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68-629: Chen Youliang (陳友諒; 1320 – 3 October 1363) was the founder and first emperor of the dynastic state of Chen Han in Chinese history . He was one of the military leaders and heroes of the people's revolution at the end of the Yuan dynasty. Chen was born to a fishing family in Mianyang (沔陽) in present-day Hubei . Some say he was born with surname Chen (陳), while others say he was born with surname Xie (謝). Vietnamese records say that Chen Youliang

136-531: A dynasty , and succession in most cases theoretically followed agnatic primogeniture . The emperor of China was an absolute monarch . During the Han dynasty , Confucianism gained sanction as the official political theory. The absolute authority of the emperor came with a variety of governing duties and moral obligations; failure to uphold these was thought to remove the dynasty's Mandate of Heaven and to justify its overthrow. In practice, emperors sometimes avoided

204-745: A cenotaph (衣冠冢). On 3 October 1363, after Chen Youliang died in the Battle of Poyang Lake , his real remains disappeared. His clothes were taken back by his subordinates in a boat and sent to the south slope of Sheshan , approaching the Wuchang Bridge Head (武昌桥头) of Yangtze River Bridge in Wuhan City , Hubei Province (next to the Yellow Crane Tower , a famous scenic spot in Wuhan, Hubei Province) for burial. It faces south, has

272-830: A coup in 1917 but was overthrown again shortly after. Although permitted to remain in the palace, he absconded to the Japanese concession in Tianjin in 1924. In 1934 he was installed as emperor of Manchukuo , a Japanese puppet state. In 1945, he was captured by the Red Army as a prisoner of war, where he was held in the Siberian city of Chita . In 1950, he was extradited to China and imprisoned in Fushun War Criminals Management Centre . He would be formally pardoned and released in 1959, working in

340-557: A diplomatic delegate to Đại Việt to ask for alliance, claiming that he had biological relationship with Trần dynasty (Trần is the Vietnamese pronunciation of Chen 陳). Chen claimed to be the biological son of Trần Ích Tắc (1254–1329; 66 years older than Chen Youliang), a Trần royal member who defected to the Yuan forces during the second invasion of Vietnam. However, Chinese history annals did not record any such relationship, instead claimed that Chen Youliang's ancestor originally have

408-637: A few places, eunuchs wielded vast power; one of the most powerful eunuchs in Chinese history was Wei Zhongxian during the Ming. Occasionally, other nobles seized power as regents. The actual area ruled by the emperor of China varied from dynasty to dynasty. In some cases, such as during the Southern Song dynasty , political power in East Asia was effectively split among several governments; nonetheless,

476-448: A male emperor). The given names of all the emperor's deceased male ancestors were forbidden from being written, and were avoided ( 避諱 ) by the use of synonyms, homophones, or leaving out the final stroke of the taboo character. This linguistic feature can sometimes be used to date historical texts, by noting which words in parallel texts are altered. The emperor was never to be addressed as you . Instead, one used Bixia ( 陛下 'bottom of

544-508: A rectangle with rounded corners and a height of 2.2 meters. The tomb base is 12 meters long. The tomb is built on the mountain. Here is There is a hexagonal unknown pavilion nearby, and the pillars of the pavilion are engraved with handwriting. In the Qing dynasty, this place became a part of the garden "Naiyuan" (乃园) of Hubei Provincial Bureau of Supervision, and few people visited it. In 1908, Wan Yaohuang and Geng Zhongzhao discovered this tomb in

612-533: A repair shop and as a researcher of literature and history until his death in 1967. The current head of the House of Aisin-Gioro and hypothetical claimant to the throne is Jin Yuzhang . He has worked for various local councils on China, and has no interest in the restoration of monarchy. Traditional political theory holds that there can only be one legitimate Son of Heaven at any given time. However, identifying

680-414: A sandbar. Chen's warships drove back the opposing line until they fell back to a shallow area where they could not be pursued. Zhu tried again to engage with Chen's fleet in ship-to-ship combat and was driven back once more with severe losses. The next day, the wind shifted toward Chen's forces, and Zhu sent burning ships into the opposing fleet, destroying several hundred vessels. While guns were used during

748-410: A total construction area of 1,615 square meters. The first two floors have an exhibition hall of 920 square meters, and the last floor is an office rest area. Yuan Mei's "Zi Bu Yu" (袁枚《子不語》), Volume 10, contains an article "Destroying Chen Youliang Temple", which tells the story of the ruined Jingzhou Chen Youliang Temple when Zhao Xili ( 赵锡礼 ) was appointed as a county magistrate. Zhao only knew that it

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816-640: Is also a tablet pavilion on each side of the tomb. In 1913, the cemetery was renovated and surrounded by pines and cypresses. In 1923 (after the Revolution of 1911 ), the Republic of China rebuilt it. In 1949, after the founding of the People's Republic of China , it was slightly repaired. In 1956, the tomb was listed as a cultural relic protection unit in Hubei Province. It was destroyed during

884-585: The Cultural Revolution . In 1981, the local government allocated funds to restore it. In June 1998, it was completely renovated, with brick cement tomb walls and the monument of "Rebuilding Dahan Chen Youliang Tomb". At 9:00 on 18 December 2013, the local government opened the "Chen Youliang Memorial Hall" (陈友谅纪念馆) at 90 Pier, Mian Street, Xiantao City, Hubei Province (formerly Mianyang, Hubei Province). This memorial hall has three floors of antique buildings, covering an area of 3,891 square meters, with

952-769: The Jurchens of the Jin dynasty (1115–1234) , who later ruled the Qing dynasty as the Manchus , and the Mongols of the Yuan dynasty. The orthodox historical view sees these as dynasties as sinicized polities as they adopted Han culture, claimed the Mandate of Heaven , and performed the traditional imperial obligations such as annual sacrifices to Heaven for rain and prosperity. The revisionist New Qing History school, however, argues that

1020-669: The Ming-era Huang-Ming Zuxun ( Ancestral Instructions ). During the Western Zhou dynasty ( c.  1046 BC  – 771 BC), Chinese vassal rulers with power over their particular fiefdoms served a strong central monarch. Following a brutal succession crisis and relocation of the royal capital, the power of the Zhou kings ( 王 ; wàng ) waned, and during the Eastern Zhou period,

1088-636: The Nine Ding or the Heirloom Seal of the Realm . As with the First Emperor, it remained very common to grant posthumous titles to the ancestors of the victors. The Yuan and Qing dynasties were founded by successful invaders of different ethnic groups. As part of their rule over China, they also went through the culturally appropriate rituals of formally declaring a new dynasty and taking on

1156-717: The Yuan dynasty . The Qing view, reported to Europe by the Jesuits, was that there had been 150 emperors from the First Emperor to the Kangxi Emperor . Adding the eight uncontroversial emperors that followed the Kangxi Emperor would give a grand total of 158 emperors from the First Emperor to Puyi. By one count, from the Qin dynasty to the Qing dynasty , there were a total 557 individuals who at one point or another claimed

1224-400: The censorate . Paranoid emperors, like Emperor Wu of Han and the Ming's Hongwu Emperor , would cycle through high government officials rapidly, or simply leave top-ranking posts vacant, such that no one could threaten their power. During other reigns, certain officials in the civil bureaucracy wielded more power than the emperor himself. The emperor's position, unless deposed in a rebellion,

1292-456: The political fiction that there was but one ruler was maintained. The title of emperor was hereditary, traditionally passed on from father to son in each dynasty. There are also instances where the throne is assumed by a younger brother, should the deceased emperor have no male offspring. By convention in most dynasties, the eldest son born to the Empress consort ( 嫡长子 ; 嫡長子 ) succeeded to

1360-648: The "Mandate of Heaven". There has been only one lawful queen regnant in Chinese history, Wu Zetian , who briefly replaced the Tang dynasty with her own Wu Zhou dynasty . Many women, however, did become de facto leaders, usually as Empress Dowager . Prominent examples include Empress Dowager Lü of the Han, Empress Liu of the Song , and Empress Dowager Cixi of the Qing. As the emperor had, by law, an absolute position not to be challenged by anyone else, his subjects were to show

1428-465: The "legitimate" emperor during times of division is not always uncontroversial, and therefore the exact number of legitimate emperors depends on where one stands on a number of succession disputes. The two most notable such controversies are whether Cao Wei or Shu Han had legitimacy during the Three Kingdoms , and at what point the Song dynasty ceased to be the legitimate dynasty in favor of

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1496-546: The 28th. Chen Youliang embarked his forces and sailed north into Lake Poyang . The two fleets met on 29 August. Zhu's forces numbered only a third the size of Chen's army. According to one Ming source, Zhu's forces arrived armed with "fire bombs, fire guns, fire arrows, fire seeds [probably grenades], large and small fire lances, large and small 'commander' fire-tubes, large and small iron bombs, rockets". This shows that older gunpowder weapons co-existed alongside guns, and proto-guns such as fire lances were not supplanted until after

1564-544: The Chinese title of Huangdi , in addition to the titles of their respective people, especially in the case of the Yuan dynasty. Thus, Kublai Khan was simultaneously khagan of the Mongols and emperor of China. In 1911, the title of Prime Minister of the Imperial Cabinet was created to rule alongside the emperor, as part of an attempt to turn China into a constitutional monarchy . Puyi , who had reigned as

1632-525: The Han, Emperor Taizong of Tang of the Tang, the Hongwu Emperor and Yongle Emperor of the Ming, and the Kangxi Emperor of the Qing. The emperor's words were considered sacred edicts ( 圣旨 ; 聖旨 ), and his written proclamations were called 'directives from above' ( 上谕 ; 上諭 ). In theory, the emperor's orders were to be obeyed immediately. He was elevated above all commoners, nobility and members of

1700-420: The Han, as well as the empress dowagers Cixi and Ci'an during the Qing, who for a time ruled jointly as co-regents. Where Empresses Dowager were too weak to assume power, or her family too strongly opposed, court officials often seized control. Court eunuchs had a significant role in the power structure, as emperors often relied on a few of them as confidants, which gave them access to many court documents. In

1768-599: The Imperial family. Addresses to the emperor were always to be formal and self-deprecatory, even by the closest of family members. In practice, however, the power of the emperor varied between different emperors and different dynasties . Generally, in the Chinese dynastic cycle , emperors founding a dynasty usually consolidated the empire through comparative autocracy —examples include Qin Shi Huang, emperors Gaozu and Guangwu of Han, Emperor Taizong of Tang, Kublai Khan of

1836-480: The Japanese monarchy, Chinese political theory allowed for a change in the ruling house. This was based on the concept of the " Mandate of Heaven ". The theory behind this was that the Chinese emperor acted as the "Son of Heaven" and held a mandate to rule over everyone else in the world; but only as long as he served the people well. If the quality of rule became questionable because of repeated natural disasters such as flood or famine, or for other reasons, then rebellion

1904-592: The Xuantong Emperor, abdicated on 12 February 1912, ending the Qing dynasty as well as the imperial tradition altogether, after more than 2100 years. Yuan Shikai , former President of the Republic of China , attempted to restore dynastic rule with himself as the Hongxian Emperor, however he abdicated the throne on 22 March 1916 after only 83 days. Puyi was briefly restored for 12 days during

1972-437: The Yuan, and the Kangxi Emperor of the Qing. The usual method for widespread geographic power consolidation was to involve the whole family. From generation to generation, the bonds weakened between the branches of family established as local rulers in different areas. After a sufficient period of time, their loyalty could no longer be assured, and the taxes they collected sapped the imperial coffers. This led to situations like

2040-411: The battle, ultimately, they were not pivotal to success, and the battle was won using incendiary weapons. On 2 September, the two fleets engaged in battle again. Though still outnumbered, Zhu's forces were able to isolate and destroy larger enemy warships, forcing them to withdraw. Afterward, Zhu's fleet settled into a blockade for another month before Chen decided to attempt a breakout on 4 October. Zhu

2108-701: The capital there, but Chen Youliang feared that Xu Shouhui would threaten him there and sent an envoy to stop him. Still Xu and his troops arrived in Jiangxi, so he later turned on Xu Shouhui and assassinated him. In 1357, Chen proclaimed himself "King of Han" in Jiangzhou (江州; present-day Jiujiang , Jiangxi ), and emperor after Xu Shouhui died. His era name , as well as his empire's name, was Da Han (大漢; literally "Great Han"). Chen Youliang appointed Zou Pusheng ( 邹普胜 ) as Grand Preceptor and Zhang Bixian (张必先) as prime minister ( 丞相 ). From 1359 to 1363 Chen's fleet

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2176-434: The centuries, it has not been uncommon to have numerous claimants to the title of "Son of Heaven". The Chinese political concept of the Mandate of Heaven essentially legitimized those claimants who emerged victorious. The proper list was considered those made by the official dynastic histories ; the compilation of a history of the preceding dynasty was considered one of the hallmarks of legitimacy, along with symbols such as

2244-457: The defection of part of the Han fleet earlier in the year). The war continued until the climactic Battle of Lake Poyang where the Wu fleet narrowly defeated the larger fleet of Han after three days of fighting. A month after the battle at Lake Poyang, the Han fleet tried to break out from Lake Poyang. During the resulting ship battles Chen was killed (he was alleged to have died from an arrow wound in

2312-443: The early Ming. A new weapon called the "No Alternative" was also mentioned. The No Alternative was "made from a circular reed mat about five inches around and seven feet long that was pasted over with red paper and bound together with silk and hemp—stuffed inside it was gunpowder twisted in with bullets and all kinds of [subsidiary] gunpowder weapons". It was hung from a pole on the foremast, and when an enemy ship came into close range,

2380-588: The emperor was referred to in the third person simply as Huangdi Bixia ( 皇帝陛下 'His Majesty the Emperor') or Dangjin Huangshang ( 当今皇上 ; 當今皇上 'present emperor above'). Under the Qing, the emperor was usually styled 'His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of the Great Qing Dynasty, Son of Heaven , Lord of Ten Thousand Years ', though this varied considerably. In historical texts, the present emperor

2448-538: The emperor, while still living, often designated a crown prince ( 太子 ). Even such a clear designation, however, was often thwarted by jealousy and distrust, whether it was the crown prince plotting against the emperor, or brothers plotting against each other. Some emperors, like the Yongzheng Emperor , after abolishing the position of Crown Prince, placed the succession papers in a sealed box, only to be opened and announced after his death. Unlike, for example,

2516-500: The emperors were known with a temple name given after their death. Most emperors were also given a posthumous name which was sometimes combined with the temple name (e.g. Emperor Shengzu Ren 圣祖仁皇帝 ; 聖祖仁皇帝 for the Kangxi Emperor). The passing of an emperor was referred to as Jiabeng ( 驾崩 ; 駕崩 'collapse of the imperial chariot') and an emperor that had just died was referred to as Daixing Huangdi ( 大行皇帝 'the emperor of

2584-683: The family name as "Xiè" (謝) , later was married into a certain Chen clan and changed his name to the maternal family. Chen Youliang also descended from a fishermen family in Hubei, meanwhile Trần Ích Tắc was appointed as a court magistrate in Huguang, hence it was unlikely that a high-rank magistrate like Ích Tắc had a fishermen son. It is suspected that Chen Youliang pretended to be a Vietnamese royal family to earn support from Đại Việt. The Trần dynasty, however, did not to respond to Chen's request. Trần Ích Tắc

2652-610: The fuse was lit, and the weapon would supposedly fall onto the enemy ship, at which point things inside shot out "and burned everything to bits, with no hope of salvation". On 30 August, Zhu deployed his fleet in 11 squadrons with orders to "get close to the enemy's ships and first set off gunpowder weapons (發火器), then bows and crossbows, and finally attack their ships with short-range weapons". Fire bombs were hurled using naval trebuchets, and Zhu's forces succeeded in "burning twenty or more enemy vessels and killing or drowning many enemy troops". Still, their flagship also caught fire and hit

2720-508: The great journey'). The imperial family was made up of the emperor and the empress ( 皇后 ) as the primary consort and Mother of the Nation ( 国母 ; 國母 ). In addition, the emperor would typically have several other consorts and concubines ( 嫔妃 ; 嬪妃 ), ranked by importance into a harem , in which the Empress was supreme. Every dynasty had its set of rules regarding the numerical composition of

2788-526: The greatest respect in the palace and was the decision maker in most family affairs. At times, especially when a young emperor was on the throne, she was the de facto ruler. The emperor's children, the princes ( 皇子 ) and princesses ( 公主 ), were often referred to by their order of birth—e.g. Eldest Prince or Third Princess. Princes were often given titles of peerage once they reached adulthood. The emperor's brothers and uncles served in court by law, and held equal status with other court officials ( 子 ). The emperor

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2856-441: The harem. During the Qing dynasty, for example, imperial convention dictated that at any given time there should be one Empress , one Imperial Noble Consort , two Noble Consort , four Consort and six Concubine , plus an unlimited number of Noble Lady , First Class Attendant and Second Class Attendant . Although the emperor had the highest status by law, by tradition and precedent the empress dowager ( 皇太后 ) usually received

2924-484: The head). He was 43 years old at the time of his death in 3 October 1363. As his crown prince Chen Shan (陳善) had been captured, Chen Youliang was succeeded by his second son, Chen Li , who was soon attacked by the fleet and army of Wu. The conquest of Han took an additional two years but by April 1365 the Han empire was gone and all its lands were now part of the Wu power base. Vietnamese historical annals such as Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư recorded that Chen Youliang sent

2992-426: The interaction between politics and ethnicity was far more complex and that elements of these dynasties differed from and altered "native Chinese" traditions concerning imperial rule. Battle of Poyang Lake On 30 August 1363, the forces of Chen Han conducted a major amphibious assault on Nanchang but failed to take it due to the defenders' use of cannons and suffered significant losses. The town of Nanchang

3060-456: The original Chinese first-person singular pronoun arrogated by Qin Shi Huang, functioning as an equivalent to the royal we . In front of subjects, the emperor may also refer to themselves self-deprecatingly as Guaren ( 寡人 'the morally-deficient one') or Gu ( 孤 'lonely one'). In contrast to the Western convention of using a regnal or personal name (e.g. George V) to refer to a sovereign,

3128-521: The regional lords overshadowed the king and began to usurp that title for themselves. In 221 BC, after the King of Qin completed the conquest of the various kingdoms of the Warring States period , he adopted a new title to reflect his prestige as a ruler greater than the rulers before him. He called himself "Shi Huangdi", or the 'First Emperor'. Before this, Huang ( 皇 'august', 'sovereign' )

3196-479: The reign of Emperor Wu of Han , who disenfranchised and annihilated the nobilities of virtually all imperial relatives whose forebears had been enfeoffed by his own ancestor, Gaozu. Apart from a few very energetic monarchs, the emperor usually delegated the majority of decision making to the civil bureaucracy (chiefly the chancellery and the Central Secretariat ), the military, and in some periods

3264-462: The steps'), corresponding to "Your Imperial Majesty" and originally referring to his attendents, Huangshang ( 皇上 'imperial highness', Shengshang ( 圣上 ; 聖上 'holy highness') or Tianzi ( 天子 'Son of Heaven'). The emperor was also alluded to indirectly through reference to the imperial dragon symbology . Servants often addressed the emperor as Wansuiye ( 万岁爷 ; 萬歲爺 'lord of ten thousand years '). The emperor referred to himself as zhen ( 朕 ),

3332-462: The strict rules of succession and dynasties' purported "failures" were detailed in official histories written by their successful replacements or even later dynasties. The power of the emperor was also limited by the imperial bureaucracy , which was staffed by scholar-officials , and eunuchs during some dynasties. An emperor was also constrained by filial obligations to his ancestors' policies and dynastic traditions, such as those first detailed in

3400-486: The thirty-fourth year of Guangxu in Qing dynasty. In 1912, Hubei Provincial Department of Internal Affairs requested renovation, and built a 16-step tomb road and a tall archway in front of the tomb (between the archway and the tomb). On the forehead of the memorial archway, "Jiang Han Xian Ying" ("江汉先英”), and on the back, "San Chu Xiongfeng" (“三楚雄风"), a monument was erected in front of the tomb, "Da Han Chen Youliang Tomb", and Rao Hanxiang of Guangji made an inscription. There

3468-466: The throne. In some cases when the empress did not bear any children, the emperor would have a child with another of his many wives (all children of the emperor were said also to be the children of the empress, regardless of birth mother). In some dynasties the succession of the empress' eldest son was disputed, and because many emperors had large numbers of progeny, there were wars of succession between rival sons. In an attempt to resolve after-death disputes,

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3536-435: The title of Emperor, including several simultaneous claimants at various times. Some, such as Li Zicheng , Huang Chao , and Yuan Shu , declared themselves the emperors, Son of Heaven and founded their own empires as a rival government to challenge the legitimacy of and overthrow the existing emperor. Among the most famous emperors were Qin Shi Huang of the Qin dynasty , emperors Gaozu , Han Wudi as well as Guangwu of

3604-446: The utmost respect in his presence, whether in direct conversation or otherwise. When approaching the imperial throne, one was expected to kowtow before the emperor. In a conversation with the emperor, it was considered a crime to compare oneself to the emperor in any way. It was taboo to refer to the emperor by his given name, even for the emperor's own mother, who instead was to use Huangdi ( 皇帝 ), or simply Er ( 儿 ; 兒 'son', for

3672-503: Was divinely appointed to rule. The appellation Huangdi carried similar shades of meaning. Alternate English translations of the word include "The August Ancestor", "The Holy Ruler", or "The Divine Lord". On that account, some modern scholars translate the title as " thearch ". On occasion, the father of the ascended emperor was still alive. Such an emperor was titled as the Taishang Huang ('grand imperial sire'). The practice

3740-517: Was almost universally referred to as Shang ( 上 ). Generally, emperors also ruled with an era name ( 年号 ; 年號 ). Since the adoption of era names by Emperor Wu of Han and up until the Ming dynasty , the sovereign conventionally changed the era name semi-regularly during his reign. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, emperors simply chose one era name for their entire reign, and people often referred to past emperors with that title. In earlier dynasties,

3808-518: Was always elevated above all others despite any chronological or generational superiority. Recent scholarship is wary of applying present-day ethnic categories to historical situations. Most Chinese emperors have been considered members of the Han ethnicity , but there were also many Chinese emperors who were of non-Han ethnic origins. The most successful of these were the Khitans of the Liao dynasty ,

3876-553: Was always hereditary, usually by agnatic primogeniture . As a result, many emperors ascended the throne while still children. During minority reigns , the Empress Dowager , the emperor's mother, would usually possess significant political power, along with the male members of her birth family . In fact, the vast majority of female rulers throughout Chinese Imperial history came to power by ruling as regents on behalf of their sons; prominent examples include Empress Lü Zhi of

3944-463: Was an unknown Wangye Temple, and thought it was an obscene temple and destroyed the temple, but he didn't know that the temple was dedicated to Chen Youliang, and he didn't know it until he asked Zhang Tianshi ( 张天师 ). Chen Youliang features as a character in the wuxia novel The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber by Louis Cha . Emperor of China Throughout Chinese history , " Emperor " ( Chinese : 皇帝 ; pinyin : Huángdì )

4012-490: Was considered a traitor and was legally removed from the Trần royal family, it is unlikely for Đại Việt to ally with a traitor's descendant. Đại Việt also had no reason to intervene into the affairs of her northern neighbor. Through his established empire Chen Han, Chen Youliang is remembered as a revolutionary, even hero, who helped resist Yuan rule and pave the way for the new Ming dynasty. Also see Tomb of Chen Youliang ( 陈友谅墓 ),

4080-433: Was initiated by Qin Shi Huang, who gave the title as a posthumous name to his own father, as was already common for monarchs of any stratum of power. Liu Bang , who established the Han dynasty , was the first to become emperor while his father yet lived. It was said he granted the title during his father's life because he would not be done obeisance to by his own father, a commoner. Owing to political fragmentation, over

4148-474: Was justified. This important concept legitimized the dynastic cycle or the change of dynasties. This principle made it possible even for peasants to found new dynasties, as happened with the Han and Ming dynasties, and for the establishment of conquest dynasties such as the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty and Manchu-led Qing dynasty. It was moral integrity and benevolent leadership that determined the holder of

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4216-608: Was most commonly seen as a reverential epithet for a deceased ancestor, and Di ( 帝 , OC : * ‍ tˤeks ) was an apical ancestor, originally referring to the deified ancestors of the Shang kings. In the 3rd century BC, the two titles had not previously been used together. The emperor of China, like the Zhou kings before him, and the Shang kings before them, was most commonly referred to as Tianzi ( 天子 'Son of Heaven'), who

4284-405: Was no longer on the shore. Chen personally led an assault on the city gates. They were repelled with a barrage of cannon fire and driven back. After this failure, Chen set up a blockade, determined to starve out the defenders, but a small fishing boat managed to slip out and reached Nanjing in time to warn Zhu Yuanzhang. Zhu Yuanzhang's fleet arrived at Hukou on 24 August and relieved Nanchang on

4352-439: Was ready with fire ships set adrift, scattering Chen's ships so that clusters of ships engaged in combat far from each other. Chen was killed when an arrow struck his head. Chen Youliang was succeeded by his son, Chen Li , who surrendered to Zhu in 1364. The Western Wu victory cemented their position as the leading rebel group. The Western Wu would overthrow the Yuan five years later and command China. Zhu Yuanzhang then became

4420-453: Was strategically located to guard Lake Poyang, which connected the Yangzi with other river basins. During the early 1360s, Zhu Yuanzhang held key garrisons on the lake and administered them from Nanjing 560 kilometers downriver. In 1362, Chen Youliang used "tower ships" to transport his troops to Nanchang. They could not disembark on the city walls like they did at other cities because the wall

4488-723: Was the son of Chen Yiji (陳益稷) or Trần Ích Tắc , a Trần dynasty leader who settled in the Yuan dynasty . In his childhood, he grew up poor, and he and his family were relatively unsuccessful fishermen. Chen once served as a district official before becoming a general under Ni Wenjun during the Red Turban Rebellion . Ni Wenjun planned to assassinate Xu Shouhui , the Red Turban rebels' leader, but Chen Youliang killed Ni Wenjun before Ni could kill Xu. At this time, Chen Youliang took over Fujian and Jiangxi. Upon hearing that Jiangxi had been captured, Xu Shouhui wished to move

4556-501: Was the strongest on the upper Yangtze River . His power was at least as great as that of another rebel state, Wu, led by Zhu Yuanzhang , founder of the Ming dynasty . In 1360 the Han fleet and army began a long war against Wu forces. At that time, the Wu forces were based in Jiqing (present-day Nanjing ). The Wu was later renamed " Ming " in 1368. An attack on the Wu capital was defeated thanks to excellent Wu intelligence (likely due to

4624-400: Was the superlative title held by the monarchs who ruled various imperial dynasties or Chinese empires . In traditional Chinese political theory, the emperor was the " Son of Heaven ", an autocrat with the divine mandate right to rule all under Heaven . Emperors were worshiped posthumously under an imperial cult . The lineage of emperors descended from a paternal family line constituted

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