Li Mi

Who was Li Mi?

Li Mi, courtesy name Xuansui, pseudonym Liu Zhiyuan, was the leader of a rebel movement against the rule of the Chinese Sui Dynasty. He initially was the strategist of the Sui general Yang Xuangan, who rebelled against Emperor Yang of Sui in 613 but failed, and Li subsequently led a rebellion against Emperor Yang in his own right in 617, gaining so much following that there was much expectation that he soon would be able to prevail over Sui forces and establish a new dynasty -- so much so that even other key rebel leaders, including Dou Jiande, Meng Haigong, Xu Yuanlang, and Zhu Can, were urging him to take imperial title. Even Li Yuan was writing him in supplicating terms that implicitly supported his imperial claim. However, his army became stalemated with Sui forces near the Sui eastern capital Luoyang and was never able to capture Luoyang, and in 618, the Sui general Wang Shichong ambushed him and crushed his forces. He fled to Tang Dynasty territory and submitted to Emperor Gaozu, but subsequently rebelled against Tang and tried to revive his own army. The Tang general Sheng Yanshi captured and executed him.