Liu Shan
| Liu Shan 劉禪 |
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Qing dynasty illustration
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| Emperor of Shu Han | |||||||||||||
| Reign | 223–263 | ||||||||||||
| Predecessor | Liu Bei | ||||||||||||
| Born | 207 Xinye, Jing Commandery, China |
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| Died | 271 (aged 63–64) Luoyang, China |
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| Father | Liu Bei | ||||||||||||
| Mother | Lady Gan | ||||||||||||
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Family name: Liu (劉) Given name: Shan (禪) Courtesy name: Gongsi (公嗣) |
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| Liu Shan | |||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 劉禪 | ||||||||
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| Simplified Chinese | 刘禅 | ||||||||
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| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Líu Shàn |
| Wade–Giles | Liu Sh'an |
Liu Shan (207–271),courtesy name Gongsi, was the second and last emperor of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period. As he ascended the throne at the age of 16, Liu Shan was entrusted to the care of the Chancellor Zhuge Liang and Imperial Secretariat Li Yan. His reign of 40 years was the longest of all in the Three Kingdoms era. During Liu Shan's reign, many campaigns were led against the rival state of Cao Wei, primarily by Zhuge Liang and his successor Jiang Wei, but to little avail. Liu Shan eventually surrendered to 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 causes, in 271.
Widely known by his infant name "Adou / Edou" (阿斗), Liu Shan was commonly perceived as an incapable, even mentally handicapped ruler. He was also accused of indulging in pleasures while neglecting state affairs. Some critics, however, 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 Li Yan. These critics also attribute political stability of his court compared to the courts of the other two states of the Three Kingdoms to Liu Shan's people management skills. They also praise Liu Shan for feigning incompetence in the most ingenious and natural way after the fall of Shu so as to avoid personal harm. Nevertheless, the name "Adou" is today still commonly used in Chinese to describe incapable people who would not achieve anything even with significant assistance.
Liu Shan's given name, when combined with that of Liu Feng, whom Liu Bei adopted before Liu Shan's birth, would become "fengshan" (封禪), meaning "to ascend the throne in a ceremony". Scholars such as Yi Zhongtian believe that this is a subtle indication of Liu Bei's (hidden) ambition to become an emperor, even long before the abdication of Emperor Xian, the last ruler of the Han Dynasty. 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.
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