Fei Yi

Chinese
t=費禕
s=费禕

Fei Yi (* after 200; † 253), courtesy name Wenwei (文偉), was an official of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms era of China. He served as regent after Jiang Wan.

Early career

Fei Yi was from Jiangxia Commandery (江夏, in modern eastern Hubei) who lost his father early and was raised by his distant relative Fei Boren (費伯仁), who was cousin to the warlord Liu Zhang, who controlled Yi Province (益州, modern Sichuan and Chongqing). Sometime around 211, Liu Zhang sent messengers to welcome Fei Boren to his domain, and while Fei Boren himself appeared to have turned down the invitation himself, he sent Fei Yi to Yi Province. Fei Yi remained in Yi Province after Liu Bei conquered it in 214 and became known as a young scholar. He and Dong Yun were long-time friends, and both served together as Liu Shan's assistants after Liu Bei declared himself emperor in 221 and made Liu Shan crown prince. After Liu Shan succeeded to the throne in 223, Fei Yi continued to serve him.

During Zhuge Liang's regency

It is not clear how Zhuge Liang, Liu Shan's regent, got to know Fei Yi's abilities, but by the time that Zhuge Liang returned from his southern expedition against the tribes of modern Guizhou and Yunnan, he had seen that Fei Yi was the most capable of the young officials. He frequently commissioned Fei Yi to serve as an ambassador to Eastern Wu, and during those missions, Eastern Wu's emperor Sun Quan became impressed with Fei Yi as well. Zhuge Liang continued to promote Fei Yi through a progression of offices during his regency. When not on missions to Eastern Wu, Fei Yi served as one of Zhuge Liang's military strategists.

As an official serving under Zhuge Liang, Fei Yi was known for his easy-going nature and desire to keep his colleagues away from conflicts. When Wei Yan and Yang Yi had their frequent struggles against each other, Fei Yi stayed neutral and tried to reconcile them. Fei Yi, however, was ultimately unsuccessful in trying to prevent them from boiling into an open armed conflict after Zhuge Liang's death in 234 (which resulted in Wei's death), but during Zhuge Liang's life he was able to keep them working together.

When Zhuge Liang grew ill on his final campaign against Cao Wei in 234, Liu Shan sent messengers to inquire him as to who should succeed him. Zhuge Liang recommended Jiang Wan, and Fei Yi as Jiang Wan's eventual successor. After Zhuge Liang's death later that year, Jiang Wan became regent, and Fei Yi became 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 artful at a the board game, Go. When Dong Yun succeeded him in 243 in that role, he tried to follow Fei Yi's schedule, but after several days, the paperwork quickly backlogged, forcing him to work all day. He thus became amazed at Fei Yi's amazing abilities.

Jiang Wan was often in ill-health, and in 243 he transferred most of his authorities to Fei Yi and Dong Yun while remaining regent. In 244, when Cao Wei's regent Cao Shuang attacked the important border city Hanzhong, it was Fei Yi who led the troops against Cao Shuang and dealt Wei a major defeat. After Jiang Wan's death in 245, Fei Yi 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 Wei. 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 trusted by Liu Shan who was described as treacherous and corrupt. 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 Jiang Wei to launch an all-out assault.

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 Guo Xun (郭循), a Cao Wei general whom he had captured in 250, who was still secretly loyal to Cao Wei. Guo Xun, after most people became drunk, took the opportunity to assassinate Fei Yi. 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.

References

* Chen Shou, "Sanguo Zhi", ch. 44, http://ef.cdpa.nsysu.edu.tw/ccw/02/3k4.htm.
* Sima Guang, "Zizhi Tongjian", http://www.chinakyl.com/rbbook/big5/sjcy/ztj.htm.

ee also

*Three Kingdoms
*Personages of the Three Kingdoms
*"Records of Three Kingdoms"
*"Romance of the Three Kingdoms"