Wu Mingche (Chinese: 吳明徹; c. 504/512 – 24 August 580), courtesy name Tongzhao (通昭), was a Chinese military general and politician of the Chen dynasty of China. He first served under the dynasty's founder Emperor Wu but became the most prominent general of the state during the reign of Emperor Wu's nephew Emperor Xuan, successfully commanding the Chen army in seizing the region between the Yangtze River and the Huai River from the Northern Qi dynasty. After the Northern Qi was conquered by the Northern Zhou dynasty, however, Wu was defeated and captured by the Northern Zhou general Wang Gui (王軌). After he was taken to the Northern Zhou capital Chang'an, he died in anger.

Wu Mingche was born in 512, as the youngest son of the Liang dynasty general Wu Shu (吳樹). His grandfather Wu Jing'an (吳景安) was a commandery governor during and preceding Southern Qi dynasty. His family was from Qin Commandery (秦郡, roughly the part of modern Nanjing, Jiangsu, north of the Yangtze River). Despite the fact that Wu Jing'an was a general, the family was not wealthy, and when Wu Jing'an died in 525 when Wu Mingche was 13, it was said that the family could not afford a proper burial. Wu Mingche, despite his young age, worked hard on the family farm, and eventually, partly because of his hard work, the family was able to gather enough funds to bury Wu Jing'an properly.

When Wu Mingche grew older, he served as an officer in the guard corps for Emperor Wu of Liang's crown prince, Xiao Gang. When the general Hou Jing rebelled and sieged the capital Jiankang in 548, Wu Mingche appeared to be at his home in Qin Commandery, which, as a result of trade routes' being cut off, suffered from a famine. Wu had grains stored, but rather than keeping the grains for his own clan, he persuaded his older brothers that the grain should be shared with the local people, allowing the people to survive.

Hou soon captured Jiankang, and was not defeated until 553, by Wang Sengbian, a general under the command of Emperor Wu's son Xiao Yi the Prince of Xiangdong, who soon declared himself emperor (as Emperor Yuan). Wang Sengbian's lieutenant Chen Baxian was put in charge of the important city Jingkou (京口, in modern Zhenjiang, Jiangsu). When Chen put out a general invitation for people to join his army, Wu met him. Chen was impressed with his abilities and treated him with respect. It was also around this time that Wu studied histories and other classical works, as well as astronomy and strategies from the official Zhou Hongzheng (周弘正). In 554, Emperor Yuan made him a provincial governor, but he continued to serve under Chen's command.

In winter 554, Western Wei launched a major attack on Emperor Yuan's capital Jiangling (江陵, in modern Jingzhou, Hubei). Emperor Yuan made an emergency summon to Wang, then in charge of Jiankang, ordering him to come to Jiangling's aid. Wu was one of the generals named by Wang to command part of his troops. However, before Wang could even mobilize his troops, Jiangling fell, and around the new year 555, Western Wei forces put Emperor Yuan to death. Wang and Chen subsequently prepared to make Emperor Yuan's son Xiao Fangzhi the Prince of Jin'an emperor, but when Northern Qi attacked and Wang's forces suffered losses against Northern Qi, Wang accepted the proposal of Emperor Wenxuan of Northern Qi to make Emperor Wu's nephew Xiao Yuanming emperor instead, and he declared Xiao Yuanming emperor in summer 555. Displeased with Wang's decision, Chen made a surprise attack on Jiankang in fall 555, killing Wang and deposing Xiao Yuanming. Chen declared Xiao Fangzhi emperor (as Emperor Jing). Subsequently, when generals loyal to Wang resisted Chen, aided by Northern Qi, Wu served under Zhou Wenyu in the campaign against Wang's son-in-law Du Kan (杜龕) and Zhang Biao (張彪), and later participated in a key battle defending Jiankang in 556. For his contributions in the two campaigns, he was created the Marquess of Anwu.

In 557, Chen had Emperor Jing yield the throne to him, establishing the Chen Dynasty as Emperor Wu. Wu Mingche continued to serve as a general in the new dynasty's military.

Immediately prior to taking the throne, Emperor Wu had sent Zhou Wenyu and another major general, Hou Andu, west against Wang Lin, an independent general still claiming loyalty to Liang, and Wu was one of the generals who served under Zhou and Hou. When Wang subsequently defeated the Chen troops, capturing Zhou and Hou as well as three other generals, Xu Jingcheng (徐敬成), Zhou Tiehu (周鐵虎), and Cheng Lingxi (程靈洗), Wu was not captured, and was able to take his forces back to Jiankang. Subsequently, Wu was assigned to operations in the modern Jiangxi region to defend against a possible attack from Wang (who had by this point declared Emperor Yuan's grandson Xiao Zhuang Emperor of Liang) as well as to keep the local warlords in check.

In 559, Emperor Wu died and was succeeded by his nephew Chen Qian the Prince of Linchuan (as Emperor Wen). Wang, upon hearing of Emperor Wu's death, decided to attack Chen, and Wu Mingche made an attempt to intercept Wang at Pencheng (湓城, in modern Jiujiang, Jiangxi), but was defeated by Wang's general Ren Zhong (任忠). Wu barely escaped with his life, allowing Wang to continue his advance toward Jiankang. Wang, however, was subsequently defeated by Hou Tian, and both he and Xiao Zhuang were forced to flee to Northern Qi. As part of Chen's effort to then take control of Xiao Zhuang's territory, Emperor Wen assigned Wu to be the governor of Wu Province (武州, roughly modern Changde, Hunan), but he was defeated by the Northern Zhou (Western Wei's successor state) general Heruo Dun (賀若敦) and forced to withdraw to Baling (巴陵, in modern Yueyang, Hunan). He was, however, able to defeat further Northern Zhou advance there.