He Yi was a Yellow Turban rebel

Yellow Turban Rebellion

The Yellow Turban Rebellion, also translated as Yellow Scarves Rebellion, was a peasant revolt that broke out in 184 AD in China during the reign of Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty...

 leader who occupied Runan

Runan

Runan may refer to:*Runan County, in Henan, China*Runan, Côtes-d'Armor, commune in France...

 during the late Han Dynasty

Han Dynasty

The Han Dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms . It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang...

 period of Chinese history

History of China

Chinese civilization originated in various regional centers along both the Yellow River and the Yangtze River valleys in the Neolithic era, but the Yellow River is said to be the Cradle of Chinese Civilization. With thousands of years of continuous history, China is one of the world's oldest...

. As the Yellow Turban Rebellion declined, he and other Yellow Turban remnants like Liu Pi, He Man, and Huang Shao (黃邵) allied with Yuan Shu

Yuan Shu

Yuan Shu was a warlord during the late Han Dynasty era of Chinese history. He rose to prominence following the collapse of the imperial court in 189. He was said to be a younger cousin of the warlord Yuan Shao, but was actually Yuan Shao's younger half-brother...

 and Sun Jian

Sun Jian

Sun Jian was a military general and warlord during the late Han Dynasty period of Chinese history. He allied himself with Yuan Shu in 190 when warlords from eastern China formed a coalition to oust Dong Zhuo, a tyrannical warlord who held the puppet Emperor Xian in his power...

 in the early 190s, and managed to amass tens of thousands of men by the middle of the decade. In 196 when Cao Cao

Cao Cao

Cao Cao was a warlord and the penultimate chancellor of the Eastern Han Dynasty who rose to great power during the dynasty's final years. As one of the central figures of the Three Kingdoms period, he laid the foundations for what was to become the state of Cao Wei and was posthumously titled...

 launched a campaign against them, they all surrendered to Cao after Huang Shao was killed by Yu Jin

Yu Jin

Yu Jin was a military general serving under the warlord Cao Cao during the late Han Dynasty period of Chinese history. He joined Cao in the early years of the civil wars that led to the collapse of the Han Dynasty...

.

In fiction

In Luo Guanzhong

Luo Guanzhong

Luo Ben , better known by his style name Luo Guanzhong , was a Chinese writer of the early Ming Dynasty period of Chinese history. He was also known as Huhai Sanren...

's historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Romance of the Three Kingdoms, written by Luo Guanzhong in the 14th century, is a Chinese historical novel based on the events in the turbulent years near the end of the Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history, starting in 169 and ending with the reunification of the land in...

, even after the Yellow Turban Rebellion

Yellow Turban Rebellion

The Yellow Turban Rebellion, also translated as Yellow Scarves Rebellion, was a peasant revolt that broke out in 184 AD in China during the reign of Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty...

 was over, He Yi still occupied Runan. However, while fleeing from Cao Cao's approaching army, he was captured by Xu Chu

Xu Chu

Xu Chu was a warrior who lived during the late Han Dynasty and Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history. He served as a bodyguard to the warlord Cao Cao. Gigantic and strong, yet simple-minded and honest, Xu Chu was referred to as "Dumb Tiger" by his fellow men...

, then a volunteer army leader, and executed on Cao's order.