Huang Hao 黃皓

According to the Biography of Dong Yun, as the Later Sovereign gradually grew up, he came to favor the eunuch Huang Hao. Huang Hao was a skilled flatterer and clever, and sought to worm his way in. Dong Yun always corrected his sovereign above with a stern countenance and repeatedly rebuked Huang Hao below, so Huang Hao feared Dong Yun and dared not do wrong. As long as Dong Yun lived, Huang Hao's rank never rose above Assistant of the Yellow Gate. Dong Yun died in the 9th year of Yanxi (246). Records, Shu 9 §29 · 31

When Chen Zhi replaced Dong Yun as Palace Attendant, he and Huang Hao worked hand in glove, and only then did Huang Hao begin to take part in government. Chen Shou wrote that the Later Sovereign's resentment of Dong Yun grew deeper by the day after Chen Zhi won favor because Chen Zhi flattered him and Huang Hao contrived to sow discord, seeping in little by little. After Chen Zhi died in the 1st year of Jingyao (258), Huang Hao rose from Prefect of the Yellow Gate to Regular Palace Attendant and Chief Commandant of Imperial Carriages and wielded power as he pleased. The Biography of the Later Sovereign also records that in the 1st year of Jingyao the eunuch Huang Hao first began to take sole control of the government. Records, Shu 9 §33 · 35–36Records, Shu 3 §38

Liu Yong, Prince of Ganling and the Later Sovereign's younger half-brother, had hated Huang Hao from the start. Once Huang Hao gained trust and held power, he slandered and framed Liu Yong to the Later Sovereign, and the Later Sovereign gradually kept Liu Yong at a distance, so that for more than ten years Liu Yong was unable to attend court and have an audience. Records, Shu 4 §18–19

After Zhuge Zhan, Dong Jue and Fan Jian took charge of the government, Jiang Wei was always away on campaign, and Huang Hao secretly manipulated power; they all merely shielded him and could not correct him. Only Fan Jian did not keep friendly company with Huang Hao. Xi Zheng, holding posts within the palace, lived as Huang Hao's neighbor for thirty years; Huang Hao rose from humble origins to high rank and wielded power, but Xi Zheng was neither loved nor hated by him. So Xi Zheng's office never rose above 600 shi, but he escaped worry and calamity. Records, Shu 5 §64Records, Shu 12 §82

The Biography of Qiao Zhou says that at the time when the eunuch Huang Hao was wielding power in the palace, in the 5th year of Jingyao (262), a great tree in the palace broke of its own accord for no reason, and Qiao Zhou, deeply worried but with no one to speak to, wrote words on a pillar. Records, Shu 12 §23

In the 5th year of Jingyao (262), Jiang Wei was defeated by Deng Ai at Houhe and stayed at Tazhong. At that time Huang Hao and others were manipulating power within the court, and the General-in-Chief of the Right Yan Yu sided with Huang Hao; Huang Hao secretly sought to oust Jiang Wei and set up Yan Yu in his place. Jiang Wei suspected this too, and so, feeling himself in danger and afraid, he never returned to Chengdu again. Records, Shu 14 §43

In the 6th year of Jingyao (263), Jiang Wei submitted a memorial saying that Zhong Hui was readying troops in Guanzhong and planning an advance, and proposing that Zhang Yi and Liao Hua be given troops to guard the mouth of Yang'an Pass and the bridgehead at Yinping. But Huang Hao, trusting the words of shamans and spirits, said the enemy would never come, and advised the Later Sovereign to shelve the matter, so the officials knew nothing of it. Only when Zhong Hui was heading for Luo Valley and Deng Ai was about to enter Tazhong were Liao Hua sent to Tazhong, and Zhang Yi, Dong Jue and others to the mouth of Yang'an Pass. Records, Shu 14 §43–44

After the fall of Shu, Deng Ai heard that Huang Hao was crafty and sinister and had him seized and imprisoned, meaning to kill him, but Huang Hao escaped death by lavishly bribing Deng Ai's attendants. Chen Shou wrote in the Biography of Dong Yun that Huang Hao in the end went so far as to bring down the state, and that there was no one in Shu who did not miss Dong Yun. The Records does not say what became of Huang Hao after that. Records, Shu 9 §33

In his assessment of the Later Sovereign, Chen Shou said that when the Later Sovereign entrusted affairs to a worthy chancellor he was a ruler who followed reason, but when he was led astray by eunuchs he became a foolish and benighted ruler. Huang Hao's name does not appear in this assessment. Records, Shu 3 §53