Chen Dong as depicted in the Wu Shuang Pu (無雙譜, Table of Peerless Heroes) by Jin Guliang
Chen Dong (traditional Chinese: 陳東; simplified Chinese: 陈东; pinyin: Chén Dōng; 1086–1127), courtesy nameShaoyang(少陽), was an academic of the Song dynasty martyred for his opposition to political corruption. He came to the Imperial University in the capital city of Kaifeng in 1103,[1] and ten years later he got a job as scholar at the Imperial academy. Chen Dong stood up against Song policy and in 1125 helped lead a rebellion against six corrupt officials. He has been called the voice of public opinion[2] because the voice of the teachers and students were in agreement with the voice of the people and soldiers.[3] Chen Dong was executed in 1127[4] around the time the city fell to the Jurchen people, ending the Northern Song dynasty. A year following his death, Chen Dong was rehabilitated, and in 1134 was granted a posthumous ministerial office by Emperor Gaozong.
The History of Song, the official, government sanctioned history of the Song dynasty, published 1346, carries a biography of Chen Dong in chapter 455, as part of its biographical series on "Those Loyal to Righteousness".[5] Chen Dong is depicted in the Wu Shuang Pu (無雙譜, Table of Peerless Heroes) by Jin Guliang.[6] The images and poems for this book were widely spread and reused, including on porcelain works.[7]
^Hartman, Charles (2016). "Cao Xun and the legend of Emperor Taizu's oath". In Patricia Buckley Ebrey; Paul Jakov Smith (eds.). State Power in China, 900–1325. University of Washington Press. p. 71. ISBN9780295998107.
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