Chen Yuanda

Liu Yuan died in 310 and was succeeded by Liu He, although He was quickly assassinated and replaced through a coup by his brother, Liu Cong, that same year. Between 304 and 313, Yuanda grew to the position of Minister of Justice. In 313, Liu Cong made his Honoured Lady, Liu E as his empress. To honour her, Liu Cong built Huangyi Hall (䳨儀殿). Yuanda reprimanded Liu Cong for this, as Cong had already carried out many projects in the past. He states that now that Han was on the verge of replacing the Jin dynasty in the north, Liu Cong should present himself more frugally to the people and concentrate in spending the treasury on expelling the remaining Jin remnants. Liu Cong was insulted by Yuanda's rebuking, and ordered him to be executed.[5]

As Chen Yuanda was brought out for his execution, he passed through Xiaoyao Garden (逍遙園) in Lizhong Court (李中堂), another one of Liu Cong's courts. He was being led under the trees of the court's garden when somehow, Yuanda managed to chain himself to one of the trees with the chains around his hands. The attendants tried to free him, but Yuanda refused to let them do so. As Yuanda delayed his execution, many of Liu Cong's ministers pleaded his innocence to Liu Cong to prevent his execution. Liu Cong made no response but soon enough, Liu E took notice of the situation. Liu E submitted to her husband a petition asking him to spare Yuanda from death.[6]

With both his ministers and wife siding with Yuanda, Cong eventually pardoned him. Upon meeting Yuanda, he said, "You ought to be the one fearing me, but right now it is me who is fearing you." The two men reconciled, and Liu Cong even went as far as renaming Xiaoyao Garden to Naxian ("Receiving the Worthies") Garden and Lizhong Court to Kuixian ("Shamed by the Worthies") Court due to the incident.[7]

In a bizarre story that supposedly took place in 313, a shooting star had fallen to the ground around Pingyang and transformed into a mass of flesh. Liu Cong was disturbed by this and asked his ministers their opinion on what this meant. Yuanda told him, "Women are being shown too much favour; this is an omen of the downfall of the state." Liu Cong replied, "What you say is purely based on yin and yang. How does this relate to human affairs?" Coincidentally, after the incident, Liu E would die.[8]

In 315, Liu Cong made the controversial decision of having three empresses at once, them being Liu Guifei, Jin Yueguang and Jin Yuehua. Yuanda once again argued with him, telling him that it was against tradition to have more than one empress. Liu Cong was annoyed by this, so he secretly reduced Yuanda's power by moving him to a prestigious but also powerless position. However, many ministers protested this by offering to give their positions up to Yuanda, so Cong was forced to re-appoint him as Imperial Secretary. Later Jin Yueguang was caught conducting an immoral activity, so Yuanda sent a petition to Liu Cong in regard to it. Cong had no choice but to depose her. After her disposal, Yueguang killed herself out of shame. Cong was distraught by her death, and blamed Yuanda for causing this.[9]

The next year in 316, Liu Cong began to place an excessive amount of trust in his eunuch, Wang Chen. Wang Chen and his inner circle were despised by Liu Cong's minister as they continued to curry his favour while living lavishly and removing their rivals. Yuanda was involved in a group effort to submit a petition denouncing Wang Chen and his partisans. However, Liu Cong's trust in Wang Chen was ingrained, and Cong dismissed their attempts to win him over again.[10]

As the political discourse continued to take place that year, one of Yuanda's closest friends, Liu Yi, died shortly after Liu Cong had denied his petition. Liu Yi's death greatly affected Yuanda, who became depressed as a result. Shortly after his friend's passing, Yuanda returned to his home, where he committed suicide. Many of the ministers mourned their deaths, and felt that the two men had been unfairly treated.[11]