Chen Shubao (, 10 December 553 – 16 December 604), also known as Houzhu of Chen (), posthumous name Duke Yáng of Chángchéng (), courtesy name Yuánxiù (元秀), childhood name Huángnú (黃奴), was the fifth and last emperor of the Chinese Chen dynasty, which was conquered by the Sui dynasty in 589. At the time of his ascension, Chen was already facing military pressure by Sui on multiple fronts, and, according to traditional historians, Chen Shubao was an incompetent ruler who was more interested in literature and women than in state affairs. In February 589, Sui forces captured Chen's capital, Jiankang (modern Nanjing, Jiangsu), and captured him, ending Chen's rule and unifying China after nearly three centuries of division that had started with the Invasion and rebellion of the Five Barbarians. He was taken to the Sui's capital Chang'an, where he was treated kindly by Emperor Wen of Sui and his son and successor, Emperor Yang of Sui until his death in December 604, during the reign of Emperor Yang. Background Chen Shubao was born in 553, when his father Chen Xu was serving as a mid-level official under Emperor Yuan of Liang at the capital of Jiangling. His mother was Chen Xu's second wife, Liu Jingyan, and he was Chen Xu's eldest son. In 554, the Western Wei attacked Jiangling and captured it, executing Emperor Yuan. Emperor Yuan's nephew Xiao Cha was made Emperor Xuan of Western Liang (萧詧) and given Jiangling as his capital, but a large segment of Jiangling's population and Emperor Yuan's officials, including Chen Xu and Chen Xu's cousin Chen Chang, were taken to the Western Wei capital of Chang'an. For reasons lost to history, Lady Liu and Chen Shubao were not taken to Chang'an, but left at Rang City (, now in Nanyang, Henan province). In 557, Chen Xu's uncle and Chen Chang's father Chen Baxian founded a new dynasty as Emperor Wu of Chen with his capital at Jiankang. He requested that Western Wei's successor state, Northern Zhou, return Chen Chang and Chen Xu to him, but Northern Zhou, while initially agreeing, did not do so during Emperor Wu's lifetime. In 559, Emperor Wu died, and Chen Xu's older brother Chen Qian, Prince of Linchuan, as Emperor Wu's only close male relative in the realm, took the throne as Emperor Wen of Chen. In 560, Northern Zhou began making overtures to return Chen