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Chen Youliang

Type Figure Region China Time 1320–1363 Also known as Father of Chen Li、King of Han

Chen Youliang (1320–1363) was a late-Yuan warlord from Mianyang who rose through Xu Shouhui's Red Turban Army, declared himself emperor in 1359, and …

Timeline

  1. 1320–1350Mianyang (present-day Honghu and Xiantao, Hubei) · Jianghan PlainBorn into a fishing family in Mianyang, he made his living fishing in his youth. Of tall and imposing build, he gathered a following in the Jianghan waterways amid late-Yuan famine and corrupt governance, laying the social foundation for his later joining of the Red Turban Army.
  2. 1351–1359Qishui, Jiangzhou (present-day Qichun, Hubei and Jiujiang, Jiangxi) · Middle Yangtze RiverAfter 1351 he joined Xu Shouhui's Red Turban Army, gradually gaining military command through his bravery and strategy. He successively captured Jiangzhou, Anqing and other places, extending his power into Huguang and Jiangxi, and became Xu Shouhui's fiercest general.
  3. 1360–1363Jiangzhou, Poyang Lake · Jiangxi ProvinceIn 1359 he killed Xu Shouhui at Jiangzhou and proclaimed himself emperor of Great Han, contesting Jiangnan and Huguang with Zhu Yuanzhang. In the 1363 Battle of Poyang Lake, despite his fleet of massive warships, Chen's forces were finally defeated by Zhu Yuanzhang's fire attack, and Chen Youliang was killed by an arrow.

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