Edwin G. Pulleyblank
This word "Yi" has both specific references, such as to "Huaiyi" 淮夷 peoples in the Huai River region, and generalized references to "barbarian; foreigner; non-Chinese." "Lin Yutang's Chinese-English Dictionary of Modern Usage" translates "Yi" as "Anc[ient] barbarian tribe on east border, any border or foreign tribe." The sinologist Edwin G. Pulleyblank says the name "Yi" "furnished the primary Chinese term for 'barbarian'," but "Paradoxically the Yi were considered the most civilized of the non-Chinese peoples.