Wu Sangui

Wu Sangui was a Chinese general whose shifting allegiance played a decisive role in the transition from Ming to Qing rule. Commanding the strategic Shanhai Pass when Beijing fell to Li Zicheng in 1644, he allied with Manchu forces and helped defeat the rebel regime, after which the Qing rewarded him with extensive authority in southwest China.

His decision helped the Qing defeat Li Zicheng and enter northern China. Granted extensive authority in Yunnan, he later rebelled against the Kangxi Emperor in the Revolt of the Three Feudatories and proclaimed his own Zhou dynasty shortly before his death.

In Alice Poon’s Tales of Ming Courtesans, Liu’s marriage to Qian Qianyi tests ideals of loyalty after the change of dynasty; Yuanyuan becomes linked to Wu Sangui and the decision that opens Shanhai Pass; and Xiangjun’s devotion to Hou Fangyu draws her into Nanjing’s factional politics. In Jin Yong’s The Deer and the Cauldron: Book 3, Sent to Kunming, Trinket enters the household of Wu Sangui as the powerful satrap prepares to challenge the Qing throne.