Emperor Xuan of Chen

Chen Xu
Painting of Chen Xu by Tang Dynasty Artist Yan Liben
Emperor of Chen Dynasty
Born	530
Died	582 (age 52)
Reign	569-582
Predecessor	Chen Bozong
Successor	Chen Shubao
Names
Traditional Chinese	陳頊
Simplified Chinese	陳旭
Pinyin	Chén Xù
Wade–Giles	Ch‘ên Hsu
Courtesy name	Shaoshi
Posthumous name	Emperor Xuan litery mean "responsible"
Era names	Taijian (569-582)
Temple name	Gaozong
Other names	Shili

Emperor Xuan of Chen (陳宣帝) (530–582), personal name Chen Xu (陳頊), courtesy name Shaoshi (紹世), nickname Shili (師利), was an emperor of the Chinese Chen Dynasty. 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 Northern Qi. After Northern Qi fell to Northern Zhou in 577, however, Chen 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, Chen would be destroyed by Northern Zhou's successor state Sui Dynasty.

Chen Xu was born in 530, as the second son of Chen Daotan (陳道譚), a commander in the Liang Dynasty palace guards. His mother's name is not recorded in history. Chen Daotan died in 548 or 549, while commanding the guards in resisting a siege of the palace at the capital Jiankang by the rebel general Hou Jing. After the palace fell to Hou in 549, Chen Xu's older brother Chen Qian and cousin Chen Chang were imprisoned by Hou, because Chen Chang's father, the general Chen Baxian, had joined forces with Wang Sengbian, a general under the command of Xiao Yi the Prince of Xiangdong in resisiting Hou. It is unclear whether Chen Xu was imprisoned as well. In 551, Wang, with Chen's assistance, defeated Hou and recaptured Jiankang. Xiao Yi subsequently declared himself emperor (as Emperor Yuan), but set up his capital at Jiangling (江陵, in modern Jingzhou, Hubei) rather than returning to Jiankang, which he put under the command of Wang. As part of this alignment, Chen Baxian was given the post of defending Jingkou (京口, in modern Zhenjiang, Jiangsu). Emperor Yuan then summoned Chen Chang and Chen Xu to Jiangling to serve in his administration—and also to serve as hostages. Both were given mid-level positions. He also gave Chen Xu a wife—his niece Liu Jingyan. (Chen Xu had previously married a wife, Lady Qian, while he was at his home commandery of Yixing (義興, roughly modern Huzhou, Zhejiang), but Lady Qian did not accompany him to Jiangling)