Fei Yi
Encyclopedia
Fei Yi, style name
Wenwei (文偉), was an official of Shu Han
during the Three Kingdoms
era of Chinese history
. He succeeded Jiang Wan
as regent
of Shu Han, and avoided major expedition against rival state, Cao Wei
. It remains dubious if Cao-Wei sent an assassin to kill Fei, but the latter was indeed murdered by Guo Xun, a former Wei subject.
Commandery (in present-day eastern Hubei
). His father died when he was still young and he was raised by his distant relative Fei Boren (費伯仁), who was a cousin of the warlord Liu Zhang
, who controlled Yi Province (present-day Sichuan
and Chongqing
). Sometime around 211, Liu Zhang sent messengers to escort Fei Boren to his domain, and Fei Yi joined the former as a foreign student into Yi Province. Fei remained in Yi Province after Liu Bei
conquered it in 214
. He was comparable with Xu Shulong (許叔龍) and Dong Yun
, who were his close friends and scholars in Sichuan.
After Liu Bei declared himself emperor
in 221 and made Liu Shan crown prince
, both Fei and Dong became Liu Shan
's servants. When Liu Shan succeeded to the throne in 223, Fei was only made Imperial servant of the Yellow Gate, despite his intimate relation with the new emperor. When regent Zhuge Liang
was back from his southern subjugation
, many officials came out several tens of li to buy him off, however, Zhuge asked Fei, among the majority who had higher posts than the latter, to take a ride with him. Zhuge's action surprised many, and they changed views on Fei because of that.
, it was said in his personal biography of Records of the Three Kingdoms that Fei was not bended when debating with Wu scholars (detail of the debate is not shown in his biography). However, several other biographies of the same book, points out Fei was largely ridiculed during his mission. According to Dong Yun's biography, the Wu emperor, Sun Quan
, once asked a rude but critical question during a banquet. Stated as being drunk, Sun said," Yang Yi
and Wei Yan
, although somehow contributed to Shu, were problematic, if Zhuge Liang dies, they'll cause mischief! Are you guys retarded not to prepare for the generations?" Fei was not able to answer, and kept looking around for help. Dong Hui then told Fei to answer that Yang and Wei fought against each other due to personal feud and both did not possess great ambition; in light of current situation, it would not be wise to not use them. Sun Quan laughed at Fei. In a log from the note in Zhuge Luo's biography, the facetious Sun Quan once made a joke on Fei by telling his Wu officials to keep dinning when Fei entered the vestibule. Seeing that, Fei said," when a phoenix arrives, a unicorn will spit its food in mouth. Now the donkeys are ignorant, so they keep on eating. Zhuge Luo promptly replied in his seat," we planted sterculiaceae to wait for a phoenix to glide upon, but where comes a small bird instead? Why don't we spring him and send him back to where he belongs?" Fei stopped eating his cake in mouth, and requested a pen (brush), while Zhuge also asked the same, they each wrote a poem, and admired on each others work. Nevertheless, Sun Quan apparently liked this Shu diplomat much, which he openly praised Fei's talents on numerous occasions. When Fei finally needed to go back to Shu, Sun gave him his personal sword to the former, and said, "you are a pure person, and will be used by Zhuge, I bet you will not be able to come visit me often in the future." Fei sincerely accepted Sun's gift, and encouraged the latter to assist the Han court together.
When Zhuge Liang became ill during his final campaign
against Cao Wei
on Wuzhang Plains, Liu Shan sent messengers to inquire the former as to who should succeed him. Zhuge recommended Jiang Wan as his successor, and Fei as Jiang Wan's successor. After Zhuge's death later that year, a dispute on whether to abort the campaign followed. Wei Yan, who was assigned area responsibility over Liang Province, assumed his autonomous authority to vie for the continuity on the battle, while the majority consented on Yang Yi's view to retreat. Fei picked Yang Yi side and went to Wei Yan's tent to observe the latter. Wei, arguing the death of one individual should not alter their ultimate goal of restoring the Han, forced Fei to help him reorganize the army for the expedition. Fei tricked Wei by saying "I'll go explain the issue to Yang. He is just a civil officer inept at military, and will not defy your order." Wei let Fei go, but regretted on second thought; however, Fei galloped out of his camp and could not be caught up. Both Wei and Yang sent letters to the Emperor in accusation against each other, and at the end, Wang Ping
and Ma Dai
killed Wei Yan, ending the turmoil. After the commotion, Jiang Wan formally succeeded Zhuge to be the new regent, and Fei was soon made his chief assistant.
. When Dong Yun
succeeded the role Fei previously held, he tried to follow Fei's schedule, but after several days, the paperwork quickly backlogged, forcing him to work all day. Dong thus became amazed at Fei's amazing abilities.
Jiang Wan was often in ill-health, and in 243 he moved the armies to Fu County from Hanzhong. He consequently transferred his military authority to Fei and civil responsibility to Dong Yun, while remaining himself regent. In 244, when Cao Wei's regent Cao Shuang
attacked the less-guarded Hanzhong
, Fei was granted the staff of authority as a commander, and was urged to go the front-line. Lai Min (來敏), visited Fei and invited the latter for a game of Go. Despite the urgency, Fei played the game, and was so indulged in it that he showed no sign to concern with the military. Lai Min suddenly said, “I was just testing your reaction! You are indeed a trustworthy man and the one who can crush the invaders!” Since Cao Shuang made a serious flaw in his logistic, the Wei suffered a major defeat, and retreated as soon as Fei arrived the field. The victory on Cao-Wei further inflated Fei's fame, and after Jiang Wan's death in 245, Fei became regent.
. However, as both he and Jiang Wei were largely involved with military matters, the domestic matters soon apparently fell into the hands of Huang Hao
, a eunuch described to be treacherous and corrupt, but was trusted by Liu Shan. The effective administration that Zhuge Liang had created and Jiang Wan had continued began to deteriorate, although the key effects would not be visible during Fei Yi's regency.
As regent, Fei Yi was not as non-aggressive militarily as Jiang Wan, but he did not resume the full-scale military confrontations that Zhuge Liang advocated and carried out. He had Jiang Wei harassed Cao Wei's borders with periodic attacks, but never authorized the latter to launch an all-out assault. Jiang Wei persistently pushed for a revival of Zhuge's plan and requested more troops, but Fei followed Zhuge's treatment on Wei Yan and only assigned 10,000 men to Jiang. During one intrusion on the territory of Wei in 250, Jiang Wei brought back Guo Xun (郭循), who submitted to Jiang and entered Shu-Han politics. From a note in Jiang Wei's biography in the Records of Three Kingdoms, it is stated that "Jiang Wei possessed a group of assasins in secrecy," but it is not clear if Guo was one of Jiang's assasins.
One major characteristic that Fei Yi was known and admired for was his easy-going nature. That might, however, have caused his death. As he was hosting a feast at his mansion for key officials, one of the guests was the aforementioned Guo Xun, who took the opportunity to assassinate Fei Yi during the meeting. The historian Yu Xi (虞喜) commented, "Fei Yi was so open and honest and so unworried about others, and he was eventually assassinated by Guo Xun, a surrendered man. Is it not that his fault came from his virtues?" Fei Yi was given the posthumous name Jing (敬侯, literally, "alert" or "honorable"), which, however, appeared to be inappropriate.
Chinese style name
A Chinese style name, sometimes also known as a courtesy name , is a given name to be used later in life. After 20 years of age, the zì is assigned in place of one's given name as a symbol of adulthood and respect...
Wenwei (文偉), was an official of Shu Han
Shu Han
Shu Han was one of the three states competing for control of China during the Three Kingdoms period, after the fall of the Han Dynasty. The state was based on areas around Sichuan, which was then known as Shu...
during the Three Kingdoms
Three Kingdoms
The Three Kingdoms period was a period in Chinese history, part of an era of disunity called the "Six Dynasties" following immediately the loss of de facto power of the Han Dynasty rulers. In a strict academic sense it refers to the period between the foundation of the state of Wei in 220 and the...
era of Chinese history
History of China
Chinese civilization originated in various regional centers along both the Yellow River and the Yangtze River valleys in the Neolithic era, but the Yellow River is said to be the Cradle of Chinese Civilization. With thousands of years of continuous history, China is one of the world's oldest...
. He succeeded Jiang Wan
Jiang Wan
Jiang Wan , style name Gongyan , was an official of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history. After Zhuge Liang's death, he succeeded Zhuge as the regent for the Shu emperor, Liu Shan.-Early career:...
as regent
Regent
A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...
of Shu Han, and avoided major expedition against rival state, Cao Wei
Cao Wei
Cao Wei was one of the states that competed for control of China during the Three Kingdoms period. With the capital at Luoyang, the state was established by Cao Pi in 220, based upon the foundations that his father Cao Cao laid...
. It remains dubious if Cao-Wei sent an assassin to kill Fei, but the latter was indeed murdered by Guo Xun, a former Wei subject.
Early career
Fei Yi was from JiangxiaJiangxia
Jiangxia District is one of the administrative districts within the City of Wuhan. Jiangxia district has an area of 2,009 km² and a population of 680,000....
Commandery (in present-day eastern Hubei
Hubei
' Hupeh) is a province in Central China. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Lake Dongting...
). His father died when he was still young and he was raised by his distant relative Fei Boren (費伯仁), who was a cousin of the warlord Liu Zhang
Liu Zhang (warlord)
Liu Zhang was a warlord during the late Han Dynasty period of Chinese history. He became governor of Yi Province , succeeding his father Liu Yan and ruled the region until 214, when he surrendered to Liu Bei...
, who controlled Yi Province (present-day Sichuan
Sichuan
' , known formerly in the West by its postal map spellings of Szechwan or Szechuan is a province in Southwest China with its capital in Chengdu...
and Chongqing
Chongqing
Chongqing is a major city in Southwest China and one of the five national central cities of China. Administratively, it is one of the PRC's four direct-controlled municipalities , and the only such municipality in inland China.The municipality was created on 14 March 1997, succeeding the...
). Sometime around 211, Liu Zhang sent messengers to escort Fei Boren to his domain, and Fei Yi joined the former as a foreign student into Yi Province. Fei remained in Yi Province after Liu Bei
Liu Bei
Liu Bei , also known as Liu Xuande, was a warlord, military general and later the founding emperor of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history...
conquered it in 214
Liu Bei's takeover of Yi Province
Liu Bei's takeover of Yi Province was a military campaign by the warlord Liu Bei in taking control of Yi Province from its Governor, Liu Zhang. The campaign took place between 212 and 215 during the prelude to the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history...
. He was comparable with Xu Shulong (許叔龍) and Dong Yun
Dong Yun
Dong Yun , style name Xiuzhao , was a minister of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history.-Biography:...
, who were his close friends and scholars in Sichuan.
After Liu Bei declared himself emperor
Emperor of China
The Emperor of China refers to any sovereign of Imperial China reigning between the founding of Qin Dynasty of China, united by the King of Qin in 221 BCE, and the fall of Yuan Shikai's Empire of China in 1916. When referred to as the Son of Heaven , a title that predates the Qin unification, the...
in 221 and made Liu Shan crown prince
Crown Prince
A crown prince or crown princess is the heir or heiress apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The wife of a crown prince is also titled crown princess....
, both Fei and Dong became Liu Shan
Liu Shan
Liu Shan, , was the second and last emperor of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history. As he ascended the throne at the young age of 16, Liu Shan was entrusted to the care of the Chancellor Zhuge Liang and Imperial Secretariat Li Yan...
's servants. When Liu Shan succeeded to the throne in 223, Fei was only made Imperial servant of the Yellow Gate, despite his intimate relation with the new emperor. When regent Zhuge Liang
Zhuge Liang
Zhuge Liang was a chancellor of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. He is often recognised as the greatest and most accomplished strategist of his era....
was back from his southern subjugation
Zhuge Liang's Southern Campaign
Zhuge Liang's Southern Campaign, also known as the War of Pacification in Nanzhong, refers to a military campaign led by Shu Han chancellor Zhuge Liang to suppress opposing forces in the south in 225 during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history...
, many officials came out several tens of li to buy him off, however, Zhuge asked Fei, among the majority who had higher posts than the latter, to take a ride with him. Zhuge's action surprised many, and they changed views on Fei because of that.
During Zhuge Liang's regency
It is not clear how Zhuge Liang got to know Fei Yi's abilities, but by the time the former returned from the south and acquired military paramountcy, he had arranged a series of resources reallocation, and Fei, who was among those Zhuge repeatedly announced "most capable of the officials," was assigned with important tasks.As an ambassador
Following the reestablishment of the Wu-Shu alliance, Fei Yi served as an ambassador to Eastern WuEastern Wu
Eastern Wu, also known as Sun Wu, was one the three states competing for control of China during the Three Kingdoms period after the fall of the Han Dynasty. It was based in the Jiangnan region of China...
, it was said in his personal biography of Records of the Three Kingdoms that Fei was not bended when debating with Wu scholars (detail of the debate is not shown in his biography). However, several other biographies of the same book, points out Fei was largely ridiculed during his mission. According to Dong Yun's biography, the Wu emperor, Sun Quan
Sun Quan
Sun Quan , son of Sun Jian, formally Emperor Da of Wu, was the founder of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. He ruled from 222 to 229 as King of Wu and from 229 to 252 as Emperor of Wu....
, once asked a rude but critical question during a banquet. Stated as being drunk, Sun said," Yang Yi
Yang Yi
Yang Yi , style name Weigong , was a minister of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. He hailed from Xiangyang and was originally a subject of Cao Wei and later defected to Guan Yu, who sent him to Liu Bei...
and Wei Yan
Wei Yan
Wei Yan was a military general of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history. He became a soldier of Liu Bei when the latter fled Jing Province and seek protection from the eastern warlord, Sun Quan, in 208. In 211, Wei had climbed up the ranks and become a general in Liu Bei's...
, although somehow contributed to Shu, were problematic, if Zhuge Liang dies, they'll cause mischief! Are you guys retarded not to prepare for the generations?" Fei was not able to answer, and kept looking around for help. Dong Hui then told Fei to answer that Yang and Wei fought against each other due to personal feud and both did not possess great ambition; in light of current situation, it would not be wise to not use them. Sun Quan laughed at Fei. In a log from the note in Zhuge Luo's biography, the facetious Sun Quan once made a joke on Fei by telling his Wu officials to keep dinning when Fei entered the vestibule. Seeing that, Fei said," when a phoenix arrives, a unicorn will spit its food in mouth. Now the donkeys are ignorant, so they keep on eating. Zhuge Luo promptly replied in his seat," we planted sterculiaceae to wait for a phoenix to glide upon, but where comes a small bird instead? Why don't we spring him and send him back to where he belongs?" Fei stopped eating his cake in mouth, and requested a pen (brush), while Zhuge also asked the same, they each wrote a poem, and admired on each others work. Nevertheless, Sun Quan apparently liked this Shu diplomat much, which he openly praised Fei's talents on numerous occasions. When Fei finally needed to go back to Shu, Sun gave him his personal sword to the former, and said, "you are a pure person, and will be used by Zhuge, I bet you will not be able to come visit me often in the future." Fei sincerely accepted Sun's gift, and encouraged the latter to assist the Han court together.
As a trusted aide of Zhuge Liang
After Fei's repatriation, he received a promotion and resumed his work in the palace agency. Under recommendation of Zhuge Liang, Fei's power in the palace became influential, as Zhuge asked Liu Shan that all decisions, big and small, be consulted with Fei and his comrades. When Zhuge went to Hanzhong and rearranged Wei Yan's area of responsibility, Fei was asked to go to the front-line as Zhuge's Military Adviser to handle conflict between Wei Yan and Yang Yi. It was said that Wei would flash his saber in front of Yang during a debate, and Yang would cry like a baby. Then a Fei Yi would come in between and reconcile them. Fei was thus credited for keeping them working together. However, he was ultimately unsuccessful in trying to prevent them from boiling into an open armed conflict after Zhuge's death in 234 (which resulted in Wei's death).When Zhuge Liang became ill during his final campaign
Battle of Wuzhang Plains
The Battle of Wuzhang Plains was a standoff between the contending states of Cao Wei and Shu Han in 234 during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history...
against Cao Wei
Cao Wei
Cao Wei was one of the states that competed for control of China during the Three Kingdoms period. With the capital at Luoyang, the state was established by Cao Pi in 220, based upon the foundations that his father Cao Cao laid...
on Wuzhang Plains, Liu Shan sent messengers to inquire the former as to who should succeed him. Zhuge recommended Jiang Wan as his successor, and Fei as Jiang Wan's successor. After Zhuge's death later that year, a dispute on whether to abort the campaign followed. Wei Yan, who was assigned area responsibility over Liang Province, assumed his autonomous authority to vie for the continuity on the battle, while the majority consented on Yang Yi's view to retreat. Fei picked Yang Yi side and went to Wei Yan's tent to observe the latter. Wei, arguing the death of one individual should not alter their ultimate goal of restoring the Han, forced Fei to help him reorganize the army for the expedition. Fei tricked Wei by saying "I'll go explain the issue to Yang. He is just a civil officer inept at military, and will not defy your order." Wei let Fei go, but regretted on second thought; however, Fei galloped out of his camp and could not be caught up. Both Wei and Yang sent letters to the Emperor in accusation against each other, and at the end, Wang Ping
Wang Ping
Wang Ping , style name Zijun , was a Cao Wei officer who later defected to Liu Bei, and served as a general under Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history.-Service under Cao Cao:...
and Ma Dai
Ma Dai
Ma Dai was a military general of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history. He previously served under his uncle, the warlord Ma Teng...
killed Wei Yan, ending the turmoil. After the commotion, Jiang Wan formally succeeded Zhuge to be the new regent, and Fei was soon made his chief assistant.
During Jiang Wan's regency
As the chief assistant to the regent Jiang Wan, Fei Yi handled mostly domestic matters. He was described as so quick in his comprehension and decisions that he only needed mornings to carry out his duties, and he spent the afternoons entertaining guests. He was particularly skillful at playing weiqiGo (board game)
Go , is an ancient board game for two players that originated in China more than 2,000 years ago...
. When Dong Yun
Dong Yun
Dong Yun , style name Xiuzhao , was a minister of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history.-Biography:...
succeeded the role Fei previously held, he tried to follow Fei's schedule, but after several days, the paperwork quickly backlogged, forcing him to work all day. Dong thus became amazed at Fei's amazing abilities.
Jiang Wan was often in ill-health, and in 243 he moved the armies to Fu County from Hanzhong. He consequently transferred his military authority to Fei and civil responsibility to Dong Yun, while remaining himself regent. In 244, when Cao Wei's regent Cao Shuang
Cao Shuang
Cao Shuang , style name Zhaobo , was a military general, politician and regent of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. He was the son of Cao Zhen...
attacked the less-guarded Hanzhong
Hanzhong
Hanzhong is a municipality in southwest Shaanxi Province, China, occupying a historically significant valley in the mountains between the Xi'an area, home to many Chinese capitals, and the fertile but isolated Sichuan Basin...
, Fei was granted the staff of authority as a commander, and was urged to go the front-line. Lai Min (來敏), visited Fei and invited the latter for a game of Go. Despite the urgency, Fei played the game, and was so indulged in it that he showed no sign to concern with the military. Lai Min suddenly said, “I was just testing your reaction! You are indeed a trustworthy man and the one who can crush the invaders!” Since Cao Shuang made a serious flaw in his logistic, the Wei suffered a major defeat, and retreated as soon as Fei arrived the field. The victory on Cao-Wei further inflated Fei's fame, and after Jiang Wan's death in 245, Fei became regent.
Regency
One near-immediate task that Fei faced was finding a chief assistant for himself, as Dong Yun, who had been serving in that role since 243, died soon after Jiang Wan's death. He decided on the general Jiang WeiJiang Wei
Jiang Wei was a military general and regent of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history. He originally served Shu's rival state, Cao Wei, as a middle-level military officer, but defected to the Shu strategist Zhuge Liang, leaving his mother in Wei. After that, Jiang...
. However, as both he and Jiang Wei were largely involved with military matters, the domestic matters soon apparently fell into the hands of Huang Hao
Huang Hao
Huang Hao was a eunuch serving Liu Shan, second and last emperor of the Kingdom of Shu during the Three Kingdoms era in ancient China. Highly favoured by Liu Shan, he was commonly blamed for misguiding the latter into surrendering to the Kingdom of Wei and considered one of the most corrupt and...
, a eunuch described to be treacherous and corrupt, but was trusted by Liu Shan. The effective administration that Zhuge Liang had created and Jiang Wan had continued began to deteriorate, although the key effects would not be visible during Fei Yi's regency.
As regent, Fei Yi was not as non-aggressive militarily as Jiang Wan, but he did not resume the full-scale military confrontations that Zhuge Liang advocated and carried out. He had Jiang Wei harassed Cao Wei's borders with periodic attacks, but never authorized the latter to launch an all-out assault. Jiang Wei persistently pushed for a revival of Zhuge's plan and requested more troops, but Fei followed Zhuge's treatment on Wei Yan and only assigned 10,000 men to Jiang. During one intrusion on the territory of Wei in 250, Jiang Wei brought back Guo Xun (郭循), who submitted to Jiang and entered Shu-Han politics. From a note in Jiang Wei's biography in the Records of Three Kingdoms, it is stated that "Jiang Wei possessed a group of assasins in secrecy," but it is not clear if Guo was one of Jiang's assasins.
One major characteristic that Fei Yi was known and admired for was his easy-going nature. That might, however, have caused his death. As he was hosting a feast at his mansion for key officials, one of the guests was the aforementioned Guo Xun, who took the opportunity to assassinate Fei Yi during the meeting. The historian Yu Xi (虞喜) commented, "Fei Yi was so open and honest and so unworried about others, and he was eventually assassinated by Guo Xun, a surrendered man. Is it not that his fault came from his virtues?" Fei Yi was given the posthumous name Jing (敬侯, literally, "alert" or "honorable"), which, however, appeared to be inappropriate.
Appointments and titles held
- Chief Imperial Secretary (尚書令)
- Secretary to the General-in-Chief (大將軍領尚書事)
- Marquis of Cheng (成鄉侯)
- Marquis Jing (敬侯) - granted to Fei Yi posthumously