Liu Shan

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Emperor of Three Kingdoms
Kingdom of Shu
Liu Shan
Simplified Chinese:刘禅
Traditional Chinese:劉禪
Pinyin:Líu Shàn
Wade-Giles:Liu Sh'an
Zi:Gongsi (公嗣)
Posthumous name:None
Other names:A Dou (阿斗)
Period of reign:223 – 263
Era names:Jianxing (建興)
223 – 237
Yanxi (延熙)
238 – 257
Jingyao (景耀)
258 – 263
Yanxing (炎興)
263
Read more about the Chinese name.

Liu Shan (207 – 271) was the second and last emperor of the Kingdom of Shu during the Three Kingdoms era in ancient China. As he ascended the throne at the young age of sixteen, Liu Shan was entrusted to the care of a group of veteran ministers, including the Chancellor Zhuge Liang and Imperial Secretary Li Yan. During Liu Shan's reign, many campaigns were led against the Kingdom of Wei, primarily by Zhuge Liang and his successor Jiang Wei, but to little avail. Liu Shan eventually surrendered to the Kingdom of Wei in 263 after Deng Ai led a surprise attack on the Shu capital Chengdu. He was quickly relocated to Luoyang, capital of Wei, and enfeoffed as Duke Anle. There he enjoyed his last years peacefully before dying, most probably of natural cause, in 271.

Widely known by his infant name "A Dou" (阿斗), Liu Shan was commonly perceived as an incapable, even retarded ruler. He was also accused of indulging in pleasures while neglecting state affairs. However, some critics believe that Liu Shan, like his father Liu Bei, had excellent people management skills, being able to balance the interests of the two major factions in his court, headed respectively by Zhuge Liang and Imperial Secretary Li Yan. These critics also praise Liu Shan for feigning incompetence in the most ingenious and natural way after the fall of the Kingdom of Shu so as to avoid personal harm. Nevertheless, the name "A Dou" is today still commonly used to describe incapable people who would not achieve anything even with significant assistance.

The given name of Liu Shan, when combined with that of Liu Feng, whom Liu Bei adopted before the birth of Liu Shan, would become "fengshan" (封禪), meaning "to ascend the throne in a ceremony". Many believe that this is an implication of Liu Bei's ambition to become the emperor, even long before the abdication of Emperor Xian. This undermines Liu Bei's claim that he was forced to declare himself emperor so as to carry on the lineage of the Han Dynasty.

Contents

Life

Born in 207, Liu Shan was the only son of Liu Bei and Empress Gan (甘皇后). In the next year, the powerful warlord Cao Cao, who had by then occupied the entire northern China, launched a campaign against Jingzhou (荆州, present day Hubei and Hunan). During his retreat south, Liu Bei was caught up by an elite cavalry force led by Cao Cao at Changban (長阪, northeast of present day Dangyang County, Hubei) and forced to leave behind Empress Gan and Liu Shan to resume his escape. The general Zhao Yun stayed behind to protect the family members of Liu Bei. Holding the infant Liu Shan in his arms, Zhao Yun led the mother and child to safety.

(An alternative story of Liu Shan's early life was given in A Brief Record of Wei (魏略) by Yu Huan (魚豢). It was said that Liu Shan, then already several years old, was separated from Liu Bei when the latter was attacked by Cao Cao in Xiaopei (小沛, present day Pei County, Jiangsu) in 200. He somehow landed in Hanzhong and was sold by human traffickers. Only when Liu Bei declared himself emperor in 221 was Liu Shan reunited with his father. However, this story was rejected by Pei Songzhi (裴松之), annotator of the Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms, taking into account of various sources.)

After Liu Bei declared himself the first emperor of the Kingdom of Shu in 221, Liu Shan was formally made the heir apparent. In the next year, Liu Bei left the capital Chengdu on a campaign against the Kingdom of Wu. He was defeated at the Battle of Yiling and, having retreated to the city of Baidi, eventually died in 223. With his last breaths, Liu Bei entrusted the young Liu Shan to the care of his chancellor Zhuge Liang and Imperial Secretary Li Yan. He even told Zhuge Liang to take over the throne if Liu Shan proved to be incapable.

During the early years of his reign, Liu Shan was not an unwise ruler. While Zhuge Liang was alive, Liu Shan treated him as a father, allowing the chancellor to handle all state affairs. While Zhuge Liang recommended many trusted officials, including Guo Youzhi (郭攸之), Fei Yi (費禕), Dong Yun (董允) and Xiang Chong (向寵) into key positions to marginalize the rival faction headed by Li Yan, Liu Shan managed the two interest groups well and prevented any open conflict. The court was also divided into pro-war and pro-peace factions, the latter of which Liu Shan had been leaning towards. However, he had to give in to the pro-war faction, spearheaded by Zhuge Liang and later Jiang Wei, as it held military power.

After the death of Zhuge Liang and Imperial Attendant Dong Yun, however, Liu Shan began to place heavy trust in a eunuch named Huang Hao, who exploited his position to influence state affairs. The General-in-Chief Jiang Wei, de facto successor to Zhuge Liang, once advised Liu Shan to execute Huang Hao but the emperor denied the request, saying that the eunuch was but a servant who ran errands. Fearing retaliation, Jiang Wei had to leave Chengdu to garrison troops at Tazhong (沓中, northwest of present day Zhouqu County, Gansu).

In 263, Jiang Wei wrote to Liu Shan, warning him about the mustering of Kingdom of Wei troops under the generals Zhong Hui and Deng Ai near the border. However, Huang Hao, who believed in witchery, told Liu Shan that the enemy would not eventually arrive. Liu Shan then neglected Jiang Wei's defense plans. Deng Ai led his force through the almost unpassable mountains and deep into Shu territory and launched a surprise attack on Chengdu. After a last effort at defense led by Zhuge Zhan was crushed, Liu Shan took the advice of Secretary Qiao Zhou (譙周) and promptly surrendered. He was relocated to the Wei capital Luoyang, where he was given the titular position of Duke Anle (安樂公), literally meaning the duke of comfort. While the surrender was criticized by many, Wang Yin (王隱) in his Records of Shu (蜀記) described the move as a policy that placed the welfare of the people on top.

According to the Spring and Autumn Annals of Han and Jin (漢晉春秋) by Xi Zuochi (习鑿齒), Sima Zhao, the Duke of Jin and de facto ruler of the Kingdom of Wei, one day invited Liu Shan and his followers to a feast, during which Sima Zhao arranged to have entertainers perform traditional Shu music and dance. The former Shu officials present were all saddened, but Liu Shan was visibly unmoved. When asked by Sima Zhao if he missed his former kingdom, Liu Shan replied:

I enjoy life here and do not think of Shu at all. (此間樂，不思蜀)

This phrase became a Chinese idiom (樂不思蜀), literally meaning "too joyful to think about home" but often with a negative implication.

Liu Shan in Romance of the Three Kingdoms

The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, a 14th century historical novel by Luo Guanzhong, is a romanticization of the events that occurred before and during the Three Kingdoms era. The novel generally portrays Liu Shan as an incapable ruler who was easily swayed by words, especially those from his favorite eunuch Huang Hao. Two famous stories from the novel involving Liu Shan, both fictional, are:

Battle of Changban

Main article: Battle of Changban

In 208, Liu Bei was routed by an elite cavalry force led by the powerful warlord Cao Cao at Changban (長阪, northeast of present day Dangyang County, Hubei) and was forced to leave behind Empress Gan (甘皇后) and Liu Shan in his retreat. The general Zhao Yun stayed behind to protect the family members of Liu Bei. Although in history Zhao Yun led both mother and child to safety without incident, the novel in Chapter 41 fabricated the suicide of Lady Mi (麋夫人), another consort of Liu Bei and younger sister of Mi Zhu, so that Zhao Yun could concentrate on protecting the infant Liu Shan.

Refusing to take the only horse Zhao Yun had, which was sorely needed to break out of the enemy ranks, Lady Mi leapt into a dried well and killed herself. Zhao Yun then pushed the well over to cover up Lady Mi's corpse for fear of desecration by the enemy, before securing Liu Shan to his chest. He singlehandedly broke out of the enemy encirclement. Cao Cao was so impressed with the general's bravery that he ordered his troops not to fire arrows in the hope of capturing Zhao Yun alive. When Zhao Yun did catch up with Liu Bei and the rest, however, Liu Bei threw the child onto the ground to show that his men were more important to him than his own son.

Zhao Yun rescues A Dou from Lady Sun

In a completely fictionalized incident in Chapter 61, Lady Sun, younger sister of powerful warlord Sun Quan married to Liu Bei to secure an alliance between the two, returned to her homeland to visit her sick mother. However, the sickness was a lie to persuade Lady Sun to bring along Liu Shan, who would then be used as a hostage to exchange for Jingzhou (荆州, present day Hubei and Hunan) with Liu Bei. When Zhao Yun learnt of her departure, he rushed down to the quay, where Lady Sun had already boarded the boat manned by Zhou Shan (周善), whom Sun Quan sent to fetch her sister.

Grabbing hold of a small fishing boat, Zhao Yun caught up with the larger boat and leapt onto it. Soldiers from the Kingdom of Wu were not able to stop him. Although Zhao Yun was able to forcibly retrieve Liu Shan from his stepmother, he was not able to get off the boat, which was speeding down the river back to Wu lands. Fortunately, the boat was intercepted by a fleet led by Zhang Fei. When Zhou Shan tried to resist, Zhang Fei slew him. The two generals then brought the only son of Liu Bei safely back while Lady Sun returned to her mother.

Reference

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See also

Preceded by:
Liu Bei 		Emperor of China
(Kingdom of Shu)
223–263 		Succeeded by:
None
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