Lǐ Qǐ 李杞 (lifedates not securely recorded; fl. 1203, per the firmly-fixed auto-preface date of his Yòng Yì xiáng jiě), zì Zǐcái 子才, hào Qiānzhāi 謙齋, of Méishān 眉山 in Sìchuān (modern Méishān prefecture, central Sìchuān).
Distinct from two other Sòng-period Lǐ Qǐ’s (per the Sìkù tiyao’s explicit disambiguation):
- The Northern-Sòng Lǐ Qǐ (CBDB id 981, d. 1080), Dàlǐsì chéng and Sū Shì Wūtái shī àn circle figure.
- The ZhūXī disciple Lǐ Qǐ (zì Liángzhòng 良仲, of Píngjiāng), recorder of the Jiǎyín wèndá 甲寅問答.
CBDB has multiple Sòng-period Lǐ Qǐ entries without dates (id 40866, 40869, 40874, 478059); the present author is most plausibly id 40866 (or 40869), both Sòng-period without further detail.
Career-detail unknown beyond the auto-preface’s signature Qiānzhāi jūshì 謙齋居士 (“Layman Qiānzhāi”), suggesting a non-office-holding scholar status, possibly a member of the local Méishān gentry.
Within the Kanripo corpus he is the author of KR1a0059 Yòng Yì xiáng jiě 用易詳解 (originally 20 juan; recovered by the Sìkù editors from Yǒnglè dàdiǎn citations as 16 juan, with 7 hexagrams’ material plus 4 lines of Jìn missing). Composed in 1203 (Jiātài guǐhài, 6th-month full-moon-day).
Methodologically distinctive for combining (a) the historical-case method that runs from Zhèng Xuán through Lǐ Guāng to Yáng Wànlǐ (KR1a0040) — citing concrete historical events for each line-statement — with (b) extensive LǎoZhuāng citation, continuing the YìLǎo synthesis line of Yè Mèngdé and Chéng Dàchāng. Title invokes Wáng Tōng (Wénzhōngzǐ)‘s formula “the Yì is the sage’s coming-into-action.”