62 Facts About Qian Liu

Qian Liu was originally a warlord of the late Tang dynasty.

Qian Liu was born in Lin'an County in 852, during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang.

Qian Liu's father was named Qian Kuan, and his mother, who was from the same clan as his paternal grandmother, was Qian Kuan's wife Lady Shuiqiu.

Qian Liu befriended several sons of the county secretary Zhong Qi and often drank and gambled with them.

However, Qian Liu discerned that Gao had no real intentions to attack Huang, and he advised Dong to claim that he needed to return to Hang Prefecture to defend it.

Dong sent Qian Liu to resist the Zhedong army, and Qian Liu defeated them, forcing them to flee.

Qian Liu had Zhou escorted to Hang Prefecture, where he welcomed Zhou in a grand ceremony fitting the ceremony welcome by a subordinate of a military governor.

Xue was taken captive, and Qian Liu had his heart cut out of his body to be sacrificed to Zhou.

Qian Liu petitioned Emperor Zhaozong, seeking to be created the greater title of Prince of Yue.

Qian Liu's followers, wanting to please him, encouraged him to take the next step and become the Emperor of Yue.

Only then did Qian Liu withdraw and report the matter to Emperor Zhaozong.

Qian Liu thus pardoned Dong but ordered him to retire.

However, the ambitious Qian Liu, who was hopeful that the imperial government would declare a campaign against Dong so that he could be able to turn on Dong without appearing to be ungrateful, then submitted an accusation against Dong, pointing out that Dong committed the unpardonable crime of treason.

The Huainan attack was bogged down for some time allowing Qian Liu to continue his attack of Weisheng, even after, in spring 896, because of Yang's request, Emperor Zhaozong pardoned Dong completely and restored his titles.

Qian Liu abandoned the title of emperor and referred to himself as military governor again, but the siege continued.

Qian Liu considered abandoning the siege after Huainan forces captured Su Prefecture about the same time, but Gu pointed out that capturing Yue should be the first priority, and Qian Liu agreed.

Qian Liu then sent Dong's old subordinate Luo Tuan to Dong, stating that there were imperial orders for Dong to retire to Lin'an.

Qian Liu delivered Dong's head to Chang'an and took over his territory.

Qian Liu got the soldiers and the people of both Zhenhai and Weisheng to submit petitions asking that Qian Liu be given Weisheng as well.

In fall 901, a rumor reached Yang that Qian Liu had been assassinated.

Li Shenfu put Lin'an under siege, but soon realized that the rumor of Qian Liu's death was a false one.

Qian Liu pretended that a major Huainan reinforcement was on the way.

In fall 902, Qian Liu faced the most serious challenge to his rule since he took over the two circuits.

Qian Liu was visiting his ancestral neighborhood in Lin'an, which he had promoted to the status of Yijin Base.

Qian Liu, hearing of the mutiny, had to rush back to Hang Prefecture and only got into the inter city through the siege with difficulty.

Still, Qian Liu was concerned that Xu Wan and Xu Zaisi would instead seize Yue, and he was ready to send Gu to Yue to defend it.

At Gu's advice, Qian Liu had his son Qian Liu Chuanliao accompany Gu on a mission to Huainan, seeking for Yang to stop a potential attack from Tian.

Meanwhile, Gu and Qian Liu Chuanliao had arrived at Guangling and persuaded Yang that if Tian seized Hang, his power would increase such that he would no longer be subordinate to Yang and would in fact pose a major danger.

Tao then further advanced to attack Wu Prefecture, and Qian Liu sent his brother Qian Liu Biao and Fang to try to relieve Wu Prefecture.

Apprehensive that Wang Maozhang would cut off his escape path, Tao withdrew, allowing Qian Liu to retake Mu and Qu Prefectures.

In 907, Qian Liu sent Qian Chuanliao and Qian Chuanguan to attack Wen and Chu Prefectures, which were part of Zhendong Circuit but had been held independently by the brothers Lu Ji and Lu Yue respectively.

Qian Liu recognized the new Later Liang emperor as well, despite urgings by his staff member Luo Yin to join the other military governors in opposing Later Liang due to its usurpation of the Tang throne.

Qian Liu gave Wei Zaichang the title of deputy military governor of Huainan and changed his surname from Wei to Yuan.

In winter 909, Qian Liu, having heard that Gao Li the prefect of Hu Prefecture was violent and cruel to his people, wanted to executed Gao.

Qian Liu sent Qian Liu Biao to attack him, while Wu sent Li Jian to try to aid him.

Gao's officers Sheng Shiyou and Shen Xingsi turned against him, and Gao fled to Wu, allowing Wuyue to retain Hu, which Qian Liu made Qian Biao the prefect of after personally touring it to try to calm the locale.

Qian Liu sent Qian Chuanguan and Qian Chuanliao to resist, and both times defeated Wu forces, capturing Li Tao, Hua, and Wo.

Qian Liu then sent Qian Chuanguan, Qian Chuanliao, and Qian Chuanying to attack Wu's Chang Prefecture.

Qian Liu sent his son Qian Liu Chuanqiu to put Xin Prefecture under siege to try to relieve the pressure on Tan.

Subsequently, the Wu general Qian Liu Xin defeated and captured Tan and incorporated his domain into Wu territory.

In 919, Qian Liu launched a major attack on Wu, with Qian Liu Chuanguan in command.

The operation was initially highly successful, with Qian Liu Chuanguan crushing the Wu fleet under the command of Peng Yanzhang on the Yangtze River at the Battle of Langshan Jiang.

In light of the victory, Qian Liu Chuanguan attacked Chang Prefecture, but was defeated by Xu Wen at Wuxi, killing the Wuyue generals He Feng and Wu Jian and forcing Qian Liu Chuanguan to flee.

However, even though Yang Longyan and Xu Wen both repeatedly wrote Qian Liu to urge him to declare independence from Later Liang, Qian Liu refused.

Qian Liu thereafter began to take on styles that were similar to, but slightly lower status to, the Later Liang emperor, including referring to his residence as a palace, referring to his place of administration as a court, and referring to his orders as edicts.

Qian Liu established a government structure that was akin to the imperial government, with lesser titles.

Qian Liu thereafter made Qian Liu Chuanguan the acting military governor of Zhenhai and Zhendong.

Qian Liu did not immediately react to Later Liang's destruction, but in late 924 offered tribute to Emperor Zhuangzong.

Qian Liu submitted a large tribute, and gave many gifts to powerful Later Tang politicians.

Qian Liu requested that Emperor Zhuangzong grant him a golden seal, a certificate of his creation written on jade, the privilege of not being referred to by name, and the continued use of the title of king.

Subsequently, when Qian Liu sent an emissary, Shen Tao, to Wu to inform Wu what had occurred, Wu authorities refused Shen entry to Wu territory, on the basis that it believed that Wuyue, by the virtue of its name, was improperly showing ambition against Wu.

Qian Liu, judging correctly that Xu was trying to figure out how ill he was and preparing a potential attack, met with the emissaries despite his illness.

Xu, believing that Qian Liu was not that ill, cancelled the planned attack.

Qian Liu thereafter submitted a petition to Emperor Zhuangzong's adoptive brother and successor Emperor Mingzong that the military governorships of Zhenhai and Zhendong be transferred to Qian Liu Chuanguan.

Further, after Emperor Mingzong's emissaries to Wuyue, Wu Zhaoyu and Han Mei returned to Later Tang on a mission, Han accused Wu Zhaoyu of bowing to Qian Liu and revealing state secrets to Qian Liu.

Thereafter, Emperor Mingzong ordered Qian Liu to retire with the title of Taishi and stripped him of all other titles, and further ordered that the Later Tang circuits arrest all Wuyue emissaries.

Qian Liu had his sons submit petitions to plead for him, but An ignored them.

Qian Liu developed the coastal kingdom's agriculture, built seawalls, expanded Hangzhou, dredged rivers and lakes, and encouraged sea transport and trade.

Qian Liu built an embankment against the famous "bore" in the Qiantang River near Hangzhou, which was his capital; and on one occasion, when the works were threatened, he is said to have driven back the waters by the discharge of a flight of arrows.

Qian Liu is said to have used on his campaigns a cylindrical pillow, to prevent him from sleeping too heavily.

Qian Liu is depicted in the Wu Shuang Pu by Jin Guliang.

The 1620 short story collection Illustrious Words to Instruct the World by Feng Menglong contained a story on Qian Liu titled "Qian Poliu Begins His Career in Lin'an".