Wu Liuqi (1607–1665),

courtesy name A courtesy name (), also known as a style name, is a name bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to one's given name. This practice is a tradition in the East Asian cultural sphere, including China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.Ulrich Theo ...

s Jianbo () and Geru (), was a Chinese general of the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

who served as the provincial military commander of

Guangdong Province Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

Life

Wu Liuqi was born in

Fengshun County Fengshun ( postal: Fungshun or Pungshan; ) is a county in Meizhou City, in the east of Guangdong Province, southern China. Ethno-linguistic make-up Fengshun is noted for its large Hakka population. Administrative divisions Fengshun County's ex ...

during the late

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

, but his

ancestral home An ancestral home is the place of origin of one's extended family, particularly the home owned and preserved by the same family for several generations. The term can refer to an individual house or estate, or to a broader geographic area such as a ...

was in Chaoyang, Guangdong Province. In his younger days, he was addicted to gambling and had squandered away his family fortune. During the chaotic period leading to the collapse of the Ming dynasty, he became a beggar in the Wuyue region and later came to serve the Yongli Emperor of the

Southern Ming The Southern Ming (), also known as the Later Ming (), officially the Great Ming (), was an imperial dynasty of China and a series of rump states of the Ming dynasty that came into existence following the Jiashen Incident of 1644. Shun force ...

, a state formed by loyalists of the fallen Ming dynasty. When the forces of the

Manchu The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized ethnic minority in China and the people from whom Manchuria derives its name. The Later Jin (1616–1636) an ...

-led

invaded

Chaozhou Chaozhou (), alternatively Chiuchow, Chaochow or Teochew, is a city in the eastern Guangdong province of China. It borders Shantou to the south, Jieyang to the southwest, Meizhou to the northwest, the province of Fujian to the east, and th ...

, Wu Liuqi surrendered to the Qing general

Shang Kexi Shang Kexi (尚可喜; Shang Ko-hsi; August 25, 1604 – November 12, 1676) was a Chinese general of the Ming and Qing dynasties. His family had migrated to Liaodong in 1576 and his father, Shang Xueli, served in the army guarding the northe ...

and was appointed as the chief military commander in Chaozhou. He was subsequently promoted to the position of provincial military commander of Guangdong Province. The scholar Wang Shizhen () wrote about Wu Liuqi in ''Wu Shunke Liuqi Biezhuan'' (), claiming that when Wu Liuqi was a teenager, he had met Zha Jizuo, who commented that Wu Liuqi was "an extraordinary man". In 1663, Zha Jizuo was implicated in a case of literary inquisition and was nearly executed. However, Wu Liuqi intervened in the case and eventually saved Zha Jizuo's life. Volume 7 of Wang Shizhen's ''Xiangzu Biji'' () recorded: "(Wu) Liuqi died in office and was granted the posthumous positions of ''shaoshi'' (; Young Tutor) and ''taizi taishi'' (; Crown Prince's Tutor) and the

posthumous name A posthumous name is an honorary name given mostly to the notable dead in East Asian culture. It is predominantly practiced in East Asian countries such as China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, and Thailand. Reflecting on the person's accomplishm ...

''Shunke'' ()."

In fiction

Wu Liuqi was mentioned in "General of Great Strength" (), one of the stories in ''

Liaozhai Zhiyi ''Liaozhai zhiyi'', sometimes shortened to ''Liaozhai'', known in English as ''Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio'' or ''Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio'', is a collection of Classical Chinese stories by Qing dynasty writer Pu Songling, c ...

'', and referred to as "Wu Liuyi" () in the tale. In this story, Zha Jizuo saw Wu Liuqi lift a huge metal bell in a temple with only one arm and take out rice from the bell. He was astounded by the feat and felt that Wu Liuyi was an extraordinary person, so he suggested that he make full use of his ability to do something that would benefit society. Many years later, after Wu Liuyi became a general, he came back to find Zha Jizuo and thank him. In the short novel ''Gusheng'' () by Niu Xiu (), Wu Liuqi felt grateful to Zha Jizuo after he became the provincial military commander of

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020 ...

so he sent a huge rock called "Yingshifeng" () to Zha Jizuo to express his gratitude. The rock was later renamed Zhouyunfeng () and became one of the "Three Famous Rocks of Jiangnan". Wu Liuqi also appears as a minor character in the novel ''

The Deer and the Cauldron ''The Deer and the Cauldron'', also known as ''The Duke of Mount Deer'', is a comic historical novel by Jin Yong (Louis Cha), the longest of his novels and the last to be published but chronologically it is the eighth novel. It was initially pub ...

'' by

Jin Yong Louis Cha Leung-yung (; 10 March 1924 – 30 October 2018), better known by his pen name Jin Yong (), pronounced "Gum Yoong" in Cantonese, was a Chinese wuxia ("martial arts and chivalry") novelist and essayist who co-founded the Hong Kong da ...

. In the novel, he is nicknamed "Iron Beggar" and is a member of the

Tiandihui The Tiandihui, the Heaven and Earth Society, also called Hongmen (the Vast Family), is a Chinese fraternal organization and historically a secretive folk religious sect in the vein of the Ming loyalist White Lotus Sect, the Tiandihui's ...

and Beggars' Gang.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wu, Liuqi 1607 births 1665 deaths Qing dynasty generals Generals from Guangdong People from Fengshun