How did Li's surname come into being among hundreds of surnames?

Li surname. According to statistics, Li is the largest surname among the Han people in China, accounting for 7.9% of the Han population. That is to say, there are more than 87 million people surnamed Li in the world. Then, when, where, and who came from, and how was it formed?

It's interesting to say. Li was originally named after his official position. Yan Tao, the legendary leader of Dongyi tribe, lived in Qufu, Shandong Province today. When Yao was the leader of the Yanhuang Yi League, Gou Jian took his post and was in charge of criminal law. Later generations followed his official position and changed his surname to Li. Known for its integrity, it continues to be reused by Shun after Yao.

Li Zheng's descendants were officials in Shang Dynasty, dared to remonstrate, offended Shang Zhouwang and died. His wife Qihe and son Li Zhen fled to Houyi Market (now yi river Valley in western Henan), where they hid and lived by eating Mu Zi (plums). So starting from Li Zhen, the surname Li was changed to Li to commemorate Mei who saved Li.

The famous Laozi is said to be Loretta Lee's grandson 1 1. In the Tang Dynasty, Li became the "national surname". In the early Tang Dynasty, the generals who followed Li Yuan and cultivated the world all took Li as their surname, which greatly expanded Li's population. The Tang Dynasty was the heyday of feudal society in China, which lasted for more than 300 years. Li is the noblest, and his population has been greatly developed.

At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, Li began to emigrate overseas. During the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, more Li people moved overseas.

Li's population, more than 20 thousand people in ancient and modern times, now ranks first.

According to the latest research by experts, there are more than 22,000 surnames in China since ancient times, which is the largest statistical record of China people. Among the top ten surnames, Li is the first. Accounting for 7.9% of the total population.

According to a report by Xinhuanet on July 28th, these 22,000 surnames also include Chinese-English surnames of ethnic minorities belonging to Chinese territory in past dynasties. With the changes of the times, many surnames have disappeared. At present, there are about 3,500 surnames in China.

Experts found that among the top ten surnames, Li ranked first. The three surnames of Li, Wang and Zhang reached 270 million, accounting for more than 22% of the country's total population.

Among these 22,000 surnames, there are Chinese translations of surnames of ethnic minorities in China. With the changes of the times, many surnames have disappeared, and there are about 3,500 Han surnames still in use in contemporary China.

Yuan Yida, an associate researcher at the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, found through years of collection and research that the three largest surnames in China are Li, Wang and Zhang, accounting for 7.9%, 7.4% and 7. 1% of the total population respectively, reaching 270 million people, making them the three largest people with the same surnames in the world.

Hundreds of surnames in contemporary China account for 87% of the national population, and there are 19 surnames that account for more than 1% of the national population, namely: Li, Wang, Zhang, Liu, Chen, Yang, Zhao, Huang, Zhou, Wu, Xu, Sun, Hu, Zhu, Gao, Lin, He. Historically, about half of China's population was concentrated in this 19 surname.

In addition, the geographical distribution of people with the same surname in China is not balanced. For example, in the northern region, it is the first surname, while in the southern region, Chen is the first surname; In the transitional Yangtze River valley, Li is the first surname.