A Court Sorcerer’s Ominous Warning

In the twilight years of the Sui Dynasty (581-618 CE), Emperor Yang’s court harbored a sinister figure—the court sorcerer An Jiatuo. These practitioners of esoteric arts, known as fangshi, thrived by preying on imperial anxieties about mortality and power. An Jiatuo delivered a chilling prophecy that would ignite a bloody purge: “The child of the peach and plum shall become the Son of Heaven.”

This cryptic message implied that the Li family (李, meaning “plum”) threatened the Sui throne. The sorcerer, recognizing Emperor Yang’s growing paranoia after the Yang Xuangan rebellion (613 CE), exploited his dread of losing power. “Unless every person surnamed Li is exterminated,” An Jiatuo declared, “the Sui dynasty will never know peace.”

The Li Family Purge: Paranoia Turns Deadly

The Li clan, descendants of founding general Li Mu, held considerable influence. Li Hun and Li Min (nicknamed “Hong’er,” meaning “flood child”) particularly unsettled the emperor, as dreams of floods had once prompted the capital’s relocation. Minister Yuwen Shu, nursing a personal grudge over unpaid bribes related to Li Mu’s hereditary title, seized this opportunity.

Through elaborate manipulation, Yuwen Shu coerced Li Min’s wife (the emperor’s own niece) into falsely accusing her family of treason. In 615 CE, thirty-two Li family members were executed—an act Emperor Yang celebrated as neutralizing the prophecy’s threat. Yet the purge missed one critical figure: Li Mi, a fugitive descendant of the Li clan who had escaped captivity by bribing guards during the Yang Xuangan rebellion.

The Rise of the Fugitive “Plum”

Li Mi, hiding under the alias Liu Zhiyuan, spat in contempt upon hearing of the massacre. “The true ‘plum’ is me!” he proclaimed. His escape—a daring exploit involving seven fellow prisoners bribing guards near Handan—marked the beginning of his rebellion. After brief stints with minor warlords like Hao Xiaode, Li Mi joined Zhai Rang’s Wagang Army, a 10,000-strong bandit group operating near the Grand Canal.

Unlike his illiterate peers, Zhai Rang (a former low-ranking clerk) respected Li Mi’s aristocratic pedigree and strategic mind. Under Li Mi’s guidance, the Wagang transformed from mere looters into a revolutionary force with a bold vision: toppling the Sui.

The Battle of Luokou Granary: A Turning Point

In 617 CE, Li Mi masterminded an attack on the Luokou Granary, the dynasty’s critical grain reserve near Luoyang. By distributing stockpiled rice to starving peasants and recruiting thousands, he turned public sentiment against the Sui. When Imperial General Liu Changgong led 25,000 troops (including overconfident student volunteers from Luoyang’s elite academies) to crush the “rice thieves,” Li Mi annihilated them using feigned retreats and ambushes. The victory yielded massive supplies and cemented his reputation.

Legacy of a Prophecy Fulfilled

Emperor Yang, sequestered in Jiangdu (Yangzhou), remained oblivious that his purge had missed the most dangerous Li of all. Li Mi’s Wagang Army became the vanguard of rebellions that toppled the Sui by 618 CE. Ironically, the prophecy proved self-fulfilling: by fixating on eliminating the “peach and plum,” Emperor Yang had driven his true nemesis into rebellion.

The tale underscores how superstition and paranoia accelerated the Sui’s collapse. Li Mi’s rise—from fugitive to warlord—exemplifies how marginalized elites exploited dynastic weaknesses. Meanwhile, the Wagang Army’s evolution from bandits to revolutionaries reflects a recurring pattern in Chinese history: famine and misrule transforming local unrest into empire-ending movements.

Centuries later, the “peach and plum prophecy” endures as a cautionary tale about the dangers of unchecked autocracy and the unpredictable consequences of political purges.