he also seized territory belonging to claimants to the Liang throne, Xiao Zhuang and Emperor Xuan of Western Liang, greatly expanding Chen's territory and strength.

Chen Qian was born in 522, as the oldest son of Chen Daotan (陳道譚), a commander of the Liang Dynasty palace guards. His mother's name is not recorded in history. When the rebel general Hou Jing attacked the capital Jiankang in 548 and put it under siege, Chen Daotan participated in the defense of Jiankang against Hou's siege, commanding archers, and he was killed by a stray arrow during the siege. (As the palace did not fall to Hou until 549, it is not clear whether Chen Daotan died in 548 or 549.) It appeared that during the disturbance, in order to avoid the banditry that was common in the countryside, Chen Qian went to the Chens' home commandery of Wuxing (吳興, roughly modern Huzhou, Zhejiang). After his uncle Chen Baxian joined the campaign of Xiao Yi the Prince of Xiangdong (later Emperor Yuan) against Hou, Hou arrested both Chen Qian and Chen Baxian's son Chen Chang and imprisoned them. Only after the victory of Emperor Yuan's forces (commanded by Wang Sengbian with Chen Baxian as Wang's lieutenant) over Hou were Chen Qian and Chen Chang freed, and Chen Qian joined Chen Baxian's army. He quickly distinguished himself in minor campaigns against local bandits, and he became one of Chen Baxian's trusted generals.