Huan Yi was from Zhi County (銍縣, in present-day
Suixi County, Anhui),
Qiao Commandery and was a kinsman to the general
Huan Xuan (桓宣). He was appreciated by the likes of
Wang Meng and
Liu Tan and was entrusted with handling various military affairs. Huan Yi later found himself serving the Grand Marshal,
Huan Wen, another member of the Huan clan of Qiao, albeit from the distant and more prominent branch in Longkang County (龍亢; in present-day
Huaiyuan County,
Anhui). As the
Former Qin dynasty grew in power and vied to unify all of China under their banner, Huan Yi was appointed as the Prefect of Huainan to guard the northern borders of Jin. Huan Yi managed his responsibilities well, so the court extended his control to parts of Yuzhou and
Yangzhou and made him General Who Establishes Might. Huan Yi followed Huan Wen in quelling
Yuan Zhen's Rebellion in 370. He and
Huan Shiqian were tasked in preventing Qin reinforcements from reaching
Shouchun. The two of them routed
Zhang Ci and Wang Jian (王堅) at Shiqiao (石橋, around present-day
Lu'an,
Anhui), allowing Huan Wen to quell the rebellion in 371. In 374, Huan Yi was made Chief Controller of Yuzhou and also Inspector of Yuzhou. Huan Yi administered the province for ten years, being well-respected by its populace for his fair and competent treatment of them. In 383, the Heavenly King of Qin,
Fu Jian launched a major campaign to conquer Jin and unify China under his rule. Huan Yi worked alongside Xie Xuan to drive back the numerically superior Qin forces. At the Battle of Fei River, through the help of Xie Xuan and
Xie An's deception, the Qin army was tricked into making a disorganized retreat. Huan Yi and Xie Xuan charged at the retreating Qin forces, leaving thousands of them dead in their wake. The battle sealed the fate of Qin, as many of Fu Jian's generals would betray him and established their own state. After their massive victory, Huan Yi dedicated himself to collecting armours from the site of the battle, amassing a total of 600 by the end of his life. He also made a list of people to present themselves in court and be gifted with the armours he collected. Huan Yi believed that this would help in Jin's unification process in case he dies before he lived to see the day. In 384, Huan Wen's brother,
Huan Chong died. The court decided to have Huan Yi succeed his position of Inspector of
Jiangzhou. Upon inspection of the towns in Jiangzhou, Huan Yi noticed that it required reforms, especially with Qin no longer posing a threat. He informed the court that Jiangzhou was suffering from a famine and proposed that the small counties be merged, rice debts be exempted and that Jiangzhou's prefectural government office be moved to Yuzhang (豫章, in present-day
Nanchang,
Jiangxi). For solving this issue, the people of Jiangzhou greatly respected Huan Yi. Later in his life, Huan Yi became General Who Protects the Army and received 2,000 men from the General of the Right to serve among his staff. Huan Yi died in 391 while in office. He was posthumously appointed as General of the Right and given the posthumous title of '
Lie (烈)'. His tomb is located on Shima Street (石馬街), Caijiafang (蔡家坊) in
Nanchang. == Music ==