Ji Yan

Ji Yan, courtesy name Zixiu, was a Chinese politician of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China. An impulsive and impetuous man, he thought highly of himself and liked to assume the moral high ground to criticise and disparage others. While serving in the selection bureau, he came up with radical ideas to reform the bureaucracy by demoting or dismissing officials based on assessments of their moral character. His ideas proved to be highly unpopular as he incurred much resentment from his colleagues, who accused him of being unprofessional and biased. When his colleagues Lu Xun, Lu Mao and Zhu Ju advised him to change his offensive behaviour, he ignored their well-meaning advice. In 224, he committed suicide after he was removed from office on allegations of unprofessional conduct.