Yi's grandfather, Yi Silin (易思麟; 1885–1983), graduated from the Hunan Law School (湖南法政学堂; now part of Hunan University) and served as the acting county magistrate of Dao County, Hunan Province. He became a self-taught physician after leaving office. Yi's uncle, Yi Rengai (易仁荄; 1908–1990), graduated from Tsinghua University's Department of History in 1935. Yi's father, Yi Tingyuan (易庭源; 1919–2011), was an accountant.^{[citation needed]}

Yi spent his childhood in his birthplace, Changsha, Hunan Province, before moving to Wuhan, Hubei province at the age of six. He attended Yuemachang Primary School (阅马场小学) and No. 1 Middle School attached to Central China Normal University (华中师范大学第一附属中学).^{[citation needed]}

Between 1965 and 1975, Yi went to Xinjiang to join the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps. From 1975 to 1978, he taught at a middle school for the children of employees at a steel production firm in Urumqi, Xinjiang.^[1]

Yi studied ancient Chinese literature in Wuhan University under the tutelage of Hu Guorui (胡国瑞) and graduated in 1978 with a professional degree.^{[citation needed]} In 1981, after obtaining a MA degree from Wuhan University, he became a lecturer at his alma mater. He is currently a professor and PhD supervisor in the Department of Chinese Language and Literature at Xiamen University's School of Humanities.^[1]

Yi's academic interests include literature, art, aesthetics, psychology, anthropology and history.^[1] His published works focus on popularising academic subjects. This has caused some controversy, but has also led to the popularity of his works.^{[citation needed]}

In 2005, Yi appeared on CCTV-10's Lecture Room programme. His series of lectures on personalities of the Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period were successful,^[1] but there was also criticism about the academic quality of his lectures.^{[citation needed]} Due to the popularity of his lectures, in 2006 CCTV-10 made a contract with him to produce a series of 52 lectures on the history of the Three Kingdoms period. In 2008, he started a series of 36 lectures about the Hundred Schools of Thought on Lecture Room.^[1]

In 2013, Yi wrote Yi Zhongtian Zhonghua Shi (易中天中华史; Yi Zhongtian's History of China). A year later, he wrote San Guo Ji (三国纪; Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms) to dispel myths about the historical figures Cao Cao, Liu Bei, Sun Quan and Zhuge Liang.

List of works edit

• Chinese culture series:
  • Xianhua Zhongguo Ren (闲话中国人; The Gossiping Chinese)
  • Zhongguo De Nanren He Nüren (中国的男人和女人; China's Men and Women)
  • Du Cheng Ji (读城记; Reading and Cities)
  • Pin Ren Lu (品人录; Analysis of People)
• CCTV-10 Lecture Room series:
  • Han Dai Fengyun Renwu (汉代风云人物; Prominent Personalities of the Han Dynasty)
  • Pin San Guo (品三国; Analysis of the Three Kingdoms)
  • Xian Qin Zhuzi Baijia Zhengming (先秦诸子百家争鸣; The Hundred Schools of Thought Before the Qin Dynasty)
• Politics:
  • Diguo De Chouchang (帝国的惆怅; Melancholy of the Empire)
  • Diguo De Zhongjie (帝国的终结; End of the Empire)
  • Feicheng Fengyun: Meiguo Xianfa De Dansheng He Women De Fansi (费城风云：美国宪法的诞生和我们的反思; Philadelphia: The Birth of the United States Constitution and Our Reflections)
• Aesthetics:
  • Po Men Er Ru (破门而入; Forced Entry)
• Social sciences:
  • Chengdu Fangshi (成都方式; The Chengdu Method)
• Essays:
  • Shusheng Yiqi (书生意气; Scholar's Spirit)
  • Shusheng Shaqi (书生傻气; Scholar's Foolishness)
  • Gao Gao De Shu Shang (高高的树上; High Up on the Tree)
• Others:
  • Dahua Fangyan (大话方言; Discussion on Dialects)
  • Zhongguo Zhihui (中国智慧; Chinese Intelligence)
  • Wo Shan Zhi Shi (我山之石; The Rock of My Mountain)
  • Yi Zhongtian Zhonghua Shi (易中天中华史; Yi Zhongtian's History of China)

• (in Chinese) Yi Zhongtian's personal blog
• (in Chinese) Yi Zhongtian's profile on people.com.cn