Qian Liu (852-932) was a Chinese warlord who, after a military career that began in the late Tang dynasty, became the founding king of Wuyue during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. He was born in Lin'an County, in what is now Zhejiang province. His significance lies in building a stable territory in south-eastern China at a time of political fragmentation.
In his youth he had no steady job and worked as a salt smuggler. Around 876-877 he joined a local militia against the raids of the rebel Wang Ying, serving alongside Dong Chang, another native of Lin'an. After Wang's defeat, Dong was given command of a base and Qian became one of his commanders. In 878 Qian repelled raiders led by Huang Chao. In 881, when the governor of Huainan gathered troops to retake Chang'an, Qian advised Dong to return to Hang Prefecture to defend it, since he judged that the governor had no real intention of attacking Huang.
His rise continued with the capture of Yue (today Shaoxing) in 886, which gave him control of the Zhedong region, and with the taking of Su (Suzhou) in 888, after suppressing a mutiny at Run led by Xue Lang. From then on he held most of the Zhenhai territory. The imperial court, eager to win his support, granted him titles and in 893 appointed him military governor of Zhenhai, based at Hang. In 894 he received the honorary title of chancellor, and in 895 that of Duke of Pengcheng.
His relationship with Dong Chang turned into rivalry, since Dong regarded him as a vassal and grew increasingly ambitious, eventually proclaiming himself emperor of a new state in 895. The surviving sources record this rupture, although the outcome of the rivalry does not appear in the text on which this entry is based. His name is, in any case, tied to the formation of the kingdom of Wuyue.