Chen Yuan
The Chen Yuan were among the northern aristocratic clans that retreated south as north China was overrun by the Xiongnu. According to the great 10th century genealogist Liu Fang: "Across the Yangzi River, the elite clans were known as 'émigré clans'; the Wang (王), Xie (謝), Yuan, and Xiao (萧) were the greatest among them." When Sima Rui established an Eastern Jin regime at Jiankang in 317, he did so with the support of powerful members of these great families. The Chen Yuan brought with them dependants and armed retainers, and they were eventually able to carve out large estates for themselves in the peripheral frontier districts. One branch of the clan settled in Yichun, in east-central China. Eventually it grew to such size that the prefecture was renamed Yuanzhou (袁州) in the early 7th century.