As information about Wu Yi's life was initially lost over the course of history, Chen Shou did not write a biography for Wu Yi in the Records of the Three Kingdoms in the third century. By the fifth century, Pei Songzhi managed to recover some information about Wu Yi's life and he added it as annotations to Chen Shou's Sanguozhi. Wu Yi was from Chenliu Commandery, which is around present-dayKaifeng, Henan. He accompanied Liu Yan into Yi Province around 188 when the latter was appointed as the Governor of Yi Province by the central government of the Eastern Han dynasty. Following Liu Yan's death in 194, Wu Yi continued serving under Liu Zhang, Liu Yan's son and successor as the Governor of Yi Province. Liu Zhang appointed him as a General of the Household. Between 212 and 214, when the warlord Liu Bei attacked Liu Zhang in an attempt to seize control of Yi Province, Wu Yi fought on Liu Zhang's side and led troops to fight Liu Bei's forces at Fu County. However, he surrendered to Liu Bei after being defeated. After completely taking control over Yi Province by 214, Liu Bei appointed Wu Yi as General Who Protects the Army and Attacks Rebels and married Wu Yi's sister. In 221 during the Three Kingdoms period, after Liu Bei declared himself emperor and established the state of Shu Han, he appointed Wu Yi as Chief Controller of Guanzhong. After Liu Bei's death in 223, Wu Yi continued serving under Liu Bei's son and successor, Liu Shan. In 230, he followed the Shu general Wei Yan to attack Nan'an Commandery, which was under the control of Shu's rival state, Wei. They defeated Wei forces led by Fei Yao in the battle. In recognition of Wu Yi's contributions, Liu Shan first enfeoffed Wu Yi as a village marquis, but promoted him to a district marquis later under the title "Marquis of Gaoyang District". He also appointed Wu Yi as General of the Left. In 234, when Zhuge Liang, the Imperial Chancellor of Shu, died, Liu Shan appointed Wu Yi as General of Chariots and Cavalry, granted him imperial authority, and ordered him to oversee military affairs in Hanzhong Commandery. Liu Shan also appointed Wu Yi as the nominal Inspector of Yong Province, in addition to promoting him to a county marquis under the title "Marquis of Jiyang". Wu Yi died in 237.
