Overview
Meng Yi was a High Minister and Official.
IdentityHistorical · Male
Life and dates
Death
BC 210 二世
executed 殺 · At Dai 代
Attested activity
Career and standing
High Minister 上卿
Held
Entered
Imprisoned · At Dai 代
Places and affiliations
- Polity Qin 秦 · Relation Served
Works and attributed material
Assessments and attributes
- Assessment renowned for loyalty and trustworthiness · Mode narrative
References in the histories
No matching passages.
Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 88Biography of Meng Tian · 13 passages
蒙恬弟毅。
Meng Tian had a younger brother named Yi.
而親近蒙毅，位至上卿，出則參乘，入則御前。
He was particularly close to Meng Yi, who rose to the rank of High Minister. When the Emperor traveled abroad, Yi rode beside him in the imperial chariot; at court, he attended at the Emperor's side.
恬任外事而毅常為內謀，名為忠信，故雖諸將相莫敢與之爭焉。
Tian oversaw military affairs abroad while Yi served as the Emperor's confidential adviser at court. The brothers were renowned for their loyalty, and not a single general or minister dared challenge their position.
高有大罪，秦王令蒙毅法治之。
When Gao committed a serious offense, the King of Qin ordered Meng Yi to try him according to the law.
毅不敢阿法，當高罪死，除其宦籍。
Yi refused to bend the law. He sentenced Gao to death and had his name struck from the palace register.
道病，使蒙毅還禱山川，未反。
Along the way the Emperor fell ill and dispatched Meng Yi to offer prayers at the sacred mountains and rivers. Yi had not yet returned.
高雅得幸於胡亥，欲立之，又怨蒙毅法治之而不為己也。
Zhao Gao had long enjoyed the favor of Hu Hai and wished to place him on the throne. He also harbored a grudge against Meng Yi, who had once prosecuted him strictly by the law without any regard for personal considerations.
毅還至，趙高因為胡亥忠計，欲以滅蒙氏，乃言曰：「臣聞先帝欲舉賢立太子久矣，而毅諫曰『不可』。
When Meng Yi returned from his mission, Zhao Gao, under the pretense of offering loyal counsel to Hu Hai while seeking to destroy the Meng clan, addressed the new Emperor: "Your servant has heard that the late Emperor long wished to choose a worthy heir and install a Crown Prince, but Yi remonstrated against it, saying, 'It must not be done.'
胡亥聽而系蒙毅於代。
Hu Hai heeded Zhao Gao's counsel and had Meng Yi imprisoned at Dai.
而遣御史曲宮乘傳之代，令蒙毅曰：「先主欲立太子而卿難之。
Instead, he dispatched the Imperial Secretary Qu Gong by relay post to Dai with a message for Meng Yi: "The late sovereign wished to install a Crown Prince, but you opposed it.
毅對曰：「以臣不能得先主之意，則臣少宦，順幸沒世。
Meng Yi replied: "If you claim that your servant failed to discern the late sovereign's intentions, consider that I entered the imperial service as a young man and was honored to serve faithfully throughout his entire reign.
使者知胡亥之意，不聽蒙毅之言，遂殺之。
But the envoy already knew Hu Hai's true intentions. He refused to heed Meng Yi's words and put him to death.
二世又遣使者之陽周，令蒙恬曰：「君之過多矣，而卿弟毅有大罪，法及內史。」
The Second Emperor then dispatched another envoy to Yangzhou with a message for Meng Tian: "Your offenses have been many, and your younger brother Yi stands guilty of grave crimes. By law, the sentence extends to you as well."