Life

Yi Ji was from Shanyang Commandery (山陽郡), which covered roughly the area around present-day Juye County, Shandong. At a young age, he became a subordinate of Liu Biao, who then held the appointment of General Who Guards the South under the Han central government. Liu Biao later became the Governor of Jing Province (covering present-day Hubei and Hunan) so Yi Ji followed him to Jing Province. In the early 200s, when the warlord Liu Bei sought shelter under Liu Biao after his defeat by his rival Cao Cao, Liu Biao offered to let him stay in Xinye County in northern Jing Province. Yi Ji met Liu Bei several times around the time and became an acquaintance of Liu Bei.

After Liu Biao's death in 208, his younger son Liu Cong, who succeeded him, surrendered to Cao Cao when Cao led his forces on a campaign in southern China. Yi Ji joined Liu Bei on a journey southward towards Xiakou (夏口; present-day Wuhan, Hubei), which was guarded by Liu Biao's elder son Liu Qi and was independent of Cao Cao's control. Yi Ji became an official under Liu Bei since then. In the 210s, after Liu Bei seized control of Yi Province (covering present-day Sichuan and Chongqing) from its governor Liu Zhang, Yi Ji followed Liu Bei to Chengdu, the capital of Yi Province. Liu Bei, who held the nominal appointment of General of the Left under the Han central government then, appointed Yi Ji as an Assistant Officer of the Household under him. Liu Bei's treatment of Yi Ji was second to that of Jian Yong, Sun Qian and others.

Liu Bei later sent Yi Ji as a messenger to Jiangdong (or Wu) to meet the warlord Sun Quan, Liu's ally in their war against Cao Cao. Sun Quan had heard of Yi Ji's debating skills before and he wanted to test Yi. When Yi Ji met Sun Quan, he knelt down to pay his respects. Sun Quan asked: "Are you tired of serving an incompetent lord?" Yi Ji replied: "I just need to kneel down and pay my respects and then stand up. This isn't tiring to me." Such was Yi Ji's wit and tactfulness. Sun Quan was very impressed with him.

After the fall of the Han dynasty in 220, Yi Ji served in the state of Shu Han – founded by Liu Bei in 221 – during the Three Kingdoms period. He was promoted to the position of General of Illustrious Writing. He drafted the laws of Shu with Zhuge Liang, Fa Zheng, Mi Zhu, Liu Ba and Li Yan. Besides being an assistant household officer and development, Yi wrote literature and essays focusing on Liu Bei's movement and he thought to have died in the late 220s at the capital during Zhuge Liang's northern campaigns.

Appraisal

Chen Shou, who wrote Yi Ji's biography, commented as follows: "Mi Zhu, Sun Qian, Jian Yong and Yi Ji were refined and cultured persons whose ideas were widely circulated. They were well known for their good observation of the proprieties."

生平

年少時便依附於同鄉劉表。劉備落難到荊州時，欣賞劉備的伊籍時常拜訪，雙方建立起友誼。208年8月，劉表病死，伊籍便轉投劉備，一起渡江南下。

211年，伊籍隨劉備入蜀屯駐蜀地，隨後劉備和劉璋雙方決裂，在214年平定益州後，任伊籍為左將軍從事中郎，其待遇次於簡雍、孫乾等。後升任為昭文將軍，並與諸葛亮、法正、劉巴、李嚴共同編制《蜀科》，蜀漢法律由此五人所定。

特徵

伊籍擅長辯論，有急才。如曾出使吳國，孫權聽說他的辯才，想在言談間挫敗他，伊籍拜見孫權，孫權問：「勞事無道之君乎？」伊籍立即回答：「一拜一起，未足為勞。」孫權也為其辯才而感到非常驚奇。

評價

《三國志》評曰:「糜竺、孫乾、簡雍、伊籍，皆雍容風議，見禮於世。」

藝術形象

三國演義

初登場為第三十四回，告誡劉備不可乘坐的盧馬，但被劉備「但凡人死生有命，豈馬所能妨哉」言論折服。後蔡瑁設計陷害劉備時負責通風報信，使劉備得以在席間逃脫，並「躍馬檀溪」。赤壁之戰後獻策劉備招募荊襄賢士馬良、馬謖兄弟。