Contents
Biography & Historical Record
Huang Yueying (黄月英, Hoàng Nguyệt Anh) — also called Lady Huang (黄氏, Hoàng thị) in primary sources — is the customary name for the wife of Zhuge Liang (诸葛亮, Gia Cát Lượng). Chen Shou’s Sanguozhi never records her personal name; Pei Songzhi’s annotation preserves the Xiangyang Ji (襄阳记) account that Zhuge Liang married the daughter of the Jing Province scholar Huang Chengyan (黄承彦, Hoàng Thừa Ngạn), whom locals mocked as plain-looking (“yellow hair and dark skin”) while Zhuge Liang prized her mind. The ditty “Do not copy Kongming in choosing a wife — he ended up with Chengyan’s ugly daughter” (莫作孔明择妇，正得阿承丑女) is historical folk memory, not novel dialogue.
Later fiction, opera, and games (especially Dynasty Warriors) cast her as an inventor of wooden oxen, crossbows, and household machines. Those inventions are folklore layered on a real marriage, not entries in the standard chronicles. On Diaochan.xyz she is classified semi-historical: the woman behind the marriage is attested; the name Huang Yueying and the mechanical genius are customary literary labels.
Role in Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Chapter 37 (Three Visits to the Thatched Cottage): The novel introduces Zhuge Liang at Longzhong when Liu Bei (刘备, Lưu Bị) finally wins the Sleeping Dragon — but Huang Yueying is not named on stage. Readers who know the Xiangyang Ji tradition understand he is already married to Huang Chengyan’s daughter before leaving seclusion; this chapter is her catalog anchor because it launches the strategist whose household she shared.
Chapter 117 (Deng Ai Crosses Yinping; Zhuge Zhan Dies at Mianzhu): When Liu Shan (刘禅, Lưu Thiện) summons Zhuge Zhan (诸葛瞻, Gia Cát Chiêm) to face Deng Ai, the narrator flashes back to Zhuge Zhan’s mother — Lady Huang (黄氏), Huang Chengyan’s daughter. The text calls her homely yet masterful in astronomy, geography, and military classics; says Zhuge Liang sought her at Nanyang and that her counsel aided his studies; and reports that after Zhuge Liang’s death in 234 AD she died soon after, leaving a final instruction to Zhuge Zhan on loyalty and filial piety before the son’s own death defending Mianzhu Pass.
Huang Yueying (黄月英) — Historical & Literary Timeline
c. 197 AD
Marriage at Longzhong (history)
Pei Songzhi’s Xiangyang Ji note: Zhuge Liang marries Huang Chengyan’s daughter despite local jests about her appearance — the core historical fact behind all later Huang Yueying lore.
Chapter 37
Sleeping Dragon emerges (novel)
Liu Bei wins Zhuge Liang from Longzhong; Lady Huang is not named in the scene but is already his wife in backstory tied to this chapter on Diaochan.xyz.
227–234 AD
Northern expeditions household
While Zhuge Liang campaigns against Wei, Lady Huang raises Zhuge Zhan at Chengdu; folklore (not ROTK battle scenes) credits her with mechanical ideas later linked to the wooden ox.
Chapter 117
Retrospective & Zhuge Zhan arc
Novel flashback on Lady Huang’s intellect and death after Zhuge Liang; her son Zhuge Zhan and grandson Zhuge Shang (诸葛尚, Gia Cát Thượng) die defending Shu at Mianzhu against Deng Ai.
For detailed historical records, archives, and official chronicles, explore Huang Yueying on Wikipedia.
Key Relationships
Family
- Father Huang Chengyan (黄承彦, Hoàng Thừa Ngạn): Eccentric Longzhong scholar who offered his daughter to Zhuge Liang (Xiangyang Ji).
- Mother Lady Cai (Wife of Huang Chengyan) (蔡氏, Thái Thị): Sister of Jing Province commander Cai Mao (蔡瑁, Thái Mạo); wiki lists custom avatar “Madam Cai” pending full post merge.
- Husband Zhuge Liang (诸葛亮, Gia Cát Lượng): Sleeping Dragon chancellor of Shu; marriage at Nanyang / Longzhong c. 197 AD.
- Son Zhuge Zhan (诸葛瞻, Gia Cát Chiêm): Defends Mianzhu in Chapter 117; killed fighting Deng Ai.
- Adopted son Zhuge Qiao (诸葛乔, Gia Cát Kiều): Biological son of Zhuge Jin (诸葛瑾, Gia Cát Cẩn), raised in Zhuge Liang’s household.
- Son Zhuge Rong (诸葛融, Gia Cát Dung): Younger son in Shu genealogical tradition.
- Daughter Zhuge Guo (诸葛果): Folklore immortal daughter — custom wiki entry, not in Chen Shou.
- Grandson Zhuge Shang (诸葛尚, Gia Cát Thượng): Dies beside Zhuge Zhan at Mianzhu (Chapter 117).
Friends
- Liu Bei (刘备, Lưu Bị): Lord whom Zhuge Liang serves after leaving Longzhong — Lady Huang’s household follows the Shu founding arc from Chapter 37 onward.
- Liu Shan (刘禅, Lưu Thiện): Shu emperor; Zhuge Zhan marries his daughter and inherits the Zhuge legacy Lady Huang helped shape.
Enemies
- No personal enemies named in history or the novel’s Chapter 117 flashback — the Wei invasion under Deng Ai destroys her son and grandson, not Lady Huang on a battlefield.
Other
- Cai Mao (蔡瑁, Thái Mạo): Maternal uncle; Jing Province naval commander under Liu Biao (刘表, Lưu Biểu), later serving Cao Cao (曹操, Tào Tháo).
- Liu Biao (刘表, Lưu Biểu): Jing governor linked to the Cai clan marriage network that positioned Huang Chengyan’s family in Xiangyang elite society.
- Jiang Wei (姜维, Khương Duy): Zhuge Liang’s northern-expedition heir — campaigns occur while Lady Huang manages the Chengdu household in the novel’s middle books.
- Chen Shou (陈寿, Trần Thọ): Compiler of Sanguozhi, who omitted her personal name; Pei Songzhi’s annotation supplies the Xiangyang Ji marriage note.
Appearance
In Novel
Chapter 37
- Huang Yueying (黄月英, Hoàng Nguyệt Anh): Not named on stage — Liu Bei finally recruits Zhuge Liang at Longzhong. Diaochan lists this chapter because it introduces the Sleeping Dragon who was already married to Huang Chengyan’s daughter in the Xiangyang Ji backstory.
Chapter 117
- Lady Huang / Huang Yueying (黄月英, Hoàng Nguyệt Anh): When Liu Shan calls Zhuge Zhan to face Deng Ai, the narrator identifies Zhuge Zhan’s mother as Huang Chengyan‘s daughter — homely in appearance but expert in astronomy, geography, and strategy books; Zhuge Liang sought her at Nanyang and learned with her aid; after Zhuge Liang’s death she died soon after, exhorting Zhuge Zhan to loyalty and filial piety before his own death at Mianzhu.
Historical ditty (Xiangyang Ji)
- Folk rhyme preserved in Pei Songzhi’s annotation — not spoken by Huang Yueying in the novel: “Do not copy Kongming in choosing a wife; he ended up with Chengyan’s ugly daughter.” (莫作孔明择妇，正得阿承丑女)
Appearance
In History
Summary
- Huang Yueying (黄月英, Hoàng Nguyệt Anh) is the customary name for the real but unnamed wife of Zhuge Liang (诸葛亮, Gia Cát Lượng). Chen Shou records the marriage indirectly; Pei Songzhi quotes the Xiangyang Ji on her appearance and the local ditty mocking Zhuge Liang’s choice.
Year: c. 197 AD
- Zhuge Liang marries the daughter of Huang Chengyan (黄承彦, Hoàng Thừa Ngạn) while living at Longzhong before Liu Bei’s three visits (Xiangyang Ji via Pei Songzhi, Sanguozhi Zhuge Liang biography).
Year: 227–234 AD
- Household at Chengdu during Zhuge Liang’s Shu chancellorship and northern expeditions; son Zhuge Zhan (诸葛瞻, Gia Cát Chiêm) attested historically — Lady Huang’s death date unknown.
Historical Record
- Sanguozhi, Zhuge Liang biography: marriage mentioned through Pei Songzhi’s Xiangyang Ji quotation — personal name not 月英.
- Xiangyang Ji (Su Jin, via Pei Songzhi): Huang Chengyan’s daughter described as plain; local rhyme about “Kongming’s ugly wife.”
- Inventor lore (wooden ox, crossbows) and the name Huang Yueying: later folklore and Ming–Qing storytelling — classify as semi-historical.
- Chapter 117 novel retrospective (loyalty instruction to Zhuge Zhan) is Luo Guanzhong’s expansion, not Chen Shou.
Appearance
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