31 Facts About Fei Yi

Fei Yi, courtesy name Wenwei, was a Chinese diplomat, military general, politician, and regent of the state of Shu during the Three Kingdoms period of China.

Fei Yi played a significant role in the conflict between the Shu general Wei Yan and Zhuge Liang's chief clerk Yang Yi.

In 244, Fei Yi led Shu forces to victory at the Battle of Xingshi against their rival state Wei and succeeded Jiang Wan as regent of Shu two years later following the latter's death.

Fei Yi was born in Meng County, Jiangxia Commandery, which is located northwest of present-day Luoshan County, Henan, during the late Eastern Han dynasty.

Fei Yi's father died when he was still young so he was raised by an older relative Fei Boren, whose aunt was the mother of Liu Zhang, the Governor of Yi Province.

When Liu Zhang invited Fei Boren to join him, Fei Yi accompanied Fei Boren as a travelling student and entered Yi Province.

In 214, after the warlord Liu Bei seized control of Yi Province from Liu Zhang and became the new Governor, Fei Yi chose to remain in Yi Province.

Fei Yi gave an excuse that he was no longer sober and declined to answer immediately.

Fei Yi noted down all the questions, went back and thought through carefully, and came back to Sun Quan later with all the answers without missing out any question.

Some Wu officials such as Zhuge Ke and Yang Dao, who were known for their oratorical talents, attempted to challenge Fei Yi and pose difficult questions to him.

However, Fei Yi managed to respond in a calm and dignified manner, and provide well-reasoned answers to their questions.

Fei Yi was promoted to the position of a Palace Attendant after returning from his diplomatic mission to Wu.

Between 227 and 230, Fei Yi alternated between his roles as a military adviser and Shu's ambassador to Wu.

Fei Yi then stepped in to stop them from fighting and managed to keep them under control while Zhuge Liang was still alive.

When Wei Yan refused to follow Zhuge Liang's final orders and submit to Yang Yi's command, Fei Yi pretended to help Wei Yan make new arrangements for part of the Shu army to remain behind and continue with the campaign, while the rest would return to Shu.

Fei Yi then wrote a letter about the new arrangements, got both of them to sign it, and told Wei Yan that he would read out the letter to all the officers later.

Fei Yi then left Wei Yan and sped back to the main camp.

Fei Yi's colleagues ignored him due to his poor choice of words in conveying his frustration.

Fei Yi rose to the position of Rear Military Adviser following Zhuge Liang's death in 234.

At the time, as Shu was in a state of war, Fei Yi had numerous issues to attend to on a daily basis given his role as Prefect of the Masters of Writing.

Fei Yi was honoured with the posthumous title "Marquis Jing" and buried at a location about 1 kilometre east from the eastern gate of the present-day Zhaohua Ancient City in Zhaohua District, Guangyuan, Sichuan.

The fifth-century historian Pei Songzhi rebutted Cao Fang's imperial decree and argued that Guo Xiu was not a hero and his assassination of Fei Yi was not "in the service of Wei".

Third, from Pei Songzhi's point of view, Liu Shan and Fei Yi were respectively a ruler and a regent of average calibre, so their deaths would not deal significant damage to Shu.

Fei Yi's daughter married Liu Xuan, the eldest son and heir apparent of Liu Shan.

Fei Yi gave credit to Fei Yi and Jiang Wan for following in Zhuge Liang's footsteps and pointed out that in doing so they managed to secure Shu's borders and maintain peace and harmony within Shu.

Fei Yi argued that Fei Yi and Jiang Wan did well during their regencies when they refrained from making risky moves that could jeopardise Shu's future and when they successfully countered a Wei invasion and maintained peace within Shu's borders.

Fei Yi had no excess wealth for himself and his family.

Fei Yi's sons lived like commoners as they wore clothes of plain design, had simple meals, travelled on foot, and had no escorts to accompany them when they travelled.

The Shu general Zhang Ni had noted that Fei Yi tended to be too good-natured and overly trusting of the people around him.

Chang Qu, who wrote extensively about the history of the Sichuan region in the Chronicles of Huayang, praised Jiang Wan and Fei Yi for perpetuating Zhuge Liang's principles.

Fei Yi recorded that the people of Shu named Zhuge Liang, Jiang Wan, Fei Yi and Dong Yun as the four heroic chancellors of their state.