Qiong Qiong Jie Li

In the first year of Taikang Period of the Jin Dynasty（280 AD）， Sima Yan conquered the State of Wu in the south， putting an end to the Three-Kingdom Period and finally placing the land of China under the rule of one country. The emperor Sima Yan tried his best to recruit the talents to strengthen the ruling of the dynasty. He paid special attention to the old ministers of the State of Wu and State of Shu， two countries he conquered during the process of expanding the Jin Dynasty.

Sima Yan spared no efforts in recruiting these reputed and capable men from these two countries. Those who refused the offer too many time were eradicated since Sima Yan believed that killing them was better than having these men serve his enemies.

During the process， a man named Li Mi who previously served in the State of Shu as the secretariat of the court. It was not a prominent position but very important to the court. After occupying the land of Shu， Sima Yan received the recommendation letters from two magistrates of this land. He sent out his invitations， asking Li Mi to end the hermitage. However， Li Mi， who still missed his original country very much， rejected these offers.

Sima Yan， who admired Li Mi’s talents and reputation very much， sent an imperial decree， forcing Li Mi to come to the capital of Jin as the secretariat of the court （then he asked him to be the teacher for the crown prince）， but Li Mi still rejected the emperor’s order. This angered Sima Yan very much. He ordered the magistrate to arrest Li Mi and planned to execute him along with his family.

This put Li Mi into a predicament. If he took Sima Yan’s offer， he would have betrayed his own vows and loyalty to the State of Shu. If he rejected the offer， his and his family would be in danger. After deliberate consideration， he wrote an article bearing the name The Letter of Truth Statement， in which he detailed his life of growing up with his grandmother and his deep bond with her.

“My father passed away when I was young. My mother got remarried， leaving me to live with my grandmother. We lived lonely together and my grandmother went through a lot to bring me up，” he wrote. “Now she is old， withered and could not leave me. If I go to the capital to serve the court， my grandmother would perish. If I bring her along with me， I am afraid that her old body could not survive the long journey. So， I humbly asked Your Majesty to allow me to look after my grandmother until she passed away. I am only 44 years old and still has a lot of time left to serve the country， but there is only a little time left for my grandmother. Therefore， I sincerely beg Your Majesty to accept my humble request.”

Sima Yan was moved by this letter. He just advocated the filial piety so much that he established it as one of the principles to rule the country. In order to show his approval and encouragement of the filial deeds， he spared Li Mi and sent out two maids to help serve his grandmother.