leader of the Tangut (Chinese: Dangxiang) tribes, a people who inhabited the northwestern region of China in what are now parts of Gansu and Shaanxi provinces and the Ningxia Hui and Inner Mongolia autonomous regions. Li founded the Xia (or Daxia) dynasty (1038–1227), usually referred to as the Xi (Western) Xia.

The Tangut were originally a vassal state of China, but in 1038 Li ended his people's tribute shipments to the Song (Song dynasty) (960–1279) rulers and proclaimed himself emperor of the Xia. He tried to create a Chinese-style system of government and even adopted a system of writing the Tangut language using Chinese-style ideographs. A warlike state, the Xia preserved its independence until the coming of the Mongols (1209), who so decimated the country that little is now known of the Tangut people or culture.