Lü Yi

Family Lü Yi had at least two sons: Lü Chen (呂辰) and Lü Ya (呂雅). Lü Chen also served as an official in Shu and rose to the position of Prefect of Chengdu (成都令) sometime between 258 and 263. Lü Ya, who was known for his literary talent, served as an Internuncio (謁者) and wrote the 15-chapter Ge Lun (格論).

Appraisal Throughout his service in Shu in both the central government and regional administrations, Lü Yi was known for being highly competent, professional and efficient in his working style. On a personal level, he led a simple and frugal lifestyle, and was known for being humble, modest and reserved in speech. However, he was also criticised for being inflexible and overly strict in applying the laws, and for his preference for bureaucracy over talent. Towards the end of his career, even though he made it to one of the highest offices – Prefect of the Masters of Writing (尚書令) – in the central government, he remained a very unpopular figure at the commandery and county levels.

Chen Shou, the historian who wrote Lü Yi's biography in the Records of the Three Kingdoms, pointed out that Lü Yi gained a good reputation when he was serving as a county prefect or commandery administrator, but became highly unpopular after he started serving in the central government. He remarked that Lü Yi was of a lower calibre as compared to Huang Ba (黃霸) and Xue Xuan (薛宣), two famous officials who served as chancellors in the Western Han dynasty.

In Romance of the Three Kingdoms Lü Yi's name is rendered as 呂義 (traditional) / 吕义 (simplified) in the 14th-century historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms.