Chen Li (; 1351–1408) was the second and the last

emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

of the Chinese Chen Han dynasty. Chen Li ruled from 1363–64.

Chen Han

Chen Li was born in Mianyang ( now

Xiantao Xiantao () is a sub-prefecture-level city in the east of Hubei province, China. Located at the Jianghan Plain in the middle of Hubei province and spanning 112°55' – 113°49' east longitude and 30°04' – 30°32' north latitude, Xiantao City c ...

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 ...

) as the second son of

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 re ...

, the first emperor of the

Chen Han Chen Han (; 1360–1364), officially the Great Han (), was a short-lived Chinese dynasty in the middle Yangtze region during the chaotic late Yuan dynasty. It was founded by the Red Turban rebel general Chen Youliang. History Chen Youliang f ...

during the Yuan-Ming transition. His brother Chen Shan (), was a crown prince who joined the Ming army. In 1363, his father Chen Youliang was shot by an arrow in the

Battle of Poyang Lake 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 ...

. His brother Chen Shan fled to the Ming. Later

Zhang Dingbian Zhang may refer to: Chinese culture, etc. * Zhang (surname) (張/张), common Chinese surname ** Zhang (surname 章), a rarer Chinese surname * Zhang County (漳县), of Dingxi, Gansu * Zhang River (漳河), a river flowing mainly in Henan * ...

() and other top generals protected Chen Li and his descendants, escorting Chen to

Wuchang Wuchang forms part of the urban core of and is one of 13 urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province, China. It is the oldest of the three cities that merged into modern-day Wuhan, and stood on the ri ...

, where Chen changed he succeeded the throne and changed

era name A regnal year is a year of the reign of a sovereign, from the Latin ''regnum'' meaning kingdom, rule. Regnal years considered the date as an ordinal, not a cardinal number. For example, a monarch could have a first year of rule, a second year o ...

to Deshou (). In the winter of the same year,

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 ...

personally visited Wuchang. Chen Youliang's father,

Chen Pucai Chen Pucai () was the father of Chen Youliang, the founder of the short-lived Chen Han dynasty of China.『明史』巻一百二十三列伝第十一陳友諒（Mingshi The ''History of Ming'' or the ''Ming History'' (''Míng Shǐ'') is o ...

, was named Cheng En Hou (), his eldest brother, Chen Youfu (), was named Guirenbo (), and his second brother, Chen Youzhi, was named Huai Enbo (). He posthumously presented his fourth brother, Chen Youren (), as King of Kangshan (), and ordered the relevant officials to set up a temple to offer sacrifices, and his fifth brother, Chen Yougui (), was in charge of sacrifices. In 1364, he surrendered to Zhu Yuanzhang of the rising Ming dynasty. Zhu then appointed him as Marquis of Guide ( Guide Hou). Chen was later sent to Korea, where he became known as King Chen. In Korea, Chen settled down and had children, starting the

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 ...

(see below).

Descendants

Some of Chen Li's descendants after the

and Ming have the surname Cheng ().

Yangsan Jin clan

According to Korean and Chinese historical sources, in 1372, he migrated 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 ...

and had offspring, starting the

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 ...

. One of his known sons was

Chen Mingshan Chen may refer to: People * Chen (surname) (陳 / 陈), a common Chinese surname * Chen (singer) (born 1992), member of the South Korean-Chinese boy band EXO * Chen Chen (born 1989), Chinese-American poet * (), a Hebrew first name or surname: ...

(). On 19 May 1372, Chen Li and Ming Sheng () arrived in Korea with a group of 27 people, who were received by the King of Korea. At that time, Chen Li was 22 years old. After Chen Li arrived in Korea, he was called Chen Wang () or King Chen. On 6 June,

King Gongmin Gongmin of Goryeo (23 May 1330 – 27 October 1374), also known by his Mongolian name, Bayan Temür., was 31st ruler of Goryeo from 1351 to 1374. He was the second son of King Chungsuk. Biography Early life Goryeo had been a semi-autonomou ...

() gave Chen Li nine bamboo cloths (). Chen was also given some land, a wife, housemaid, and food. During this time he had children, including Chen Mingshan. Chen Li passed away due to illness but is survived by his descendants in Korea and the Yangsan Jin Clan.Records of Choseon Korea

Anecdote

o be translated

Chen Han

Descendants

Yangsan Jin clan

Anecdote

See also

Notes

Citations

Further reading