Yue Yi (樂毅) | 24 Histories

Overview

The translated histories identify Yue Yi as a diplomat, general, official, and strategist. This record brings together 48 passages from 11 chapters across 5 histories, with names, dates, relationships, offices, and events preserved as source-backed claims.

Names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Personal	Yue Yi	樂毅	Yue Yi
Personal name	Le Yi	樂毅	Le Yi
Title	Lord of Changguo	昌國君	Changguo Jun
Title	Lord Wangzhu	望諸君	Wangzhu Jun
Title	Lord Yue	樂生
Surname	Yue	樂	Yue
Personal name	Yue Yi	樂毅	Yue Yi
Personal name	Yue Yi	樂毅
Personal name	Yue Yi	樂毅	Yuè Yì
Personal	Yue Yi	樂毅	Yuè Yì
Personal name		樂毅

Identity

Historicity: Historical
Identification: Named
Sex: Male

Sex: male
Strongly inferred · jiuwudaishi:057:s0195, jiuwudaishi:071:s0035, liangshu:052:s0009, shiji:080:s0001
Sex: male
Explicit · liangshu:007:s0061, sanguozhi:062:s0163, shiji:048:s0170, shiji:082:s0003

Roles

Diplomat
General
Official
Strategist

Life and dates

Death

Place: Zhao / 趙
Explicit · shiji:080:s0087

Attested activity

Source Date: Text: 伐齊...留徇齊五歲 · Western Interval: Start: BC 284 · End: BC 279
Explicit event contextual date · shiji:080:s0020, shiji:080:s0021, shiji:080:s0028
Source Date: Text: 戰國 · Western Interval: Start: BC 284 · End: BC 279
Explicit event contextual date · liangshu:007:s0061
Source Date: Text: 戰國時期 · Western Year: c. BC 284
Explicit event contextual date · shiji:048:s0170
Source Date: Text: 昔三仁去而殷虛… · Western Year: BC 280
Explicit event contextual date · hanshu:099:s0069
Source Date: Text: 會燕昭王死...西降趙 · Western Year: BC 279
Explicit event contextual date · shiji:080:s0029, shiji:080:s0034
Source Date: Text: 樂毅 · Western Year: BC 284
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:071:s0035
Source Date: Text: 樂毅為燕昭王立功 · Western Interval: Start: BC 284 · End: BC 279
Explicit event contextual date · sanguozhi:062:s0163
Source Date: Text: 樂生奔 · Western Year: BC 284
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:057:s0195
Source Date: Text: 武靈王有沙丘之亂 · Western Year: BC 295
Explicit event contextual date · shiji:080:s0006
Source Date: Text: 漢世…樂毅 · Western Year: BC 284
Explicit · liangshu:052:s0009
Source Date: Text: 燕使樂毅伐破齊 · Western Year: BC 284
Explicit · shiji:082:s0003
Source Date: Text: 燕昭王卒，惠王立 · Western Year: BC 279
Explicit event contextual date · shiji:082:s0012, shiji:082:s0017, shiji:082:s0018

Family

Immediate source-linked family. Drag to pan, scroll or pinch to zoom, and select a person to open their record.

Ancestor of Yue Shu (樂叔)
Kinship Term: grandson / 孫 · Generation Distance: 2 · Line: paternal
Descendant of Yue Yang (樂羊)
Kinship Term: ancestor / 先祖 · Line: paternal
Parent of Parent of Yue Shu (樂叔之父或母)
Kinship Term: parent of grandson / 孫之父或母 · Parentage: biological
Parent of Yue Xian (樂閒)
Kinship Term: son / 子 · Parentage: biological · Subject Role: father · Object Role: son

Kinship Role: descendants · Quantity: unspecified · Label: later descendants of Yue Yang / 其後子孫
Explicit · shiji:080:s0003

Career and standing

Label: Supreme General / 上將軍 · Action: appointed
Explicit · shiji:080:s0020
Label: vice minister / 亞卿 · Action: appointed
Explicit · shiji:080:s0010
Label: guest minister / 客卿 · Action: held
Explicit · shiji:080:s0086
Label: chancellor seal of Zhao / 相國印 · Action: received
Explicit · shiji:080:s0020
Title: general under Yan / 燕之用樂毅
Explicit · hanshu:076:s0276
Title: Lord of Changguo / 昌國君 · Place: Changguo / 昌國 · Action: received
Explicit · shiji:080:s0026
Title: Lord Wangzhu / 望諸君 · Place: Guanjin / 觀津 · Action: received
Explicit · shiji:080:s0035
Status: exile · Action: entered · Place: Zhao / 趙
Explicit · shiji:080:s0034
Status: summoned · Action: recalled · Authority Person Id: King Hui of Yan (燕惠王)
Explicit · shiji:080:s0033

Places and affiliations

Label: Wei / 魏 · Relation: served
Explicit · shiji:080:s0006, shiji:080:s0009
Label: Yan / 燕 · Relation: served
Explicit · shiji:080:s0010
Label: Zhao / 趙 · Relation: served
Explicit · shiji:080:s0005, shiji:080:s0006
Name: Yan / 燕
Explicit · hanshu:076:s0276
Polity: Yan / 燕 · Relation: served
Explicit · shiji:082:s0003
Place: Lingshou / 靈壽
Strongly inferred · shiji:080:s0003, shiji:080:s0004
Place: Zhao / 趙 · Relation: fled-to
Explicit · shiji:082:s0018

Works and attributed material

Work: Reply letter to the king of Yan / 報燕王書 · Relation: author
Explicit · shiji:080:s0045, shiji:080:s0119
Kind: letter · Role: author · Other Person Id: King Hui of Yan (燕惠王)
Explicit · shiji:080:s0045, shiji:080:s0046, shiji:080:s0047, shiji:080:s0048, shiji:080:s0049, shiji:080:s0050, shiji:080:s0051, shiji:080:s0052, shiji:080:s0053, shiji:080:s0054, shiji:080:s0055, shiji:080:s0056, shiji:080:s0057, shiji:080:s0058, shiji:080:s0059, shiji:080:s0060, shiji:080:s0061, shiji:080:s0062, shiji:080:s0063, shiji:080:s0064, shiji:080:s0065, shiji:080:s0066, shiji:080:s0067, shiji:080:s0068, shiji:080:s0069, shiji:080:s0070, shiji:080:s0071, shiji:080:s0072, shiji:080:s0073, shiji:080:s0074, shiji:080:s0075, shiji:080:s0076, shiji:080:s0077, shiji:080:s0078, shiji:080:s0079, shiji:080:s0080, shiji:080:s0081, shiji:080:s0082, shiji:080:s0083, shiji:080:s0084
Kind: speech · Role: speaker · Other Person Id: King Zhao of Yan (燕昭王)
Explicit · shiji:080:s0016, shiji:080:s0017

Events and relationships

Kind: military · Role: commander · Action: attacked-and-defeated · Other: Polity: Qi / 齊 · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 燕使樂毅伐破齊 · Western Year: BC 284
Explicit · shiji:082:s0003
Kind: military · Role: commander · Action: campaigned · Place: Qi / 齊 · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 留徇齊五歲 · Western Interval: Start: BC 284 · End: BC 279
Explicit · shiji:080:s0028
Kind: military · Role: commander · Action: captured · Place: Linzi / 臨菑
Explicit · shiji:080:s0025
Kind: diplomacy · Role: intermediary · Action: communicated the intentions of the six states
Explicit · shiji:048:s0170
Kind: military · Role: commander · Action: defeated · Place: west of the Ji River / 濟西 · Label: attack on Qi / 伐齊
Explicit · shiji:080:s0021
Kind: political · Role: subject · Action: replaced-as-commander · Other Person Id: Qi Jie (騎劫) · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 使騎劫代樂毅 · Western Year: BC 279
Explicit · shiji:082:s0017
Kind: diplomatic · Role: envoy · Action: sent-as-envoy · Place: Yan / 燕 · Other Person Id: King Zhao of Wei (魏昭王)
Explicit · shiji:080:s0009
Relation: served · Person Id: King Zhao of Yan (燕昭王)
Explicit · sanguozhi:062:s0163
Relation: estranged-from · Person Id: King Hui of Yan (燕惠王)
Explicit · shiji:080:s0030, shiji:080:s0031
Relation: had-rift-with · Person Id: King Hui of Yan (燕惠王)
Explicit · shiji:082:s0012

Assessments and attributes

Assessment: worthy and fond of military affairs · Provenance: Mode: historian-judgment
Explicit · shiji:080:s0005
Item: Qi treasures, wealth, and ritual vessels / 齊寶財物祭器 · Relation: seized
Explicit · shiji:080:s0025

References in the histories

Open any source group to read the Chinese and English passage in context.

Book of Han, Chapter 2Volume 1: Annals of Emperor Gaozu 2 · 1 passage

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又求「樂毅有後乎？」 He also asked: "Does Yue Yi have descendants?"

Book of Han, Chapter 76Volume 65: Dongfang Shuo · 1 passage

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若夫燕之用樂毅，秦之任李斯，酈食其之下齊，說行如流，曲從如環，所欲必得，功若丘山，海內定，國家安，是遇其時也，子又何怪之邪？ When Yan used Yue Yi, when Qin trusted Li Si, when Li Yiji talked Qi into surrender, advice flowed like water and rulers bent like rings on a chain; every wish was granted, achievements piled up like mountains, and the realm knew peace. Those men simply met their moment. What is odd about that?

Book of Han, Chapter 99Volume 87b: Yang Xiong 2 · 1 passage

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昔三仁去而殷虛，二老歸而周熾，子胥死而吳亡，種、蠡存而粵伯，五□入而秦喜，樂毅出而燕懼，范睢以折□而危穰侯，蔡澤雖噤吟而笑唐舉。 The Three Worthies left and Shang collapsed; the Two Elders came home and Zhou flourished; Wu died with Wu Zixu; Yue rose while Zhong and Fan Li lived; five captives entered Xianyang to Qin’s delight; Yue Yi’s exile struck terror into Yan; Fan Ju’s stratagem toppled the Marquis of Rang; Cai Ze, stammering all the while, still got the laugh on the physiognomist Tang Ju.

Old History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 57Volume 57 Book of Later Tang 33: Biographies 9: Gao Chongtao · 1 passage

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是知強吳滅而范蠡去，全齊下而樂生奔，苟非其賢，孰免於禍。 So we see: when mighty Wu was destroyed, Fan Li withdrew; when all Qi was taken, Lord Yue fled. Unless a man possesses such wisdom, who can escape ruin?

Old History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 71Volume 71 Book of Later Tang 47: Biographies 23: Ma Yu, Si Kongting, Cao Tingyin, Xiao Xifu, Yao Zongzhi, Jia Fu, Ma Gao, Luo Guan, Chun Yuyan, Zhang Ge, Xu Ji, Zhou Xuanbao · 1 passage

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樂毅歸燕，且異傾邪之行。）〉 Le Yi returning to Yan was still no act of treacherous defection.)〉

Book of Liang, Chapter 7Volume 7: Empresses · 1 passage

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高祖受禪，詔曰：「庭堅世祀，靡輟於宗周，樂毅錫壤，乃昭於洪漢。 When Gaozu took the throne, an edict said: "Jianting's line was never cut off in the Zhou royal house; Yue Yi received a fief and shone in great Han.

Book of Liang, Chapter 52Volume 52: The Self-Sufficient · 1 passage

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漢世張良功成身退，病臥卻粒，比於樂毅、范蠡至乎顛狽，斯爲優矣。 In Han, Zhang Liang achieved merit and withdrew, took to his bed and ceased grain—compared with Yue Yi and Fan Li, even to their ruin, he was the better case.

Records of the Three Kingdoms, Chapter 62Volume 62: Book of Wu 17: Biographies of Shi Yi and Hu Zong · 2 passages

Open chapter

昔樂毅為燕昭王立功於齊，惠王即位，疑奪其任，遂去燕之趙，休烈不虧。 Once Yue Yi served King Zhao of Yan against Qi; when King Hui came to the throne he was suspected and stripped of command, left Yan for Zhao, and lost none of his renown.

死而弗義，不去何為!樂毅之出，吳起之走，君子傷其不遇，未有非之者也。 To die without justice—why not leave? When Yue Yi left and Wu Qi fled, gentlemen mourned their ill treatment; none blamed them.