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Yi Ji 伊籍

Jun 24, 2021 © Ulrich Theobald

Yi Ji 伊籍, courtesy name Jibo 機伯, was a general of Liu Bei 劉備 (161-222), the founder of Shu-Han 蜀漢 (221-263), one of the Three Empires 三國 (220~280 CE).

Yi hailed from Shanyang 山陽 (today's Changyi 昌邑, Shandong), and first served the warlord Liu Biao 劉表 (142-208). He accompanied Liu Bei during the conquest of the province of Yizhou 益州 (Sichuan) after which he was appointed General of the Left serving as court gentleman (zuo jiangjun congshi zhonglang 左將軍從事中郎) and given the title of "General of Bright Culturedness" (zhaowen jiangjun 昭文將軍). He was once sent out to the court of Sun Quan 孫權 (182-252), the warlord of southeast China, where he resisted Sun's attempts to humiliate him by asking whether it was laborious to serve an indecent sovereign (lao shi wu dao zhi jun 勞事無道之君). Yi Ji countered by asking that it sufficed to kneel down and stand up again.

Together with Counsellor-in-chief Zhuge Liang 諸葛亮 (181-234), Yi Ji drafted the rules for official emolument, Shuke 蜀科.

Sources:
Huang Huixian 黃惠賢, ed. (1997). Ershiwushi renming da cidian 二十五史人名大辭典 (Zhengzhou: Zhongzhou guji chubanshe), Vol. 1, 122.
Zhang Huizhi 張撝之, Shen Qiwei 沈起煒, Liu Dezhong 劉德重, ed. (1999). Zhongguo lidai renming da cidian 中國歷代人名大辭典 (Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe), Vol. 1, 593.