Abstract:

The foundation of the Chen Dynasty together with the rising of the noble aboriginal families in the south, was regarded as a major political and social transformation in the three-hundred period of the Eastern Jin Dynasty and the Southern Dynasties. All the emperors of Chen Dynasty, however, chose to identify with the aristocracy culture. The reason is related to CHEN’s family background. CHEN Ba-xian’s position in the Liang Dynasty was once close to that of an exclusive serviceman or a military household, but he still belonged to the aristocracy class. Emperor Wen in the CHEN family listed himself among the literati and scholars, and designated celebrities in the aristocracy class to accompany his sons day and night to cultivate them with the noble demeanor and cultural self-restraint. The crown prince of Emperor Xuan personally handled the affairs of the Eastern Palace according to the political culture of the aristocracy. As a result, the CHEN family’s identification of the aristocratic culture in the Chen Dynasty evolved from the recognition of manners and knowledge to that of political tradition. This contributes to the fact that the character of the regime of the Chen Dynasty was similar to that of the Jin, Song, Qi and Liang Dynasties and the political tradition of the Southern Dynasties was inherited.

Key words: Chen Dynasty, royal family, aristocracy, political culture