He was favored by Emperor Ming of the Chinese Kingdom of Wei. In 237 he was sent to Liaodong to overthrow the local warlordGongsun Yuan but was obstructed by floods. In the next year Sima Yi and Wuqiu Jian succeeded in conquering the Gongsun family. In recognition of the campaign, the title of Marquess of Anyi (安邑候) was bestowed on him.
In 244 Wuqiu Jian led the second punitive expedition to Goguryeo. He defeated the Goguryeo army led by King Gong (宮) beside the Tongjia River and then occupied the capital Wandu. During the third campaign in the next year, he occupied the capital again and forced the king to flee to the southeast. A subsection of the Chinese army reached the eastern coast of the peninsula and another reached northern Manchuria. In commemoration of the conquest, a stone craving was raised during the campaign. A piece of the monument was discovered in 1905. It is today called the "Monument of Wuqiu Jian inscribed achievements" (毋丘儉紀功碑).
Wuqiu Jian was defeated and killed in the revolt against Sima Shi after whom deposed Cao Fang, the successor of Emperor Ming. Some scholars consider that his action resulted from his loyalty to the royal family, and others treat it just as a rebellion.
Jian (劍 also, Chien in a different transliteration, Gim in a different Chinese dialect, and Kim in Korean) is a double-edged straight sword used during the last thousand years in China.
Jian were originally made from bronze, then iron and steel as metal technology advanced.
Contemporary Jian versions are often forged (shaped with heat and hammer) and assembled by mostly traditional methods for training of practitioners of Chinese martial arts around the world.