Life

Wu Liuqi was born in Fengshun County, Guangdong Province during the late Ming dynasty, but his ancestral home 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, a state formed by loyalists of the fallen Ming dynasty.

When the forces of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty invaded Chaozhou, Wu Liuqi surrendered to the Qing general Shang Kexi 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 (王士禛) wrote about Wu Liuqi in Wu Shunke Liuqi Biezhuan (吴顺恪六奇别传), 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 (香祖笔记) recorded: "(Wu) Liuqi died in office and was granted the posthumous positions of shaoshi (少师; Young Tutor) and taizi taishi (太子太师; Crown Prince's Tutor) and the posthumous name Shunke (顺恪)."

In fiction

Wu Liuqi was mentioned in "General of Great Strength" (大力将军), one of the stories in Liaozhai Zhiyi, and referred to as "Wu Liuyi" (吴六一) 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 (觚剩) by Niu Xiu (钮琇), Wu Liuqi felt grateful to Zha Jizuo after he became the provincial military commander of Guangdong so he sent a huge rock called "Yingshifeng" (英石峰) to Zha Jizuo to express his gratitude. The rock was later renamed Zhouyunfeng (皱云峰) 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 by Jin Yong. In the novel, he is nicknamed "Iron Beggar" and is a member of the Tiandihui and Beggars' Gang.

生平

家世广东海阳人，因好赌，家道中落，明末行乞于吴越之间。后投靠南明桂王朱由榔。

清兵攻克潮州时投降平南王。拜潮州总兵，以功升为广东水陆师提督。王士祯《吴顺恪六奇别传》记载六奇微时，海宁孝廉查继佐（查史璜）曾接济过他，赠以「海内奇男子」五个字。

康熙二年（1663年），庄廷鑨明史案起，继佐名列参校中，几招不测，六奇力为奏辨，终免一死。王士禛《香祖笔记》卷七载：「六奇后卒官，赠少师，兼太子太师，諡顺恪。」荣禄大夫，以别字行。

著作

著有《忠孝堂文集》。

笔记小说上的记载

聊斋志异

《聊斋志异》〈大力将军〉篇称吴六奇为吴六一：「后十馀年，查犹子令于闽，有吴将军六一者，忽来通谒。」

根据此故事，查继佐在一庙内看见吴六奇单手可以升起庙内的大锺，并取出藏在锺内的剩饭，惊为奇人，认为他在这个乱世应该报效社会，使其异能得以发挥。尔后，中国改朝换代，而吴六奇亦在新的满清政府当官，衣锦荣归后向查继佐道谢。

鹿鼎记

《鹿鼎记》指吴六奇为天地会人，纯为虚构。

觚剩

《觚剩》〈雪遘〉篇称吴六奇当上水陆提督后，款待查继佐，并送一座名为英石峰的奇石给查继佐，此石改名为皱云峰，后世誉为江南三大名石之一。