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. (It appears likely that Lady Gan had died sometime before 209, because when Liu Bei's wife Lady Sun effectively divorced Liu Bei in 211, Liu Shan was in her custody.)

An alternative story of Liu Shan's early life was given in A Brief History of Wei by Yu Huan. 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. However, this story was rejected by Pei Songzhi, who made annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms, taking into account various other sources.

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 even told Zhuge Liang to take the throne if Liu Shan proved to be incapable.

Reign

Zhuge Liangs regency

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 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, but all except one were military failures (albeit not military disasters) in that his forces ran out of food before they were able to inflict significant damage on Wei and therefore were forced to withdraw. It was during one of Zhuge Liang's campaigns that the only real political crisis during Zhuge's regency would occur. In 231, 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 to request Zhuge to leave 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 Zhuge's instructions and installed Jiang Wan as the new regent.

Jiang Wans regency

Jiang Wan was a capable administrator, and he continued Zhuge Liang's domestic policies, leaving the government largely efficient. He was also known for his tolerance of dissension and his humility. Not having much military aptitude, however, he soon abandoned Zhuge Liang's aggressive foreign policy towards Wei, and indeed in 241 withdrew most of the troops from the important border city of Hanzhong to Fu County (涪縣; in present-day Mianyang, Sichuan). 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 intend a trapping of the Wei troops — 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 at the order of the Wu emperor Sun Xiu, the status that Shu was in at this point was:

:The emperor is incompetent and does not know his errors; his subordinates just try to get by without causing trouble for themselves. When I was visiting them, I heard no honest words, and when I visited their countryside, the people looked hungry. I have heard of a story of swallows and sparrows making nests on top of mansions and being content, believing that it was the safest place, not realising that the haystack and the support beams were on fire and that disaster was about to come. This might be what they are like.

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. While the surrender was criticised by many, the historian Wang Yin (王隱), in his Records of Shu, described the move as a policy that placed the welfare of the people on top.

In 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 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 the "Duke of Anle" (安樂公; literally meaning "duke of peace and comfort") while his sons and grandsons became marquises. This practice was referred to as er wang san ke (二王三恪).

The Spring and Autumn Annals of Han and Jin (漢晉春秋) 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:

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

This phrase has become a Chinese idiom - le bu si shu (樂不思蜀), figuratively meaning "is joyful and does not think of home" or "is joyful and does not think of his past". The phrase has a negative connotation with regards to the person's character.

According to the Annals, former Shu official Xi Zheng 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; however, 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; literally "the deep-thinking duke of Anle"). His dukedom lasted several generations during Wei's successor state, the Jin Dynasty, before being extinguished in the turmoils caused by the Wu Hu. 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. He gave Liu Shan the posthumous name "Emperor Xiaohuai" (孝懷皇帝; literally: "the filial and kind emperor").

Assessment

Liu Shan is traditionally considered as an incompetent rulers who trusted evil courtiers (such as Huang Hao), was responsible for Shu Han's fall, and behaved despicably in front of Sima Yao. He is also criticized for not timely awarded posthumous Marquis title to Zhao Yun, the one who saved his life and also contributed greatly to Shu Han (he only did so after the complaint of Jiang Wei and others).

However, several opinions cast doubt on this assessment. First, even competent emperors like Emperor Wu of Han had evil courtiers beside him, Liu Shan is not the only case. And surrounding Liu Shan were not only evil courtiers, but also many competent and talented officers like Jiang Wan, Fei Yi and Dong Yun. Liu Shan surrendered without much fighting is blameworthy, but the fall of Shu Han was actually due to many reasons. Third, 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 award of posthumous Marquis title to the latter four but not timely to Zhao Yun was understandable, although not acceptable. And finally Liu Shan's behavior in front of Sima Yao was purposeful, he pretended to be stupid and despicable so that Sima Yao would ignore him and spare his family, and Liu Shan was successful. Being able to fool the distrustful Sima Yao, that means Liu Shan was actually not a fool.

Moreover, there were notable signs of Liu Shan's competence during his reign. First was about how he cleverly retook direct control of the state affairs after the death of Zhuge Liang and how he appointed Jiang Wan and Fei Yi so that the two could supervised and checked each other. Second, in 238, Cao Wei made war with Gongsun Yuan and many people in Shu Han believed that was a great chance for northern expedition. 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

In 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.

See the following for some fictitious stories in Romance of the Three Kingdoms involving Liu Shan:

• Battle of Changban#In fiction

In popular culture

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

生平

早年

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

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，蜀軍悲憤不已，紛紛拔刀砍石。鄧艾承制拜劉禪為驃騎將軍。

樂不思蜀

蜀漢亡後，劉禪移居魏國都城洛陽，封為安樂縣公（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：「陛下，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學了一遍。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，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，劉淵起事，國號為漢，即漢趙政權，追諡劉禪為孝懷皇帝，但其子孫皆已被滅族，而劉淵是匈奴血統，稱其先祖曾與漢室通婚聯姻，因此與劉禪並無直接的血緣關係。

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。」「鄧女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。」

拐賣疑雲

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，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。

• 劉璿，劉禪長子，十五歲被立為太子，蜀漢亡後，鍾會在成都作亂，被亂兵殺害。

• 劉瑤，劉禪二子。

• 劉琮，劉禪三子，于262年病逝。

• 劉瓚，劉禪四子。

• 劉諶，劉禪五子，北地王，曾反對譙周降魏的提議，但被劉禪拒絕，遂於蜀漢亡國當日自殺。

• 劉恂，劉禪六子。後繼承安樂公爵位。

• 劉璩，劉禪七子，蜀漢景耀二年夏六月與兄劉諶、劉恂同時封王，被封為上黨王。

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

• 2004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

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》

• 《王者榮耀》

• 《幻想三國誌5》