生平

早年

據《三國志》記載，劉禪由劉備的妾室昭烈皇后甘梅所生，是劉備三位庶子中最為年長的。

208年（建安十三年），曹操的軍隊當陽長阪坡追擊劉備，劉禪和生母甘氏與劉備的部隊走失，幸好得到趙雲的保護，母子都倖免于難。

212年（建安十七年），劉備入蜀，孫權派人接回孫夫人，孫夫人想將五歲的劉禪一併帶走，諸葛亮派遣趙雲奪回。

221年（建安二十五年）五月，立為太子。

在位期間

劉禪繼位初期確實聽從父親的遺命，放權于丞相諸葛亮處理軍政大事，「政事無巨細，咸決于亮」。

延熙元年（公元238年），詔命蔣琬應嚴整治軍，率各軍屯紮漢中，等東吳行動，兩國構成東西犄角之勢，伺機伐魏。

劉禪始「乃自攝國事」，由蔣琬、費禕、董允等人主政，修養生息，積蓄力量後從長計議再北伐的政策。劉禪對於寵臣陳祗與宦官黃皓也頗為寵信，姜維畏懼黃皓，只得擁兵屯墾漢中的沓中（今甘肅甘南藏族自治州迭部）。

景耀六年（公元263年），姜維上表後主：「聽聞鍾會治兵關中，欲規畫進一步拓取土地之意，宜一併派遺張翼、廖化督率各軍，分別護陽安關口、陰平橋頭，以防患於未然」，黃皓徵求鬼巫信息，謂敵人終究不會自來，而劉禪也信了鬼巫，滿朝文武竟沒有一人知曉。

最後鄧艾偷渡陰平大軍壓境，劉禪與群臣商議如何抵禦，決定派諸葛瞻領兵迎戰，但諸葛瞻戰敗。最後，劉禪接受譙周的建議，在農曆十一月向曹魏投降。劉禪派太僕蔣顯至劍閣，傳令姜維等部投降，漢軍悲憤不已，紛紛拔刀砍石。鄧艾承制拜劉禪為驃騎將軍。

樂不思蜀

蜀漢滅亡後，劉禪移居魏國都城洛陽，路上蜀漢舊臣只有郤正及殿中督張通陪同。曹魏朝廷封劉禪為安樂縣公（常璩則作北巫縣安樂鄉公）。某日司馬昭設宴款待劉禪，囑咐演奏蜀樂曲，並以歌舞助興時，蜀漢舊臣們想起亡國之痛，個個掩面或低頭流淚。獨劉禪怡然自若，不為悲傷。司馬昭見到，便問劉禪：「安樂公是否思念蜀？」劉禪答道：「此間樂，不思蜀也。」他的舊臣郤正聞此言，趁上廁所時對他說：「下次如司馬昭若再問同一件事，您就先注視著宮殿的上方，接著閉上眼睛一陣子，最後張開雙眼，很認真地說：『先人墳墓，遠在蜀地，我沒有一天不想念啊！』這樣，司馬昭就能讓陛下回蜀了。」劉禪聽後，牢記在心。酒至半酣，司馬昭又問同樣的問題，劉禪趕忙把郤正教他的說了一遍。司馬昭聽了，即回以：「咦，這話怎麼像是郤正說的？」劉禪大感驚奇道：「你怎麼知道呀！」司馬昭及左右大臣哈哈大笑。司馬昭見劉禪如此老實忠懇，從此再也不懷疑他，劉禪就這樣在洛陽度過餘生，這也是「樂不思蜀」一詞的典故。

西晉晉武帝泰始七年（271年），劉禪去世，諡劉禪為思公。

劉禪太子劉璿在鐘會之亂中喪生，按次序應該立次子劉瑤為繼承人，但劉禪偏愛六子劉恂，立劉恂為繼承人，舊臣文立勸諫，不聽，于是劉恂襲為安樂公。

西晉末年，南匈奴出身的劉淵起事，國號為漢，即漢趙政權，追諡劉禪為孝懷皇帝。

住所

劉禪在洛陽的住宅位于洛陽城東陽門外二里御道的北側，被稱為暉文里，原本是晉朝的馬道里，北魏時期，該處成為太傅李延寔的住宅。

評價

• 劉備在遺詔中說：「射君（射援）到，說丞相嘆卿（即劉禪）智量，甚大增修，過于所望，審能如此，吾複何憂！勉之，勉之！」

• 諸葛亮在與杜微書中評價後主說：「朝廷年方十八，天資仁敏，愛德下士。」

• 蜀郡太守王崇論後主曰：「昔世祖內資神武之大才、外拔四屯之奇將、猶勤而獲濟。然乃登天衢、車不輟駕、坐不安席。非淵明弘鑒、則中興之業何容易哉。後主庸常之君、雖有一亮之經緯、內無胥附之謀、外無爪牙之將、焉可包括天下也。」「鄧艾以疲兵二萬溢出江油。姜維舉十萬之師，案道南歸，艾易成禽。禽艾已訖，複還拒會，則蜀之存亡未可量也。乃回道之巴，遠至五城。使艾輕進，徑及成都。兵分家滅，己自招之。然以鐘會之知略，稱為子房；姜維陷之莫至，克揵籌斥相應優劣。惜哉！」（華陽國志）

• 司馬昭：「人之無情，乃可至於是乎！雖使諸葛亮在，不能輔之久全，而況姜維邪？」

• 陳壽於《三國志》：「後主任賢相則為循理之君，惑閹豎則為昬闇之後，傳曰『素絲無常，唯所染之』，信矣哉！禮，國君繼體，逾年改元，而章武之三年，則革稱建興，考之古義，體理為違。又國不置史，註記無官，是以行事多遺，災異靡書。諸葛亮雖達于為政，凡此之類，猶有未周焉。然經載十二而年名不易，軍旅屢興而赦不妄下，不亦卓乎！自亮沒後，茲制漸虧，優劣著矣！」、認為劉禪是「素絲無常，唯所染之」，早年得諸葛亮輔助，所以「任賢相則為循理之君」；但後來寵信黃皓，敗壞政事，卻是「惑閹豎則為昏闇之後」。但與暴虐好殺的孫皓相比，劉禪要更為善於處理政務且與大臣們保持著良好的互動。

• 薛珝：「主暗而不知其過，臣下容身以求免罪，入其朝不聞正言，經其野民有菜色。」

• 晉朝張華問李密：「安樂公（劉禪）何如？」密曰：「可次齊桓。」華問其故，對曰：「齊桓得管仲而霸，用豎刁而蟲流。安樂公得諸葛亮而抗魏，任黃皓而喪國，是知成敗一也。」(晉書‧李密傳)

• 裴松之為《三國志·三少帝紀》作注，在評論郭修刺殺費禕事時，稱劉禪為「凡下之主」。

• 孫盛：「劉禪暗弱，無猜險之性。」「禪雖庸主，實無桀、紂之酷，戰雖屢北，未有土崩之亂，縱不能君臣固守，背城借一，自可退次東鄙以思後圖。」認為劉禪是「庸主」。

• 李特：「劉禪有如此江山而降于人，豈非庸才？」（華陽國志）

• 常璩：「主非中興之器。」（華陽國志）

• 張璠：「劉禪懦弱，心無害戾。」

• 朱敬則：「若乃投井求生，橫奔畏死，面縛請罪，膝行待刑，是其謀也。馬上唱無愁之歌，侍宴索達摩之曲，劉禪不思隴蜀，叔寶絕無心肝，對賈充以不忠之詞，和晉帝以鄰國之詠，是其才也。縱黃皓，嬖岑昏，寵高壤，狎江總，是其任也。剝面鑿眼，孫皓之刑；棄親即讎，高緯之志。其餘細故，不可殫論。聽吾子之懸衡，任夫人之明鏡。」（《全唐文》）

• 陳世崇：「孔明之子瞻、孫尚戰死，張飛之孫遵，趙雲次子廣亦戰死，北平王諶哭于昭烈廟，先殺妻子乃自殺，魏以蜀宮人賜將士，李昭儀不辱自殺。禪不特愧于將士，亦且愧于婦人矣。」

• 俞德鄰：「禪以暗弱之資，而又惑于閹豎，使無此讖，其能與魏爭乎？」

• 鄭玉：「孔明蓋社稷之臣也，今劉禪昏愚暗弱，縱使伊尹阿衡、周公輔相，亦必危亡而後已，雖百孔明，如之何哉？」「孔明既死，劉禪卒就擒縛。及其入魏，屈辱百端，略無愧恥。豈惟劉氏之宗社不嗣，遂使高祖、光武含羞地下，抱憾無窮。」

• 王夫之：「後主失德而亡，非失險也，恃險也，恃則未有不失者也。君恃之而棄德，將恃之而棄謀，士卒恃之而棄勇。伏弩飛石，恃以卻敵；危石叢薄，恃以全身；無致死之心，一失其恃，則匍伏奔竄之恐後；扼以於蹊徑，而淩峭壁以下攻，則首尾不相顧而潰。故謂後主信巫言而失陰平之守以亡國，非也。陰平守，而亙數百里之山厓谿谷，皆可度越，陰平一旅，亦贅疣而已。李特過劍閣而歎劉禪之不能守，艸竅之智，乘晉亂以茍延爾。譙縱、王建、孟知祥、明玉珍蹶然而起，熸然而滅，恃險愈甚，其亡愈速矣。」《讀通鑒論·卷十》

• 羅貫中：「祈哀請命拜征塵，蓋為當時寵亂臣。五十四州王霸業，等閒拋棄屬他人。」「魏兵數萬入川來，後主偷生失自裁。黃皓終存欺國意，姜維空負濟時才。全忠義士心何烈，守節王孫志可哀。昭烈經營良不易，一朝功業頓成灰。」

• 潘時彤：「可惜三分鼎，空憐六尺孤。大權歸宦豎，強敵問神巫。斫石軍心憤，回天將膽粗。山頭曾學射，一矢報仇無。」

• 《三國志》盧弼集解引周壽昌說：「五丈原頭大星夜隕，至千載下猶有餘恫。廖公淵、李正方俱為武侯貶退，侯死皆痛泣而卒。李邈何人敢為此疏，直是全無心肝。使非後主之明斷，則讒慝生心，乘間構釁，恐唐魏元成僕碑之禍，明張太岳籍沒之慘，不待死肉寒而君心早變矣。見疏生怒，立正刑誅，君子謂後主之賢，于是乎不可及。」「（樂不思蜀一事）恐傳聞失實，不則養晦以自全耳。」

• 清朝方苞《望溪先生文集》中有〈蜀漢後主論〉一文，論曰：「亡國之君若劉後主者，其為世詬歷也久矣，而有合乎聖人之道一焉，則任賢勿貳是也。其奉先主之遺命也，一以國事推之孔明而己不與，世猶曰以師保受寄託，威望信于國人，故不敢貳也。然孔明既歿，而奉其遺言以任蔣琬、董允者，一如受命于先主。及琬與允歿，然後以軍事屬姜維，而維亦孔明所識任也。夫孔明之歿，其年乃五十有四耳。使天假之年而得乘司馬氏君臣之瑕釁，雖北定中原可也。即琬與允不相繼以歿，亦長保蜀漢可也。然則蜀之亡，會漢祚之當終耳，豈後主有必亡之道哉！嗚呼！使置後主他行而獨舉其任孔明以衡君德，則太甲、成王當之有愧色矣！」

• 蔡東藩：「成都雖危，尚堪背城借一，後主寧從譙周，不從北地王諶，面縛出降，坐喪蜀土，是咎在後主。」

幼名爭議

劉禪的幼名「阿斗」被後世用作無能者的代名詞。然而，「阿斗」極有可能是「阿升」之誤。

「升」字古音同「登」，與「斗」字語轉相同，「升」「斗」本為一語、同指一物（「十升為斗」乃後世之制），後因音變二字分化，「升」字由「斗」字加筆區分，二字往往形近致誤。古文獻中「斗」「升」二字經常相混。在《三國志》現存常見版本中，亦有多個地方學術界認為「斗」字應作「升」字，其中較著名的包括劉禪的幼名「阿斗」疑應作「阿升」，姜維「膽大如斗」疑應作「膽大如升」。清代陳景雲指出《三國志》卷三《魏書·明帝紀》註釋中稱劉禪為「劉升之」可為依據，吳金華《三國志校詁》認為稱「劉升之」為「阿升」，如同《三國志·蜀書五·諸葛亮傳》註釋中稱黃承彥為「阿承」，都是當時習俗。《漢書·卷六·武帝紀》記載漢武帝「登封泰山，……升䄠肅然」，「䄠」即「禪」之異體字，「升」「禪」含義關聯。養子名為「劉封」，長子名為「劉禪」，亦反映劉備志向。

軼事

魏國史書《魏略》中記載，劉禪在劉備于徐州被曹操攻打時與家人走失，因而被人口販子拐賣，到了漢中，被一個叫做劉括的人收養。後來劉備入蜀之後，一名簡姓將軍（疑為簡雍）到漢中出使，劉禪找到他並講解兒時故事，記得父親字玄德，証明自己的確是劉備兒子。張魯于是下令把劉禪還給劉備，劉備才把他立為繼承人。間接來講，若這個記載為真，趙雲在當陽救劉禪以及攔江截阿斗都是蜀漢編造的故事。然而裴松之根據《三國志》的說法對這個記載提出質疑，指出年齡上並不符合，後世也多採信裴松之。

家庭

父

• 烈祖昭烈皇帝劉備

母

• 甘夫人甘梅，追尊昭烈皇后

后妃

• 敬哀皇后，張氏，張飛長女。劉禪為太子時立為太子妃。於223年立為皇后，237年去世。

• 張皇后，張飛次女。敬哀皇后死後，於238年正月立為皇后。蜀漢滅亡後，隨劉禪到洛陽。

• 王貴人，劉禪後宮，劉璿生母。原本是敬哀皇后的侍女。

• 李昭儀，劉禪後宮，蜀漢滅亡時自殺。

兄弟

• 劉永，字公壽，鄉侯。

• 劉理，字奉孝，諡曰悼王。

子

劉禪的兒子見于《三國志》記載的有以下七人，其中劉琮亡國之前已過世，劉璿于蜀漢亡後的鍾會之亂中被殺，劉諶于亡國當日自殺，其餘投降並與後主同時被遷往洛陽。在永嘉之亂後，劉禪子孫全部死絕。

女

史書無明確記載，《三國志》中記載的三位公主應是他的女兒

• 公主，延熙六年（243年），嫁給時年十七歲的諸葛瞻

• 公主，嫁費禕次子費恭，費禕長女費氏是劉禪長子劉璿的太子妃

• 公主，嫁關羽之孫、關興之子關統

藝術形象

歇後語

• 阿斗當皇帝——軟弱無能

• 阿斗的江山——白送

• 劉備摔阿斗——收買人心

• 司馬昭試探劉禪投降——樂不思蜀

• 扶不起的阿斗

影視形象

• 1985年電視劇《諸葛亮》：吳鬥爭、吉華

• 1994年電視劇《三國演義》：陳婧、李華彤、李鐵、魯繼先

• 1996年電影《諸葛孔明》：周海濤

• 2008年電影《三國之見龍卸甲》：胡靜波

• 2008年電影《赤壁》：傅祥瑞

• 2010年電視劇《三國》：王鶴鳴

• 2016年電視劇《武神趙子龍》：劉若谷

• 2017年電視劇《軍師聯盟》：姜寒

• 2020年電影《趙雲傳之龍鳴長阪坡》：可馨

• 2022年電視劇《風起隴西》

動漫形象

• 《三國演義》

• 漫畫《蒼天航路》（王欣太）:是一位聰明開朗的少年。

• 漫畫《火鳳燎原》（陳某）

遊戲

• 《三國殺》

• 《三國殺名將傳》

• 《真三國無雙/無雙OROCHI系列》（光榮公司開發，松野太紀配音）

• 《王者榮耀》

• 《幻想三國誌5》

Early life

Liu Shan was the eldest son of the warlord Liu Bei and was born to Liu Bei's concubine Lady Gan. In 208, Liu Bei's rival Cao Cao, who had by then occupied most of northern China, launched a campaign on Jing Province. During his retreat south, Liu Bei was caught up by an elite cavalry force led by Cao Cao at the Battle of Changban, and forced to leave behind Lady Gan and Liu Shan to resume his escape. Liu Bei's 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 Yu Huan's Weilüe. 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 in 200. He somehow landed in Hanzhong and was sold by slave traders. Only when Liu Bei declared himself emperor in 221 was Liu Shan reunited with his father. Pei Songzhi included this account in his Annotated Records of the Three Kingdoms but refused to give it any credence.

After Liu Bei declared himself emperor of Shu Han in 221, Liu Shan was formally made the crown prince. In the following year, Liu Bei left the capital Chengdu on a campaign against Sun Quan, who had sent his general Lü Meng to invade and seize Jing Province from Liu Bei in 219. Liu Bei was defeated at the Battle of Xiaoting and, having retreated to the city of Baidicheng, eventually died in 223. Before his death, Liu Bei entrusted the young Liu Shan to the care of his chancellor Zhuge Liang. Liu Bei made an ambiguous deathbed statement to Zhuge Liang about the possibility of Liu Shan's fitness to rule. The statement meant at minimum that Zhuge Liang was empowered to replace Liu Shan if the crown prince proved incapable, and may have indicated permission for Zhuge Liang to take the throne himself.

Reign

Zhuge Liangs regency

While Zhuge Liang was alive, Liu Shan treated him as a father figure, allowing Zhuge to handle all state affairs. Zhuge Liang recommended many trusted officials, including Fei Yi, Dong Yun, Guo Youzhi and Xiang Chong into key positions. Under Zhuge Liang's advice, Liu Shan entered into an alliance with the state of Eastern Wu, helping both states to survive against the much larger state of Cao Wei. During Zhuge Liang's regency, the government was largely efficient and not corrupt, allowing the relatively small state of Shu to prepare itself for military campaigns.

In 223, Liu Shan married Zhang Fei's daughter, Empress Zhang.

In the aftermath of Liu Bei's death, the southern Nanman tribes had peeled away from Shu dominion. In 225, Zhuge Liang headed south and was able to, by both military victories and persuasion, reintegrate the southern region into the empire. For the rest of Zhuge Liang's regency, the southern Nanman people would be key contributors to Shu's campaigns against Wei.

Starting in 227, Zhuge Liang launched his five Northern Expeditions against Wei. All but one were modest military failures, with the Shu forces exhausting their provisions before they were able to inflict significant damage on Wei. On one expedition in 231, Zhuge Liang faced a political crisis. Unable to supply the troops sufficiently, Zhuge Liang's co-regent Li Yan forged an edict by Liu Shan, ordering Zhuge Liang to retreat. When Zhuge Liang discovered this, he recommended that Li Yan be removed from his office and put under house arrest, and Liu Shan accepted the recommendation.

In 234, while Zhuge Liang was on his final campaign against Wei, he grew seriously ill. Hearing about Zhuge's illness, Liu Shan sent his secretary Li Fu (李福) to the front line to visit Zhuge Liang and request instructions on important state matters. Among other things, Zhuge Liang recommended that Jiang Wan succeed him, and that Fei Yi succeed Jiang Wan. Zhuge Liang refused to answer Li Fu's next question — who should succeed Fei Yi. Zhuge Liang died soon thereafter. Liu Shan followed these recommendations, installing Jiang Wan as the new regent.

Jiang Wans regency

From that point on, Shu was generally in a defensive posture and no longer posed a threat to Wei. According to histories of the Wu court, Shu's defensive posture was interpreted by many Wu officials as a sign that Shu was abandoning the alliance and had entered into a treaty with Wei; but Wu's emperor Sun Quan correctly identified it as merely a sign of weakness, not an abandonment of the alliance.

In 237, Empress Zhang died. That year, Liu Shan took her younger sister as a consort, and in 238 created her empress. Her title remained the same as her sister, Empress Zhang.

In 243, Jiang Wan grew ill and transferred most of his authority to Fei Yi and Fei's assistant Dong Yun. In 244, when Wei's regent Cao Shuang attacked Hanzhong, it was Fei Yi who led the troops against Cao Shuang and dealt Wei a major defeat in the Battle of Xingshi. Jiang Wan, however, remained influential until his death in 245. Soon after Jiang Wan's death, Dong Yun also died — allowing the eunuch Huang Hao, a favourite of Liu Shan's, whose power Dong Yun had curbed, to start aggrandising his power. Huang Hao was viewed as corrupt and highly manipulative in domestic matters, and the governmental efficiency that was achieved during Zhuge Liang's and Jiang Wan's regencies began to deteriorate.

Fei Yis regency

After Jiang Wan and Dong Yun's deaths, Liu Shan named Jiang Wei as Fei Yi's assistant, but both were largely involved only in military matters, as Liu Shan gradually became more self-assertive in non-military matters. It was also around this time that he became more interested in touring the countryside and increasing the use of luxury items, both of which added stress on the treasury, albeit not cripplingly so. Jiang Wei was interested in resuming Zhuge Liang's policies of attacking Wei aggressively, a strategy that Fei Yi partially agreed with — as he allowed Jiang Wei to make raids on Wei's borders, but never gave him a large number of troops, reasoning that Shu was in no position for a major military confrontation with Wei.

In 253, Fei Yi was assassinated by the general Guo Xun (郭循), a former Wei general who had been forced to surrender but who secretly maintained his loyalty to Wei. Fei Yi's death left Jiang Wei as the de facto regent, but with a power vacuum in domestic affairs, as Jiang Wei continued to be on the borders, conducting campaigns against Wei. Huang Hao's influence increased greatly as a result.

Jiang Weis semi-regency

After Fei Yi's death, Jiang Wei assumed command of Shu's troops and began a number of campaigns against Wei—but while they were troubling to the Wei regents Sima Shi and Sima Zhao, the attacks largely inflicted no real damage against Wei, as Jiang Wei's campaigns were plagued by one problem that had plagued Zhuge Liang's—the lack of adequate food supply—and largely had to be terminated after a short duration. These campaigns instead had a detrimental effect on Shu, whose government no longer had the efficiency that it had during Zhuge Liang's and Jiang Wan's regencies, and therefore was unable to cope with the drain of resources that Jiang Wei's campaigns were having.

In 253, Jiang Wei made a coordinated attack on Wei, along with Wu's regent Zhuge Ke, but was eventually forced to withdraw after his troops ran out of food supplies — allowing Sima Shi to concentrate against Zhuge Ke, dealing Wu forces a devastating defeat that eventually caused so much resentment that Zhuge Ke was assassinated. This was the last of the coordinated attacks by Shu and Wu on Wei in the duration of the Shu-Wu alliance.

In 255, on one of Jiang Wei's campaigns, he dealt Wei forces a major defeat in the Battle of Didao, nearly capturing the important Wei border city Didao, but in 256, as he tried to again confront the Wei forces, he was instead dealt a defeat by Deng Ai, and this was a fairly devastating loss that left Jiang Wei with a weakened standing with the people. Many officials now openly questioned Jiang Wei's strategy, but Liu Shan took no actions to stop Jiang. Further, in 259, under Jiang Wei's suggestion, Liu Shan approved a plan where the main troops were withdrawn from major border cities to try to induce a Wei attack, with troops positioned in such a way as to trap the Wei troops should they do so — a strategy that would be used several years later, in 263, when Wei did attack, but which would prove to be a failure.

By 261, Huang Hao's power appeared paramount. Among the key domestic officials, only Dong Jue and Zhuge Liang's son Zhuge Zhan were able to maintain their posts without flattering Huang Hao. In 262, Huang Hao would in fact try to remove Jiang Wei and replace him with his friend Yan Yu (閻宇). Upon hearing this, Jiang Wei 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 left Chengdu to garrison troops at Tazhong (沓中; northwest of present-day Zhugqu County, Gansu).

According to the Wu ambassador Xue Xu, who visited Shu in 261 on the order of the Wu emperor Sun Xiu, the status that Shu was in at this point was:

:The ruler is incompetent and does not know his errors; his subordinates do the bare minimum to avoid punishment. When I entered their court, I heard no proper speech; when I toured their countryside, the people looked sallow from hunger. Your servant has heard that swallows and sparrows may nests atop a great hall, mother and child both content, believing themselves safe. Yet should the rafters suddenly ignite, the birds remain happy, unaware of the disaster about to befall them. The situation is analogous.

Fall of Shu

In 262, aggravated by Jiang Wei's constant attacks, Wei's regent Sima Zhao planned to carry out a major campaign to terminate the Shu threat once and for all. Upon hearing rumours of this plan, Jiang Wei submitted a request to Liu Shan, warning him about the mustering of Wei troops under the generals Deng Ai, Zhuge Xu, and Zhong Hui near the border. However, Huang Hao persuaded Liu Shan with fortunetelling to take no action on Jiang Wei's requests for war preparations.

In 263, Sima Zhao launched his attacks, led by Deng Ai, Zhuge Xu, and Zhong Hui. Liu Shan followed Jiang Wei's previous plans and ordered the border troops to withdraw and prepare to trap Wei forces, rather than to confront them directly. The plan, however, had a fatal flaw — it assumed that Wei forces would siege the border cities, which, instead, Deng Ai and Zhong Hui ignored, and they advanced instead on Yang'an Pass (陽安關; in present-day Hanzhong, Shaanxi), capturing it. Jiang Wei was able to meet their troops and initially repel them, but Deng Ai led his army through a treacherous mountain pass and deep into Shu territory. There he launched a surprise attack on Jiangyou (江油; in present-day Mianyang, Sichuan). After defeating Zhuge Zhan there, Deng Ai had virtually no Shu troops left between his army and the Shu capital Chengdu. Faced with the prospect of defending Chengdu against Deng Ai's troops with no defences, Liu Shan took the advice of Secretary Qiao Zhou and promptly surrendered. This surrender was criticised by many: Chen Shou alone had sympathetic words, in a laconic coda to the biography of Qiao Zhou, his own former mentor. It would be until the Qing dynasty that other nuanced or positive assessments were made.

In March 264, Zhong Hui would carry out an attempt to seize power — which Jiang Wei, who had surrendered to Zhong Hui, tried to take advantage of to revive Shu. He advised Zhong Hui to falsely accuse Deng Ai of treason and arrest him, and, with their combined troops, rebel against Sima Zhao. Zhong Hui did so, and Jiang Wei planned to next kill Zhong Hui and his followers, and then redeclare Shu's independence under emperor Liu Shan, and had in fact written to Liu Shan to inform him of those plans. However, Zhong Hui's troops rebelled against him, and both Jiang Wei and Zhong Hui were killed in battle. Liu Shan himself was not harmed in the disturbance, although his crown prince Liu Xuan was killed in the confusion.

Life after the fall of Shu

In early 264, Liu Shan with Empress Zhang and his entire family was relocated to the Wei capital Luoyang. On 11 April 264, he was enfeoffed as Duke of Anle (安樂公) while his sons and grandsons became marquises. This practice was referred to as (二王三恪).

The by Xi Zuochi records an incident which has become the most famous tale to be associated with Liu Shan: One day, the Wei regent Sima Zhao 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 state, Liu Shan replied:

This phrase has become a Chinese idiom— lèbùsīshǔ (樂不思蜀), figuratively meaning "joyful and does not think of home / the past". The phrase has a negative connotation with regards to the person's character.

Former Shu official Xi Zheng then advised Liu Shan that the appropriate response was to lament how far he had been removed from his family tombs. Liu Shan followed the advice when he was asked the same question later, however Sima Zhao quickly guessed that he had been coached in his answer, and Liu Shan admitted as much. This was noted by Sima Zhao as a sign that Liu Shan was an incompetent fool; some later historians believed that it showed Liu Shan's wisdom in intentionally displaying a lack of ambition so that Sima Zhao would not view him as a threat.

Liu Shan died in 271 in Luoyang, and was given the posthumous name "Duke Si of Anle" (安樂思公; "the deep-thinking duke of peace and happiness"). This landless sinecure lasted a few generations during Wei's successor state, the Jin dynasty, before being extinguished in the Disaster of Yongjia. Liu Yuan, the founder of Han-Zhao, one of the states in the Sixteen Kingdoms, claimed to be a legitimate successor of the Han dynasty. In that capacity, he bestowed Liu Shan the posthumous name "Emperor Xiaohuai" (孝懷皇帝; "the filial and kind emperor").

Assessment

Contemporary

Liu Shan had a very negative reputation among his contemporaries. He was seen as an incompetent ruler, more interested in satisfying his desires than looking after his country and was held responsible for appointing corrupt officials to position of power.

Both Xue Xu and Lu Kai, officials from the allied State of Eastern Wu described him as a mediocre ruler with Xue Xu further remarking that when he travelled to Shu for his mission as emissary in 261, he saw corruption among the officials and hunger among the people. Lu Kai noted that the natural defences of Sichuan along with a strong army were enough to protect his State yet Liu Shan allowed disorder and corruption in his court, failed to recognize honest officials from dishonest more interested in luxury which is how his State and subordinates became prisoners from another.

This statement about the impressive natural defenses of the region is repeated by Li Te, when he led his clan back to Yi Province. While passing through Jian'ge Pass (劍閣關, in modern Guangyuan, Sichuan), he exclaimed that with such an impressive barrier, only a lesser man like Liu Shan could have been submitted by someone else.

As previously stated, Sima Zhao thought of Liu Shan's attitude as pleasure seeker, saying that even someone as talented as Zhuge Liang couldn't assist and safeguard him forever so even less Jiang Wei. Jia Chong answered to Sima Zhao that this was the same behaviour that allowed them to conquer Shu Han. A resounding anecdote when comparing with the events preceding the Wei invasion. When he was Emperor, Liu Shan repeatedly wanted to expand his harem however Dong Yun prevented him from doing so. Liu Shan was too afraid to act against him and for this disliked him. After Dong Yun's death, with the flattery of Chen Zhi and influence of Huang Hao, Liu Shan's hatred for Dong Yun grew each day. After Chen Zhi's death in 258, Huang Hao was controlling the politics of the State and none among the people of Shu did not miss Dong Yun.

Li Mi, a former official of Shu gave a mixed appraisal praising him for the employment of Zhuge Liang which allowed him to stabilize his power but also criticizing him for the employment of Huang Hao which allowed the later corruption of his court. Sun Sheng evaluated Liu Shan as a mediocre and ignorant ruler and denounced him for surrendering so quickly during the Conquest of Shu by Wei in 263 rather than use the local rugged terrain along with other armies in his government to resist the invaders. Pei Songzhi qualified him (along with Fei Yi) as an average individual who had no weight on the existence of his State.

Chang Qu, who wrote extensively about the history of the Sichuan region in the Chronicles of Huayang (Huayang Guo Zhi), greatly praised Zhuge Liang but lamented that his lord, Liu Shan wasn't the kind of man that could unite a country. In the volume 7 of the Huayang Guo Zhi, he ends Liu Shan's biography with Wang Chong's eulogy toward his former State of Shu Han where Wang Chong comments that Liu Shan was a mediocre ruler without ambition toward the world and was in part responsible for the decline of his State.

Chen Shou, who wrote Liu Shan's biography in the Records of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguozhi), in his appraisal commends Liu Shan when he appointed Zhuge Liang for following reason but condemns him for the employment of Huang Hao as being ignorant. He noted that when something is without substance, it reflects what's around. And this expression fits Liu Shan perfectly.

Modern

However, modern historians have taken a revisionist view, challenging the common portrayal of Liu Shan seeing him in a far more positive light.

Among them, Yi Zhongtian argued that even competent emperors like Emperor Wu of Han had evil courtiers beside him; Liu Shan is not the only case. Moreover, surrounding Liu Shan were not only evil courtiers, but also many competent and talented officers like Jiang Wan, Fei Yi and Dong Yun. Secondly, Liu Shan surrendering without much fighting is blameworthy, but the fall of Shu Han was actually due to many reasons. Thirdly, for the case of Zhao Yun, Zhao's official position during his life was actually lower than Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Ma Chao and Huang Zhong. Hence, Liu Shan's awarding of posthumous Marquis titles to the latter four but not timely to Zhao Yun was understandable. Finally, Liu Shan's behavior in front of Sima Zhao was purposeful: he pretended to be stupid and despicable so that Sima Zhao would ignore him and spare his family, and Liu Shan was successful. Being able to fool the distrustful Sima Zhao meant Liu Shan was actually not a fool.

Moreover, there were notable signs of Liu Shan's competence during his reign. He cleverly retook direct control of state affairs after the death of Zhuge Liang and appointed Jiang Wan and Fei Yi so that the two could keep each other in check. In 238, Cao Wei made war with Gongsun Yuan and many people in Shu Han believed it was a good chance for northern expansion. However, Liu Shan carefully instructed Fei Yi to attack only in combination with Eastern Wu, and only when Cao Wei was unprepared. Several historical commentators thus compare Liu Shan's caution favorably with that of Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang's costly and ineffective campaigns. Finally, Liu Shan's surrender in 262-263 has been viewed with sympathy as an inevitable choice by commentators in both historical records and contemporary times, due to the vast difference in population and military capability between the two states, as well as the tendency of victors to massacre the citizens of enemy states that had refused to surrender. In particular, Liu Shan's surrender is often compared favorably with that of Gongsun Yuan, a regional warlord who attempted to retake power by allying with Eastern Wu, which eventually resulted in the extermination of his clan, and a bloody massacre of his population base at Liaodong. In contrast, Liu Shan's surrender led to a peaceful transfer of power to the Wei kingdom, with most of the population unharmed, except during the week of unrest caused by Jiang Wei's plotting.

Family

Consorts and issue

• Empress Jing'ai, of the Zhang clan (敬哀皇后 張氏; d. 237)

• Empress Zhang, of the Zhang clan (張皇后 張氏; 237–264)

• Noble Lady Wang, of the Wang clan (王貴人 王氏)

　• Liu Xuan, Crown Prince (皇太子 劉璿; 224–March 264), first son

• Li Zhaoyi, of the Li clan (李昭儀 李氏)

• Unknown:

　• Liu Yao, Prince of Anding (安定王劉瑤), second son

　• Liu Cong, Prince of Xihe (西河王劉琮; d. 262), third son

　• Liu Zan (劉瓚), fourth son

　• Liu Chen, Prince of Beidi (北地王劉諶; d. 263), fifth son

　• Liu Xun, Prince of Xinxing (新興王劉恂), sixth son; later succeeded the peerage of Duke of Anle

　• Liu Qian (劉虔), seventh son

In popular culture

Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Liu Shan appears as a character in the historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong, which romanticises the historical events before and during the Three Kingdoms period. In the novel, Liu Shan is generally portrayed as an incapable ruler who was easily swayed by words, especially those from the eunuch Huang Hao, whom he favoured.

In modern works

Liu Shan is a playable character in Koei's Dynasty Warriors video game series, first available in the seventh instalment, as well as in Warriors Orochi 3, also by Koei.