Chen Shubao 陳叔寶, the Last Emperor of the Chen Dynasty 陳後主

Chen Shubao 陳叔寶 (553-604), courtesy name Yuanxiu 元秀, was the last emperor (Houzhu 陳後主, r. 582-589) of the Chen dynasty 陳 (557-589), and also the last emperor of the Southern Dynasties 南朝 (420-589). He was the oldest son of Emperor Xuan 陳宣帝 (r. 568-582). In 582, when Emperor Xuan died, the Prince of Shixing 始興, Chen Shuling 陳叔陵, planned to usurp the throne, but his plot failed, and he was executed. The Crown Prince Chen Shubao then ascended the throne.

At this time, north China had been unified by the Sui dynasty 隋 (581-618). This new situation constituted a critical threat to the relatively weak Chen empire in the south. Moreover, historians do not attest Chen Chubao the will to defend his heritage, and blame him of wasting his time with banquets and writing love poems. Some of these, however, are quote famous, like Yu shu Hou ting hua 玉樹后庭花 or Lin chun le 臨春樂. Government issues were taken over by Secretariat Drafter (zhongshu sheren 中書舍人) Shen Keqing 沈客卿 (d. 589). Shen had a free hand and reigned with great brutality towards his opponents. He also wasted the state's money for lavishly decorated buildings.

In 584, the regional inspector (cishi 刺史) of the province of Fengzhou 豐州, Zhang Dabao 章大寶 (d. 585), rose in rebellion, but he was defeated. In 588, Chen Shubao demoted his Heir Apparent Chen Yin 陳胤 (573-618) and nominated another son, Chen Yuan 陳淵 (b. 575; during the Tang period called Chen Shen 陳深 in order avoid the name of the dynastic founder, Li Yuan 李淵). In the same year, the Sui empire attacked with an army of allegedly 500,000 men. Chen Shubao, relying on the natural barrier of the Yangtze River, paid little heed to the threat. The following year, Sui forces under Han Qinhu 韓擒虎 (538-592) and He Ruobi 賀若弼 (544-607) crossed the river from Guangling 廣陵 (today's Hexian 和縣, Anhui) and occupied the Chen capital Jiankang 建康 (Nanjing 南京, Jiangsu). Chen Shubao, along with his favored consorts, hid in a well but was eventually captured. He then issued a decree ordering all generals stationed in the upper reaches of the Yangtze to surrender to the Sui. Thus, the Chen dynasty fell.

Chen Shubao was taken to the Sui capital Chang'an 長安 (today's Xi'an 西安, Shaanxi), where he died in 604. He was buried at Mangshan 芒山 in Luoyang 洛陽 (in today's Henan province) and was posthumously honored with the title of General-in-Chief (da jiangjun 大將軍) and invested as Duke of Changcheng County 長城縣公. His posthumous title is Emperor Yang 陳煬帝 "The Obscured".

His collected writings were called Chen Houzhu ji 陳後主集.