Qian Liu

This is a Chinese name; the family name is Qian.

Qian Liu

Qian Liu (simplified Chinese: 钱镠; traditional Chinese: 錢鏐; pinyin: Qián Liú) (852-932 CE) was founder and first king of the Kingdom of Wuyue (吳越國; pinyin: Wuyueguo) (907-978) during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period in southern coastal China.

Rise to Power

Born in Linan, Zhejiang (now known as Hangzhou), he was noted as a child for the skill with which he drilled his playmates as soldiers, while he sat under a big tree and directed their evolutions. He grew up with a distaste for ordinary occupations, and took to salt smuggling for a living. He was a good archer and spearman, and had some knowledge of drawing. In 875 he enrolled himself as a volunteer to put down a local rebellion; and later on he inflicted a severe defeat upon Huang Chao’s forces, killing his general and taking a large number of prisoners.

The Qian family had been providing military leaders to the Tang Dynasty since 887. In 898 received a certificate, engraved on iron, of exemption from the death penalty on nine possible occasions. He was named the Prince of Yue in 902 with the title of Prince of Wu added two years later.

When the Tang Dynasty fell in 907, to be replaced by the Later Liang Dynasty in the north, Qian Liu declared himself to be the King of Wuyue. The first emperor of the Later Tang, Zhuangzong, presented him with a jade tablet and a golden seal, which authorized his rule. At the instigation of An Chonghui, who thought that he was growing too powerful, the second emperor Mingzong deprived him of his rank, but after An’s death this was immediately restored.

Front gae of the Qian King Temple in Hangzhou, by the West Lake.

Qian Liu’s Reign

Under Qian Liu's reign, Wuyue prospered economically and freely developed its own regional culture that continues to this day. He developed the coastal kingdom's agriculture, built seawalls, expanded Hangzhou, dredged rivers and lakes, and encouraged sea transport and trade. He 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. Like Sima Guang in his study, Qian Liu is said to have used on his campaigns a cylindrical pillow, to prevent him from sleeping too heavily. On his death-bed he urged a benign administration of state affairs and his words were strictly followed by four succeeding kings. He was canonized as Wu Su 武肅.

References

• Mote, F.W. (1999). Imperial China (900-1800). Harvard University Press. pp. 11, 15, 22–23. ISBN 0-674-01212-7. 
• This article incorporates material from Herbert Giles's A Chinese Biographical Dictionary (London: Arthur Probsthain, 1898), which is now in the public domain.