茕茕孑立 — “Utterly alone and isolated”

In the first year of Taikang during the reign of Emperor Wu of Jin, Sima Yan unified China after destroying Eastern Wu, bringing an end to decades of division. To consolidate his rule, Emperor Wu of Jin implemented effective measures, one of which was 'widely recruiting talents.' He particularly focused on former officials and respected elders from the defeated Western Shu and Eastern Wu states, attempting to win over anyone with reputation or ability. If he couldn't win them over, he would find ways to eliminate them, ensuring they wouldn't serve him nor harm him. Concurrently, he established 'governing by filial piety' as his overarching ethical principle, advocating for filial respect towards parents, reverence for the elderly, and care for orphans and widows.

Among those he sought to recruit, a former official from Western Shu garnered significant attention from Sima Yan. This person was Li Mi, also known as Qian, courtesy name Lingbo, from Wuyang. He lost his father at six months old, and his mother, Lady He, remarried when he was four. He was raised by his paternal grandmother, Lady Liu. During the Shu Han period, he served as Shangshulang, a position that was neither too high nor too low but quite important.

After the Jin Dynasty's establishment, two successive local officials in the Shu region recommended Li Mi for office, but Li Mi, still deeply attached to his former state, refused to serve, declining on various pretexts. Sima Yan held him in exceptionally high regard and personally issued an imperial edict ordering Li Mi to serve as a Langzhong in the palace, but Li Mi did not comply. Later, his position was changed to the prominent role of Xima, an official serving the Crown Prince, yet Li Mi again used an excuse to decline. Sima Yan grew angry and personally issued another order, criticizing Li Mi's arrogance. Local officials pressed him rigorously day and night, threatening him with arrest and imprisonment, or even execution according to the law, if he delayed further.

This put Li Mi in a difficult situation: if he accepted the official post, he would still yearn for his former state and lose face by doing so; if he refused, he would be executed. After deep consideration, he wrote a 'Memorial to Express My Feelings' (Chen Qing Biao) and presented it to Sima Yan.

In the memorial, with 'governing by filial piety' as its main theme, he stated that in his childhood, he was 'lonely and helpless... utterly alone and isolated, only his shadow for company,' and it was thanks to his elderly grandmother that he was raised. Without his grandmother, he would not be alive today. Now, his grandmother was 96 years old, chronically bedridden, and without him, how could she spend her twilight years? He was only 44, and his days to serve the country were still long, but the time to care for his grandmother was short. He earnestly pleaded with Sima Yan to understand his predicament. Sima Yan was deeply moved after reading it and found it impossible to blame him. Moreover, to win over public sentiment, he simply dispatched two maidservants to assist Li Mi in caring for his elderly grandmother.