Daughter of Huang Chengyan, a master of mechanisms and Mohist mechanical arts. She created automated wooden mechanisms including a wooden puppy that could guard the house and a wooden figure that could automatically grind flour. Her early creations inspired Zhuge Liang's later Wooden Oxen and Flowing Horses. She was initially relocating to study under her father's protection or her future husband Zhuge Liang, but was assigned the task of researching improved papermaking by Jia Xu.
