Qian Qianyi

Qian Qianyi was a late Ming and early Qing poet, historian, bibliophile and government official.

A major literary figure of his generation, he married Liu Rushi and became entangled in the moral and political dilemmas created by the Ming collapse. His surrender to the Qing damaged his reputation, although he and Liu were later connected with loyalist activity. In Alice Poon’s historical fiction, this person is represented within the Ming–Qing transition or the founding of the Qing dynasty.