Li Mi
leader of a rebel movement against the Chinese dynasty Sui Dynasty
Years: 582 - 619
Li Mi (582–619), courtesy name Xuansui (pseudonym Liu Zhiyuan), is the leader of a rebel movement against the rule of the Chinese dynasty Sui Dynasty.
He initially is the strategist of the Sui general Yang Xuangan, who rebels against Emperor Yang of Sui in 613 but fails, and Li subsequently leads a rebellion against Emperor Yang in his own right in 617, gaining so much following that there is 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, are urging him to take the imperial title.
Even Li Yuan (the later Emperor Gaozu of Tang) is writing him in supplicating terms that implicitly support his imperial claim.
However, his army becomes stalemated with Sui forces near the Sui eastern capital Luoyang and is never able to capture Luoyang, and in 618, the Sui general Wang Shichong ambushes him and crushes his forces.
He flees to the Tang Dynasty territory and submits to Emperor Gaozu, but subsequently rebels against Tang and tries to revive his own army.
The Tang general Sheng Yanshi captures and executed him.
