Liu Qian (劉謙)[1][2] or Liu Zhiqian (劉知謙)[3][4] (d. 894), posthumously honored by Southern Han as Emperor Shengwu (聖武皇帝, "holy and martial") with the temple name of Daizu (代祖), was an army officer of the Chinese Tang dynasty's Qinghai Circuit (清海, headquartered in modern Guangzhou, Guangdong).
The traditional sources conflict about Liu Qian's family origins, but what they agreed on was that he came from what was then considered meager social station.
[3] According to the History of the Five Dynasties, his father — referred to as Liu Ren'an (劉仁安) — came to reside in the Lingnan region after serving as the secretary general of Chao Prefecture (潮州, in modern Chaozhou, Guangdong).
[5] In 879, the major agrarian rebel Huang Chao overrun Lingnan East's capital Guang Prefecture (廣州).
[3] In 883, then-reigning Emperor Xizong commissioned Liu as the prefect of Feng[5] and the defender of Heshui Base (賀水鎮, in modern Nanning, Guangxi).