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Ye Chen
Scholar from Lishui who answered Zhu Yuanzhang's summons in 1360 with Liu Ji and Song Lian and was killed refusing to submit to mutineers at Hongdu in 1362
Inside a tent at dusk, a low table holds a board of faint map-like lines with scattered black and white stones beside a feather fan, a lit lantern, an iron teapot and rolled bamboo slips, while one person sits with their back turned at the open flap, facing a river valley at sunset.
Also known as Zi Jingyuan
- Roles
- Strategists
Ye Chen, courtesy name Jingyuan, came from Lishui in Chuzhou, in present-day Zhejiang. At the end of the Yuan he served the commander Shimo Yisun in defending Chuzhou, planning the campaigns against mountain bandits, and was given a provincial military title. After Zhu Yuanzhang took Chuzhou he answered Zhu's summons to Yingtian in 1360 together with Liu Ji, Song Lian and Zhang Yi, and was made an assistant in the office of military farms. Soon afterwards he became prefect of Hongdu, the newly won city on the Gan River, serving under Deng Yu. In 1362 Zhu Song and Kang Tai, officers who had come over from Chen Youliang, mutinied in Hongdu; Deng Yu escaped, but Ye was captured and cursed his captors until they killed him. Zhu Yuanzhang named him Marquis of Nanyang, placed his image in the shrine of Geng Zaicheng, and later included him in the temple of meritorious officials.
Life and times
Dates Birth unknown–1362 CE