Qian Hong was the second son of Qian Zhao (), a military general of the
Cao Wei state in the
Three Kingdoms period. He initially served as the Administrator () of Longxi Commandery (隴西郡; around present-day
Longxi County,
Gansu). In late 263, he participated in the
campaign against Wei's rival state,
Shu Han, as a subordinate of the Wei general
Deng Ai. After the fall of Shu, the Wei government appointed Qian Hong as the Administrator of Shu Commandery (蜀郡; around present-day
Chengdu,
Sichuan). Between 264 and 265, he was promoted to Army Protector Who Inspires Might (). In 266, following the replacement of the Cao Wei state by the
Jin dynasty (266–420) in February that year, Qian Hong was appointed as the Inspector () of
Yang Province. In February 270, he repelled an invasion led by
Ding Feng, a general from the Jin dynasty's rival state
Eastern Wu. Around the time, Qian Hong had disagreements with his superior,
Chen Qian (), who was the overall supervisor of military affairs in Yang Province. Both Qian Hong and Chen Qian wrote reports to
Emperor Wu to accuse each other of incompetence. Emperor Wu eventually reassigned Qian Hong to be the Inspector of
Liang Province. In 271, the
Xianbei chieftain
Tufa Shujineng started
a rebellion in
Beidi Commandery (北地郡; around present-day
Tongchuan,
Shaanxi) and led his tribal forces to attack Jincheng Commandery (金城郡; around present-day
Yuzhong County,
Gansu). Qian Hong, then the Inspector of Liang Province, led government forces to attack the rebels. However, due to his incompetence, he caused the
Qiang tribes to rebel as well. He was eventually cornered by the rebels and killed in battle. ==See also==