Emperor Wu of Chen

Chen Baxian
Protait of Chen Baxian
Founding Emperor of Chen Dynasty
Born	503
Died	559
Reign	557-559
Predecessor	Dynasty Founder
Successor	Chen Qian
Names
Traditional Chinese	陳霸先
Simplified Chinese	陈霸先
Pinyin	Chén Bàxiān
Wade–Giles	Ch‘ên Pahsien
Courtesy name	Xingguo (Chinese: 興國; pinyin: Xīngguó; Wade–Giles: Hsingkuo)
Posthumous name	Emperor Wu (Chinese: 武帝; pinyin: Wûdì; Wade–Giles: Wu-ti)
Era names	Yongding (Chinese: 勇丁; pinyin: Yǒngdīng; Wade–Giles: Yung-ting)
Temple name	Gaozu (Chinese: 高祖; pinyin: Gāozǔ; Wade–Giles: Kao-tsu)
Other names	Fasheng

Emperor Wu of Chen (陳武帝) (503–559), personal name Chen Baxian (陳霸先), courtesy name Xingguo (興國), nickname Fasheng (法生), was the first emperor of the Chinese Chen Dynasty. He first distinguished himself as a Liang Dynasty general during the campaign against the rebel general Hou Jing, and he was progressively promoted. In 555, he seized power after a coup against his superior, the general Wang Sengbian, and in 557 he forced Emperor Jing to yield the throne to him, establishing Chen Dynasty. He died in 559, and as his only surviving son Chen Chang was held by Northern Zhou as a hostage, he was succeeded by his nephew Chen Qian (Emperor Wen).

Chen Baxian was born in 503, the second year of the reign of Emperor Wu of Liang (the founding emperor of Liang Dynasty). He was from Wuxing Commandery (吳興, roughly modern Huzhou, Zhejiang). His family traced its ancestry to Chen Shi (陳寔), a county magistrate and Confucian scholar during Han Dynasty. During the lineage that was traced, Chen's ancestors generally served as low-level officials, although several were important figures in imperial governments of Jin Dynasty and the subsequent Southern dynasties, including Chen Baxian's grandfather Chen Daoju (陳道巨). However, no record indicated that Chen Baxian's father Chen Wenzan (陳文讚) was an official. His mother was a Lady Dong, probably Chen Wenzan's wife.

When Chen Baxian was young, he was considered ambitious, not caring about managing properties. As he grew, he studied military strategies and learned various fighting techniques. Initially, he married a daughter of Qian Zhongfang (錢仲方), who was also from Wuxing Commandery, but she died early. After Lady Qian's death, he married Zhang Yao'er, likewise from Wuxing Commandery. She bore him at least one son, Chen Chang. (It is known that he had five sons before Chen Chang, but all, including Chen Ke (陳克), the only one whose name is preserved in history, appeared to have died early; it is not known who were their mothers.)