Chen Qingzhi

Biography

Family Background and Early Life

Chen Qingzhi was from Guoshan in Yixing, present-day Yixing in Jiangsu. His family background is unknown; neither the Book of Liang nor the History of the Southern Dynasties records the names of his father or grandfather, suggesting that he was not from a major aristocratic clan. From an early age he attended Xiao Yan. Xiao Yan was devoted to the game of Go and often played through the night. Other attendants became exhausted, but Chen remained alert and was always ready when summoned, which won Xiao Yan's favor. Near the end of Southern Qi, Chen followed Xiao Yan east to pacify Jiankang and participated in the process by which Xiao Yan replaced Qi with Liang.

In 502, the first year of the Tianjian era, Xiao Yan became emperor and founded the Liang dynasty. Chen Qingzhi was appointed a secretary. Although the position was a relatively low-ranking clerical office in the Secretariat, Chen did not become discouraged. He spent his wealth to attract capable men and constantly sought opportunities to serve the state; he was later appointed Fengchaoqing. During this period he did not yet command armies, but his careful and diligent conduct and his cultivation of followers gradually built his reputation.

First Military Successes: Yuan Faseng and Xiao Zong's Defection

In the first month of 525, the sixth year of the Putong era, Yuan Faseng, Northern Wei governor of Xuzhou, failed in a rebellion at Pengcheng and requested to defect to Liang. Emperor Wu appointed Chen General of Martial Might and sent him with Hu Longya and Cheng Jingjun to receive Yuan. After returning, Chen was appointed General of Manifest Valor and Wende Chief Commander. He then led two thousand men escorting Prince of Yuzhang Xiao Zong to take command in Xuzhou.

In the fifth month Northern Wei sent Prince of Anfeng Yuan Yanming and Prince of Linhuai Yuan Yu with twenty thousand troops to resist them. Yuan Yanming first ordered Qiu Daqian to fortify Xunliang and watch the Liang army. Chen advanced against the position and defeated the Wei force in a single engagement. In the sixth month the situation suddenly changed. Xiao Zong—said in one tradition to have been the posthumous son of the deposed Southern Qi ruler Xiao Baojuan—abandoned the army at night and defected to Northern Wei. At dawn the Liang army could not find him; after hearing Wei troops shouting outside the city, morale collapsed and the army broke. Wei forces pursued, retook previously captured cities, and followed the Liang troops as far as Suyu before turning back. The Liang army lost seventy to eighty percent of its strength. Chen alone broke through a pass and withdrew by night, preserving his own force intact.

This was Chen's first independent command. In a general collapse he decisively extracted his troops, demonstrating the judgment and adaptability that would later characterize his independent commands.

Shouyang and the Battle of Woyang

In 526, the seventh year of Putong, General of the Pacified West Yuan Shu campaigned against Shouchun, and Chen was granted temporary imperial authority and overall charge of military affairs. Northern Wei Yuzhou governor Li Xian ordered his son Li Changjun to build two fortified positions in resistance. Chen attacked. In the eleventh month, exhausted and unable to continue, Li Xian surrendered Shouyang, which Chen occupied. In this campaign the Liang army took fifty-two cities and captured 75,000 men and women. For his achievement Chen was transferred to a post in the Eastern Palace guard and enfeoffed as Marquis of Guanzhong.

In the tenth month of 527, the first year of Datong, Chen served under commander Cao Zhongzong in the assault on Northern Wei Woyang, present-day Mengcheng in Anhui. Northern Wei sent General Who Conquers the South and Prince of Changshan Yuan Zhao with 150,000 cavalry and infantry as reinforcements; the vanguard reached Tuojian, forty li from Woyang. Chen advocated immediate attack. Xunyang prefect Wei Fang argued that the enemy vanguard must consist of light elite troops and that the Liang army should wait at ease for an exhausted enemy. Chen replied: “The Wei army has come from far away and is already tired. It is also still distant from its main body and will certainly be unprepared. If we strike unexpectedly before they have assembled, there is no reason we cannot defeat them.” He immediately led two hundred cavalry in a rapid assault on the Wei camp and broke the vanguard, alarming the enemy.

Thereafter the Liang and Wei armies faced one another through hundreds of engagements from spring into winter, exhausting men and horses. Wei reinforcements built fortifications behind the Liang army. Cao Zhongzong and others feared attacks from front and rear and planned to withdraw. Chen stood at the army gate holding his imperial credential and sternly stopped them: “We came here together and have spent a full year in the field, consuming immense quantities of grain and weapons. The armies have no will to fight and all plan to retreat... I have heard that when troops are placed on deadly ground, only then can they seek life. We must wait until the enemy has fully concentrated, then fight. If you truly intend to withdraw, I have a separate secret edict; anyone who violates it today will be dealt with according to the clear imperial order.” Cao admired Chen's resolve and accepted his view.

The Wei army had built thirteen fortified camps. Under cover of darkness Chen sent cavalry in a surprise attack and took four in succession, after which Woyang commander Wang Wei surrendered. Chen released more than thirty prisoners and sent them to the other Wei camps to report that Woyang had fallen. He then ordered drums beaten and the army to charge. The remaining nine camps collapsed one after another. Liang troops pursued and took or killed large numbers, and fighting was said to have obstructed the Wo River. More than thirty thousand men and women in the city surrendered. Emperor Wu ordered the territory organized as Western Xuzhou. After the battle he personally sent Chen an edict of commendation: “You were not born of a military lineage, nor from a great house, yet by seizing the winds and clouds you have come to this. Think deeply on extraordinary strategies and strive for a good ending. Open vermilion gates to receive guests and raise your name on bamboo and silk—would that not make you a true great man?”

The White-Robed Northern Expedition: Escorting Yuan Hao to Luoyang

In the fourth month of 528, the second year of Datong, the Northern Wei powerholder Erzhu Rong launched the Heyin Massacre, killing more than two thousand central officials and shattering the Northern Wei political system. Prince of Beihai Yuan Hao, Prince of Runan Yuan Yue, and other imperial clansmen fled south to Liang. Yuan Hao strongly urged Emperor Wu to lend troops so that he could seize the Northern Wei throne. Xiao Yan, for strategic reasons, agreed.

In the tenth month Emperor Wu named Yuan Hao Prince of Wei and appointed Chen acting imperial commissioner and General of Swift Valor, ordering him to escort Yuan north. In the fourth month of 529, the first year of Zhongdatong, Chen led seven thousand troops from Zhi County, captured Yingcheng, and advanced to Suiyang. Northern Wei commander Qiu Daqian had seventy thousand men and constructed nine fortified camps. Chen attacked from early morning until the shen hour and captured three forts in a single day; Qiu Daqian was forced to surrender. Northern Wei General Who Conquers the East and Prince of Jiyin Yuan Huiye then stationed twenty thousand Feathered Forest Guard troops at Kaocheng, a city surrounded by water. Chen ordered his soldiers to build defensive works in the water, captured the city, took Yuan Huiye alive, and seized 7,800 carts of tax grain.

On May 17 Yuan Hao captured Liangguo and appointed Chen General of the Guards and governor of Xuzhou, then advanced west. Northern Wei Left Director of the Department of State Affairs Yang Yu, Prince of Xi'e Yuan Qing, and General Who Pacifies the Army Yuan Xian'gong held Yingyang with seventy thousand men. The city was strongly fortified and Chen's first assaults failed. Meanwhile Prince of Shangdang Yuan Tianmu, who had defeated refugee-rebel leader Xing Gao, was returning toward Luoyang. He sent Erzhu Zhao with five thousand cavalry and Lu An with nine thousand infantry and cavalry to reinforce Yingyang, while Erzhu Shilong and Wang Pi were sent with ten thousand cavalry to hold Hulao.

As Yuan Tianmu's main force approached, the Liang army faced enemies both ahead and behind and the soldiers became afraid. Chen removed his saddle and let his horse graze, then addressed them: “Since we came here we have slaughtered cities and seized territory in no small measure. You have killed men's fathers and elder brothers and carried away their sons and daughters beyond counting. Tianmu's army is therefore entirely composed of our enemies. We number only seven thousand, while the enemy numbers more than three hundred thousand. Today we can live only if we are prepared to die. Their cavalry is numerous and cannot be fought in the open field. Before all of them arrive, we must quickly take the city and hold it.” He ordered the drums sounded and launched an urgent assault. Warriors Song Jingxiu and Yu Tianmin were first onto the walls. On May 22 Yingyang fell and Yang Yu was captured.

The Wei army then surrounded Chen. With three thousand cavalry he fought with the city at his back and decisively defeated them. Lu An surrendered on the battlefield, while Yuan Tianmu and Erzhu Zhao escaped alone on horseback. Chen seized the stores at Yingyang and advanced to Hulao. Erzhu Shilong abandoned the city. Emperor Xiaozhuang of Northern Wei, Yuan Ziyou, fled to Bingzhou. Prince of Linhuai Yuan Yu and Prince of Anfeng Yuan Yanming led the officials with imperial regalia to welcome Yuan Hao into Luoyang. Yuan Hao proclaimed a new era, issued a general amnesty, and appointed Chen as Palace Attendant, General-in-Chief of Chariots and Cavalry, and Grand Master of Splendid Happiness of the Left, adding ten thousand households to his fief.

Soon Yuan Tianmu, Wang Laosheng, and Li Shuren led forty thousand men to capture Daliang. They sent Wang Laosheng and Fei Mu to hold Hulao and Diao Xuan and Diao Shuang toward Liang and Song. Chen launched a surprise attack, and the Wei troops surrendered. Yuan Tianmu escaped north across the Yellow River with only a little more than ten cavalrymen. Emperor Wu again sent Chen a personal edict of commendation. Chen's troops all wore white robes and repeatedly broke through opposing armies. A children's rhyme circulated in Luoyang: “Famed commanders, do not rely on yourselves; thousands upon thousands of troops flee the white robes.” From his departure at Zhi County to his arrival in Luoyang, the Chinese source states that over fourteen months he pacified thirty-two cities and fought forty-seven battles without defeat.

After entering Luoyang, however, Yuan Hao grew self-satisfied and indulged in wine and women. He did not accept Chen's remonstrance concerning further northern campaigning, and he became suspicious of Chen; relations between the two deteriorated. Erzhu Rong responded by bringing Emperor Xiaozhuang with a massive army, said to number a million, to counterattack. Yuan Hao held Luoyang for only sixty-five days, and the cities he had gained rapidly returned to Northern Wei. Chen crossed the Yellow River and defended Beizhonglang City, fighting eleven engagements in three days and inflicting heavy losses; Erzhu Rong at one point considered withdrawing. Yuan Hao, however, was decisively defeated at the Battle of Heqiao, fled toward Linying, and was captured and killed. Luoyang returned to Northern Wei. Chen formed several thousand infantry and cavalry into an organized withdrawal eastward, but Erzhu Rong personally pursued him and the Liang army was largely killed or scattered. Chen shaved his head, disguised himself as a monk, traveled secretly to Yuzhou, and, with assistance from the local man Cheng Daoyong and others, eventually returned to Liang.

Later Years: Frontier Command and Resistance to Hou Jing

After Chen returned to Liang, the court rewarded his service by appointing him General of the Right Guard and enfeoffing him as Marquis of Yongxing County with 1,500 households. He subsequently served as bearer of imperial authority, commander of military affairs along the Huai, General of Martial Vigor, and Regional Inspector of Northern Yanzhou. At the time a man named Seng Qiang proclaimed himself emperor, and local strongman Cai Bolong raised thirty thousand men in support, captured Northern Xuzhou, forced Jiyin prefect Yang Qiwen to abandon his city, and killed Zhongli prefect Shan Xibao. Chen led an army to suppress them, killed both Cai Bolong and Seng Qiang, and sent their heads to Jiankang.

After 530 Chen was appointed commander of military affairs in Southern Sizhou, Northern Sizhou, Western Yuzhou, and Yuzhou, and governor of Southern and Northern Sizhou. After taking up command he besieged Xuancu, defeated Northern Wei Yingzhou governor Lou Qi and Yangzhou governor Shiyun Bao at the Qin River, and defeated mobile commander Sun Teng, grand commander Hou Jin, Yuzhou governor Yao Xiong, and Liangzhou governor Sima Gong at Chucheng. He then disbanded the Yiyang garrison and stopped water and land transport levies, allowing the Jiang and Hu regions to recover. He opened six thousand qing of farmland, and within two years the granaries were full. Emperor Wu repeatedly commended him. Chen also memorialized requesting the simplification of Southern Sizhou into Anlu Commandery and the establishment of Shangming Commandery.

In 536, the second year of Datong, Eastern Wei general Hou Jing raided Chuzhou with seventy thousand troops. Governor Huan He was overwhelmed, and Hou advanced to the Huai, writing to Chen to urge surrender. Emperor Wu sent Marquis of Xiangtan Xiao Tui and General of the Right Guard Xiahou Kui as reinforcements, but by the time they reached Lijiang Chen had already defeated Hou Jing. Heavy snow fell; Hou abandoned his baggage and fled, and Chen captured the supplies and returned. He was promoted to General of Humane Might. That same year famine struck Yuzhou. Chen opened the granaries and distributed grain, enabling most famine victims to survive. Li Sheng and eight hundred other inhabitants petitioned for permission to erect a stele praising his virtue, and Emperor Wu approved.

In the tenth month of 539, the fifth year of Datong, Chen died aged fifty-six. The court posthumously appointed him Regular Mounted Attendant and General of the Left Guard, granted him one full ceremonial musical unit, gave him the posthumous name Wu, and ordered Yixing Commandery to provide five hundred laborers to attend the funeral.

Major Activities

Military Achievements

Chen Qingzhi's active military career ran from his first command in 525 to his death in 539, a period of about fifteen years. His principal achievements included:

• Receiving Yuan Faseng: In 525 he helped receive the defection of Northern Wei Xuzhou governor Yuan Faseng, displaying his first significant command ability.
• Capture of Shouyang: In 526, acting with imperial authority and overall military command under Yuan Shu, he took Shouyang, received the surrender of fifty-two cities, and captured 75,000 people.
• Battle of Woyang: In 527, under Cao Zhongzong, he led two hundred cavalry in a surprise attack on the Wei vanguard, then broke thirteen Wei fortifications; the source states that the Wo River was obstructed by the fighting and more than thirty thousand men and women surrendered. The campaign displayed his aggressiveness, decisiveness, and persistence.
• White-Robed Northern Expedition: In 529 he led seven thousand white-robed troops escorting Yuan Hao north, fought forty-seven engagements, took thirty-two cities, and entered Luoyang, gaining a formidable reputation in the Central Plains. The Chinese source describes it as the farthest-reaching and most influential advance into northern territory by a Southern Dynasty army since Huan Wen's Eastern Jin campaigns.
• Suppression of Seng Qiang's Rebellion: As Regional Inspector of Northern Yanzhou he suppressed the uprising of Seng Qiang and Cai Bolong, who had gathered thirty thousand followers.
• Resistance to Hou Jing: In 536 he defeated Hou Jing's invading army of seventy thousand and forced it to abandon its baggage and flee.

Political and Administrative Activities

Chen served successively as secretary, Fengchaoqing, Eastern Palace guard officer, Regional Inspector of Northern Yanzhou, commander of military affairs over several frontier provinces, and governor of Southern and Northern Sizhou. In local office he disbanded the Yiyang garrison and stopped water and land transport duties, reducing burdens on the population. He opened six thousand qing of farmland and filled the granaries. During famine in Yuzhou he distributed government grain and earned strong popular support. He also proposed reorganizing Southern Sizhou as Anlu Commandery and establishing Shangming Commandery, adjusting the local administrative structure.

Travels and Campaign Routes

Chen's career ranged across north and south. In his youth he followed Xiao Yan east from Xiangyang to Jiankang. He later went north to Xuzhou to receive Yuan Faseng, then campaigned at Shouyang, present-day Shouxian in Anhui, and Woyang, present-day Mengcheng in Anhui. During the northern expedition he departed from Zhi County, present-day Suzhou in Anhui, passed through Suiyang, present-day Shangqiu; Kaocheng, present-day Minquan; and Yingyang, before reaching Luoyang. In his later years he held frontier commands in Northern Yanzhou, around present-day Huai'an in Jiangsu, and Southern and Northern Sizhou, around present-day Xinyang in Henan.

Relationship with Emperor Wu of Liang

Chen followed Xiao Yan from childhood and won favor through his attentiveness as a chess companion. After Xiao Yan became emperor, Chen spent many years in relatively low-ranking civil posts but retained the ruler's confidence. Emperor Wu twice sent personal edicts praising him, once after the Battle of Woyang and again after his northern expedition reached Luoyang. After Chen's death, the emperor ordered Yixing Commandery to supply five hundred laborers to attend the funeral and granted substantial posthumous honors.

Personal Relations

Family

• Eldest son: Chen Zhao
• Fifth son: Chen Xin, courtesy name Junzhang
• Youngest son: Chen Xuan
• Grandson: Chen Xiu, son of an elder brother of Chen Xuan according to the Chinese source

Ruler–Subject Relations

• Emperor Wu of Liang, Xiao Yan: Chen attended him from childhood, gained favor through chess, and later received important military commands
• Yuan Hao, Prince of Beihai of Northern Wei: the prince whom Chen escorted during the northern expedition; later appointed Chen as Palace Attendant and General-in-Chief of Chariots and Cavalry
• Emperor Xiaozhuang of Northern Wei, Yuan Ziyou: forced to flee to Bingzhou during Chen's advance
• Erzhu Rong: Chen's principal opponent at the end of the northern expedition; led the counterattack on Luoyang

Colleagues

• Cao Zhongzong: chief commander during the Battle of Woyang; Chen served under him
• Wei Fang: colleague at Woyang who advocated waiting at ease; Chen disagreed and favored immediate attack
• Hu Longya and Cheng Jingjun: colleagues in receiving Yuan Faseng
• Yuan Shu: chief commander in the Shouchun campaign

Enemies

• Qiu Daqian: Northern Wei commander who led seventy thousand troops against Chen at Suiyang and surrendered after defeat
• Yuan Huiye: Northern Wei Prince of Jiyin, captured by Chen at Kaocheng
• Yang Yu: Northern Wei Left Director of the Department of State Affairs, captured at Yingyang
• Yuan Tianmu: Northern Wei Prince of Shangdang; defeated near Yingyang and again during a later counterattack
• Hou Jing: Eastern Wei general whose invasion of Chuzhou in 536 was defeated by Chen

Historical Assessment

Northern and Southern Dynasties and Contemporary Assessments

• Book of Liang, fascicle 32: “Chen Qingzhi possessed the strategy of a commander. In winning battles and taking territory, was he not nearly the equal of Lian Po, Li Mu, Wei Qing, and Huo Qubing? Qingzhi was alert and perceptive, served Gaozu from an early age, benefited from longstanding favor, and in addition was cautious and disciplined. Robes and caps of high office and the insignia of rank brought him the glory of his age.”
• History of the Southern Dynasties, fascicle 61: “Chen Qingzhi began among the sparrows and swallows but in the end cherished the ambition of a swan. Once entrusted with command, he drove through the Yi and Luo regions. No strong formation stood before him and no fortified city resisted his attack. Although the southern wind failed to prevail and he ultimately suffered collapse, his victories were still worthy of praise.”
• The Luoyang children's rhyme stated: “Famed commanders, do not rely on yourselves; thousands upon thousands of troops flee the white robes,” a contemporary expression of his military reputation.

Sui and Tang Periods

• Tang historian Yao Silian, compiler of the Book of Liang, rated Chen highly and compared him with Lian Po, Li Mu, Wei Qing, and Huo Qubing.
• Tang historian Li Yanshou, compiler of the History of the Southern Dynasties, broadly followed the judgment of the Book of Liang while also noting the final collapse of Chen's expedition.

Song and Yuan Periods

• The Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance gives a detailed narrative of Chen's northern expedition, including his battlefield address after unsaddling his horse and feeding it, without offering a direct overall judgment but treating the campaign as a major Liang military episode.
• In his commentary on the Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance, Hu Sanxing examined details of the campaign and supplemented information such as the role of Cheng Daoyong and other Yuzhou residents in secretly helping Chen return.

Modern Assessments

• Mao Zedong repeatedly read the “Biography of Chen Qingzhi” in the History of the Southern Dynasties, marked and annotated multiple passages, and wrote the comment “Reading this biography again, I am filled with longing and admiration.”
• Modern historian Lü Simian discussed Chen's expedition in History of the Jin and Northern and Southern Dynasties, arguing that some reported successes were exaggerated and should be compared with the Book of Wei—noting that the title Book of Wei here refers to the Northern Wei dynastic history, distinct from the Wei section of Chen Shou's Records of the Three Kingdoms.
• Tian Yuqing, in works related to the history of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, analyzed the military significance of Chen Qingzhi's northern expedition.