Fu Yi

Fu Yi (555–639), from Ye in Xiangzhou, was a Sui and Tang astronomer who served as director of the imperial observatory.

Fu Yi was director of the imperial observatory in the early Tang. This entry records his life as 555 to 639.[^wikidata] The Old Book of Tang gives his name simply as Fu Yi, and the cited Wikidata label is the same, with the surname Fu, so the title stays Fu Yi.[^zhengshi][^wikidata]

## From the Sui into the Tang

The Old Book of Tang says he was from Ye in Xiangzhou and was especially learned in astronomy and calendrics. In the Kaihuang reign he served Prince Yang Liang of Han as a ceremonial officer. When the prince rebelled, he asked Fu Yi what it meant that Mars had entered the Well. Fu Yi answered that the celestial Well lies on the ecliptic, so Mars passing there was not strange, whereas a well on the ground would be an ill omen. The prince was displeased. After the revolt failed, Fu Yi was spared and moved to Fufeng. Emperor Gaozu, then prefect of Fufeng, treated him with respect and, after taking the throne, summoned him as vice director of the observatory. Director Yu Jian recommended him as his own replacement, and Fu Yi became director.[^zhengshi]

## Director of the observatory

In the third year of Wude he submitted a new clepsydra method, which was put into use. In the seventh year he memorialized for the suppression of Buddhism, in very direct language, and sent eleven further memorials. Gaozu referred them to the court. Only Zhang Daoyuan, chamberlain of the imperial stud, called the proposal sound. Xiao Yu, president of the secretariat, argued that Fu Yi was defaming a sage and should be punished. Fu Yi replied that the Buddha had left his father by going forth from the city. Gaozu was close to following him when the abdication stopped the matter. In the fifth month of the ninth year of Wude, Fu Yi secretly reported that Venus had appeared in the astral division of Qin and that the Prince of Qin would possess the empire. Gaozu passed the report to Taizong. After Taizong's accession he received Fu Yi and said the earlier report had nearly implicated him, but that Fu Yi should still speak fully. When Taizong asked why he alone rejected Buddhism, Fu Yi said it had come from the Western Regions, did not help the people, and harmed the state. Taizong was inclined to agree.[^zhengshi]

## Death and writings

The Old Book of Tang says he died in the thirteenth year of Zhenguan at the age of eighty-five. On his deathbed he told his sons to study Laozi, Zhuangzi, and the Six Classics, not the Buddhism then in fashion, and he asked for a plain burial. He did not call a doctor when ill. Once, while drunk, he wrote his own epitaph: he was Fu Yi, a man of green hills and white clouds. He annotated the Laozi, wrote a phonological commentary, and collected anti-Buddhist arguments from the Wei and Jin onward as Gaoshi zhuan in ten juan.[^zhengshi]

## Basic facts

- Name: Fu Yi[^zhengshi]
- Native place: Ye in Xiangzhou[^zhengshi]
- Dates on this entry: 555–639[^wikidata]
- Occupations: astronomer and political figure[^wikidata]
- Realms recorded on this entry: Sui, Tang, and Northern Zhou[^wikidata]
- Portrayal: [[person_cn_q138001671|Fu Yi]] (a character in Journey to the West)

Updated: 2026-10-25

Tags:
- 中国古代

Relations:
- Portrayals: Fu Yi (作品中的人物形象，原型为该历史人物。)

Mentioned in:
- 傅奕

Sources:
- Wikidata Q1004339 https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1004339
- 傅奕（维基百科） https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%82%85%E5%A5%95
- 旧唐书·卷79（维基文库） https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E8%88%8A%E5%94%90%E6%9B%B8/%E5%8D%B779