<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<script type="text/javascript" src="/jquery/jquery.js"></script>
</head>
<body>
<ul id="one" class="level-1">
<li class="item-i">I</li>
<li id="ii" class="item-ii">II
<ul class="level-2">
<li class="item-a">A</li>
<li class="item-b">B
<ul class="level-3">
<li class="item-1">1</li>
<li class="item-2">2</li>
<li class="item-3">3</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="item-c">C</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="item-iii">III</li>
</ul>
<script>
$('li.item-a').closest('li').css('background-color', 'red');</script>
</body>
</html>