Chen Han (; 1360–1364), officially the Great Han (), was a short-lived

Chinese dynasty Dynasties in Chinese history, or Chinese dynasties, were hereditary monarchical regimes that ruled over China during much of its history. From the legendary inauguration of dynastic rule by Yu the Great circa 2070 BC to the abdication of t ...

in the middle

Yangtze The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flows ...

region during the chaotic late

Yuan dynasty The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fifth ...

. It was founded by the Red Turban rebel general

Chen Youliang Chen Youliang (陳友諒; 1320 – 3 October 1363For those cross-referencing the Mingshi, in the old Chinese calendar 至正二十三年 refers to the year 1363 CE, 七月二十日 refers to 8月29日 or 29 August, and 八月二十六日 r ...

History

first dominated, and later assassinated the Red Turban leader

Xu Shouhui Xu Shouhui () (1320–1360) was a 14th-century Chinese rebel leader who proclaimed himself emperor of the Tianwan dynasty (天完) during the late Yuan dynasty period of China. He was also known as Xu Zhenyi (徐真一 or 徐真逸, romanized i ...

and usurped his regional regime. At its height, Chen Han territory encompassed the modern provinces of

Hubei Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The prov ...

Jiangxi Jiangxi (; ; formerly romanized as Kiangsi or Chianghsi) is a landlocked province in the east of the People's Republic of China. Its major cities include Nanchang and Jiujiang. Spanning from the banks of the Yangtze river in the north int ...

, and

Hunan Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to ...

, but Jiangxi mostly fell to another warlord

Zhu Yuanzhang The Hongwu Emperor (21 October 1328 – 24 June 1398), personal name Zhu Yuanzhang (), courtesy name Guorui (), was the founding emperor of the Ming dynasty of China, reigning from 1368 to 1398. As famine, plagues and peasant revolts in ...

in 1361. In 1363, Chen and Zhu fought in the decisive

Battle of Lake Poyang The Battle of Lake Poyang () was a naval conflict which took place (30 August – 4 October 1363) between the rebel forces of Zhu Yuanzhang and Chen Youliang during the Red Turban Rebellion which led to the fall of the Yuan dynasty. Chen Youlian ...

, where Chen was killed. His teenaged son Chen Li succeeded him, but no longer had the resources to resist the powerful Zhu, who conquered Han the next year. Chen Li surrendered to Zhu and the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

. Chen then moved to

Goryeo Goryeo (; ) was a Korean kingdom founded in 918, during a time of national division called the Later Three Kingdoms period, that unified and ruled the Korean Peninsula until 1392. Goryeo achieved what has been called a "true national unificati ...

(Korea), where he had children and became the progenitor of the Korean

Yangsan Jin clan Yangsan Jin clan () is one of the Korean clans, founded around the Yuan dynasty. Their Bon-gwan is in Liangshan County, Shandong, China. Their founder was Chen Pucai () who was originally from Mount Liang (Liangsan / Yangsan), China. Founder Ch ...

Genealogy

* Some Chinese and Vietnamese records indicate that Chen Youliang was the son of Chen Yiji (陳益稷 or

Trần Ích Tắc Trần Ích Tắc ( vi-hantu, 陳益稷, Chen Yiji, 1254–1329), or Prince Chiêu Quốc (Vietnamese: Chiêu Quốc vương / 昭國王), was a prince of Đại Việt, the fifth son of emperor Trần Thái Tông of the Trần dynasty, and the ...

), a

noble who was originally a leader of the

Tran Dynasty Tran may refer to: Arts, media, and entertainment * "Tran", a novel in the Janissaries series named for a fictional planet * Dr. Tran, an animated miniseries People * Trần (陳), a Vietnamese surname * Tran, member of the Nazi-era comedy duo ...

.《大越史記全書》本紀卷之七：“甲午（紹豐）十四年元至正十四年春二月，北邊帥臣驛奏，元陳友諒起兵，遣使來乞和親友諒，陳益稷子。”、“辛丑（大治）四年元至正二十一年二月，明太祖攻江州。陳友諒退居武昌，使人來乞師，不許。” * It is currently unclear what the relation between Chen Pucai and Chen Yiji is, or whether they are in fact the same person.

References

Former countries in Chinese history Transition from Yuan to Ming {{China-hist-stub