Chen Shubao (, 10 December 553 – 16 December 604), also known as Houzhu of Chen (), posthumous name Duke Yáng of Chángchéng (), courtesy name Yuánxiù (元秀), childhood name Huángnú (黃奴), was the fifth and last emperor of the Chinese Chen dynasty, which was conquered by the Sui dynasty in 589.
At the time of his ascension, Chen was already facing military pressure by Sui on multiple fronts, and, according to traditional historians, Chen Shubao was an incompetent ruler who was more interested in literature and women than in state affairs.
In February 589, Sui forces captured Chen's capital, Jiankang (modern Nanjing, Jiangsu), and captured him, ending Chen's rule and unifying China after nearly three centuries of division that had started with the upheaval of the Five Barbarians. He was taken to the Sui's capital Chang'an, where he was treated kindly by Emperor Wen of Sui and his son and successor, Emperor Yang of Sui until his death in December 604, during the reign of Emperor Yang.
Background Chen Shubao was born in 553, when his father Chen Xu was serving as a mid-level official under Emperor Yuan of Liang at the capital of Jiangling. His mother was Chen Xu's second wife, Liu Jingyan, and he was Chen Xu's eldest son.
In 554, the Western Wei attacked Jiangling and captured it, executing Emperor Yuan. Emperor Yuan's nephew Xiao Cha was made Emperor Xuan of Western Liang (萧詧) and given Jiangling as his capital, but a large segment of Jiangling's population and Emperor Yuan's officials, including Chen Xu and Chen Xu's cousin Chen Chang, were taken to the Western Wei capital of Chang'an. For reasons lost to history, Lady Liu and Chen Shubao were not taken to Chang'an, but left at Rang City (, now in Nanyang, Henan province).
In 557, Chen Xu's uncle and Chen Chang's father Chen Baxian founded a new dynasty as Emperor Wu of Chen with his capital at Jiankang. He requested that Western Wei's successor state, Northern Zhou, return Chen Chang and Chen Xu to him, but Northern Zhou, while initially agreeing, did not do so during Emperor Wu's lifetime. In 559, Emperor Wu died, and Chen Xu's older brother Chen Qian, Prince of Linchuan, as Emperor Wu's only close male relative in the realm, took the throne as Emperor Wen of Chen. In 560, Northern Zhou began making overtures to return Chen Xu to Chen. In 562, Emperor Wen, who had remotely created Chen Xu the Prince of Ancheng, traded the city of Lushan (魯山, in modern Wuhan, Hubei) to Northern Zhou in exchange for Chen Xu's return. Initially, Chen Shubao and his mother Princess Liu were not returned, but after further negotiations by Emperor Wen, were returned. Chen Shubao was designated as Chen Xu's successor. He held minor offices during Emperor Wen's reign.
In 566, Emperor Wen died and was succeeded by his son, Crown Prince Chen Bozong, as Emperor Fei. The high-level officials that Emperor Wen left in charge, including Chen Xu, eventually became locked in a power struggle, and in 567, Chen Xu killed Liu Shizhi () and Dao Zhongju () and seized control. In winter 568, he had an edict issued in the name of Emperor Wu's wife Grand Empress Dowager Zhang Yao'er that deposed Emperor Fei and he took the throne as Emperor Xuan in spring 569. Chen Shubao was made crown prince, and his mother, Princess Liu, was made empress.
As crown prince In fall 569, Chen Shubao married Shen Wuhua, the daughter of the official Shen Junli (), as his wife and crown princess. However, eventually he came to favor his concubine, Zhang Lihua.
As crown prince, Chen Shubao was known for his love of literature and feasting. He thus wanted to command the official Jiang Zong (), who was talented in literature, serve as his chief of staff, and he requested that Kong Huan (), the minister of civil service, to make it so. Kong declined, citing that Jiang, while talented, lacked steadiness and would not be able to correct Chen Shubao. Chen Shubao then personally made the request to his father Emperor Xuan, and Emperor Xuan, while he hesitated due to Kong's opposition, eventually agreed. Eventually, however, because Jiang and Chen Shubao overly feasted, including instances where Chen Shubao wore civilian clothing to sneak out of the palace to visit Jiang's mansion, Emperor Xuan removed Jiang from his post.
In spring 582, Emperor Xuan grew ill, and Chen Shubao, along with his brothers Chen Shuling () the Prince of Shixing, and Chen Shujian () the Prince of Changsha, attended Emperor Xuan at the palace. The ambitious Chen Shuling had ambitions for the throne, and when Emperor Xuan died, while Chen Shubao was mourning over Emperor Xuan's casket, Chen Shuling pulled out a sharpened knife and stabbed Chen Shubao in the neck, who then collapsed.
Empress Liu tried to stop Chen Shuling, but was also stabbed several times. However, the lady-in-waiting Lady Wu grabbed Chen Shuling, allowing Chen Shubao to get up and escape. Meanwhile, Chen Shujian grabbed Chen Shuling and tied him to a pillar, but as Chen Shujian then sought Chen Shubao's permission to kill Chen Shuling, Chen Shuling managed to slip away. Chen Shuling was then able to mobilize his personal troops and launch a coup together with his cousin, Chen Bogu () the Prince of Xin'an, Emperor Wen's son. They were soon defeated, however, and both were killed in battle. Chen Shuling's sons were forced to commit suicide, while Chen Bogu's sons were reduced to commoner rank.
Three days after the coup attempt, Chen Shubao, despite being severely wounded, took the throne. He honored his mother Empress Liu as empress dowager. He made his wife Lady Shen empress and his oldest son Chen Yin (who, while not born of Empress Shen, was raised by her) crown prince.
Reign Initially, Chen Shubao was still recovering from his injuries, and Empress Dowager Liu governed as regent, assisted by Chen Shujian. (As Chen Shubao did not favor Empress Shen, she was not allowed to attend to him during his recovery period; rather, Consort Zhang did.) After Chen Shubao recovered—and while it is not clear how long it took him to recover, it seemed to be a period of months—Empress Dowager Liu returned imperial authorities to him and did not again govern.
When Emperor Xuan died, Northern Zhou's successor state, Sui China, had been attacking Chen, but upon hearing about Emperor Xuan's death, Emperor Wen of Sui (Yang Jian) decided that it was improper to attack a state that had just lost its emperor and withdrew his forces. He also sent ambassadors to mourn Emperor Xuan's death, and his letter to Chen Shubao referred to himself by his personal name—a sign of humility. However, Chen Shubao's return letter included the sentence, "May it be that when you govern your state, all things can be well, and that between heaven and earth, there will be peace and quiet." The sentence was viewed as arrogant and condescending by Emperor Wen and his key official Yang Su and made them displeased. Despite this, however, for the next few years, the states exchanged ambassadors often and generally had peaceful relations, although Sui's Emperor Wen was gradually building up military power on the Yangtze and planning for eventual attack against Chen.
In spring 583, displeased that Chen Shujian was, in his view, becoming overly powerful, Chen Shubao, encouraged by his associates Kong Fan () and Shi Wenqing (), made Chen Shujian the governor of Jiang Province (江州, roughly modern Jiujiang, Jiangxi) to remove him from power. (He subsequently kept Chen Shujian at the capital by promoting him to the honorary post of Sikong (), but did not restore Chen Shujian to power.) Meanwhile, despite the fact that Chen Shubao was still supposed to be in mourning period for Emperor Xuan, he was spending much time in feasting. When the official Mao Xi () tried to persuade him to change his ways, Chen Shubao demoted Mao and sent him out of the capital.
Around the new year 584, Chen Shujian, in fear, prayed to the spirits, hoping that he would be restored to grace. When this was discovered, Chen Shubao considered executing Chen Shujian, but after Chen Shujian reminded him how Chen Shujian was responsible for saving him from Chen Shuling, Chen Shubao spared him but removed him from his posts.
In 584, Chen Shubao built three particularly luxurious pavilions within his palace—Linchun Pavilion (), Jieqi Pavilion (), and Wangxian Pavilion (), residing himself at Linchun Pavilion, while having Consort Zhang reside at Jieqi Pavilion and Consorts Gong and Kong share Wangxian Pavilion. He often spent his days feasting with his concubines, headed by Consort Zhang, as well as those ladies in waiting and officials who had literary talent (including Jiang Zong, whom he made prime minister, Kong Fan, and Wang Cuo (), having those officials and ladies in waiting sing or write poetry to praise his concubines' beauty. Two of the particularly known songs, Yushu Houting Hua () and Linchun Yue (), were written to praise the beauties of Consorts Zhang and Kong.
It was said that Chen Shubao lacked interest and understanding in important governmental matters, and that because he could not comprehend matters well, he would often hold Consort Zhang on his lap and have Consort Zhang, who was considered intelligent, read and rule on the petitions submitted to him. Meanwhile, Consort Kong and Kong Fan, who were not related, began to refer to each other as sister and brother, and used their relationship to further their power as well, so Consorts Zhang and Kong became exceedingly powerful. To finance Chen Shubao's construction projects, taxes were raised, and soldiers and the officials, who were previously immune to taxes, were also required to pay them, causing general discontent from those classes. Further, at Kong Fan's urging, Chen Shubao transferred much of the military command to civilian officials, further causing the generals to be disgruntled.
In spring 585, Zhang Dabao () the governor of Feng Province (豐州, roughly modern Fuzhou, Fujian), accused of corruption and on the verge of being replaced by Li Yun (), instead ambushed Li and killed him, starting a rebellion. Zhang was however soon defeated and killed.
In fall 587, while Emperor Jing of Western Liang (Xiao Cong, Xiao Cha's grandson) was at the Sui capital to meet with Sui's Emperor Wen, the Western Liang officials Xiao Yan (蕭巖, Emperor Jing's uncle) and Xiao Huan (蕭瓛, Emperor Jing's brother), in fear that the Sui general Cui Hongdu () was actually intending to attack the Western Liang capital Jiangling, surrendered to Chen Shubao's cousin Chen Huiji () the Marquess of Yihuang with the people of Jiangling. Chen Shubao accepted the surrender and made Xiao Yan and Xiao Huan provincial governors—acts that Emperor Wen (who, in response, abolished Western Liang and seized its remaining territory) considered provocation, making him continuing his preparation to attack Chen in earnest.