Li Mi

Li Bi or Li Mi (; 722 – April 1, 789), courtesy name Changyuan, formally the Marquess of Ye County, was a Chinese political and military strategist during the Tang dynasty. Li was a trusted advisor and close friend to Emperor Suzong of Tang, whom he aided in suppressing the An Lushan Rebellion, and later served as chancellor and chief civil official under Emperor Dezong. An accomplished man of letters, Li was a dedicated Taoist practitioner who cut an unusual figure at court, disentangling himself from political intrigue by leading an eremitic lifestyle and often eschewing high office to serve as personal counsellor to Emperor Suzong and his successors, Emperor Daizong and Emperor Dezong. Li's strategies helped stabilize the Tang state during a chaotic era marked by rebellion, warfare, and tension with foreign powers, though his influence and perceived eccentricity drew criticism from contemporary rivals and some traditional historians. Li is one of the 40 prominent figures memorialized in the Wu Shuang Pu by Jin Guliang. Background Li Bi was born in 722, during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong. His family was from the Tang dynasty capital Chang'an, but his ancestors claimed order from Liaodong Peninsula and further claimed ancestry from the Warring States period state Qin (the precursor to the Qin dynasty) official Li Tan and Li Tan's son, the Zhao prime minister Li Qi. Their traceable ancestry included officials of the Han dynasty, Jin dynasty (266–420), Later Yan, Northern Wei, and Northern Zhou. Li Bi's father Li Chengxiu was a county magistrate. During Emperor Xuanzong's reign It was said that Li Bi could read and write by age six, and that in his youth, he was known for his intelligence and dexterity. That year, when Emperor Xuanzong put out a general order requesting people to recommend those well-versed in Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism, the officials all recommended those whom they knew. An eight-year-old named Yuan Chu, a grandson of the great scholar Yuan Banqian and a cousin to Li Bi (Yuan Chu's mother was a sister to Li Chengxiu), particularly impressed Emperor Xuanzong. When Emperor Xuanzong asked Yuan Chu whether he knew anyone else like him, Yuan Chu replied that Li Bi was one. Emperor Xuanzong thus summoned Li Bi. When Li Bi arrived, Emperor Xuanzong was playing Go with the high-level official Zhang Shuo the Duke of Yan, and Zhang, wanting to test the child, asked to make up a poem comparing Go to life and recite it.