Chen Shubao

Sunk in wine and women, he wrote "Jade Trees and Flowers in the Rear Court" and was captured hiding in a well when the Sui army entered Jiankang.

Life

Sunk in wine and women

Chen Shubao, eldest son of Emperor Xuan of Chen, took the throne in 582 and is known to history as the Last Ruler of Chen. During his reign he built palaces on a grand scale and drank and composed poems with his favorite consort Zhang Lihua and his courtier companions, neglecting affairs of state.

Jade Trees in the Rear Courtyard

Later generations regarded his "Jade Trees and Flowers in the Rear Court" as the music of a doomed state. When the Sui army massed on his border, he relied on the natural barrier of the Yangtze, saying, "The royal aura is here," and went on drinking and making merry as usual.

Captured hiding in a well

In 589 the Sui army crossed the river and stormed Jiankang. He hid in a well in the palace with Zhang Lihua and Consort Kong, and was hauled up with a rope by Sui soldiers and taken prisoner. Taken to Chang'an, he was treated generously, and died in Luoyang in 604.

Legacy

The Last Ruler of Chen was the last Southern Dynasties emperor of the Northern & Southern Dynasties era, and the fall of his state marked the end of nearly three hundred years of division; Du Mu's lines "The singing girls know nothing of the grief of a fallen state; across the river they still sing 'Flowers in the Rear Courtyard'" refer to him.

Major works & achievements

• Jade Trees and Flowers in the Rear Court

Did you know? The well he hid in later became known as the "Well of Shame," and it still survives in Nanjing today.

Key dates

• 582Accession
• 589Sui army storms Jiankang, captured hiding in a well
• 604Died in Luoyang