A research report on the history and current situation of the surname Li, modeled on the book

The surname Li is the most populous surname in the world. The surname Li ranks 4th in "Hundred Family Surnames". It was the second most populous surname in mainland China in 2007. However, according to the National Citizen Identity Information System (NCIIS) of the household registration management department, Li is the third most common surname. In North Korea and Vietnam, the surname Lee is also a common surname. In North Korea, the surname Lee is the second most common surname.

In order to distinguish the surname Li from other surnames with the same sound, it is often called "Shibazi Li" or "Muzi Li". According to a paper on "surnames" published by Chinese historian Li Dongming in "Oriental Magazine" in 1977, the surname Li is one of the top ten Chinese surnames in the world.

According to statistics, the total number of people surnamed Li is over 100 million, of which 92.074 million people have the surname Li in mainland China, accounting for 7.19% of China's total population. Henan Province is the province with the largest number of people with the surname Li in China.

The first source: derived from the surname Ying

Deriving from the surname Ying, it may come from Li Zheng, a descendant of the Gaoyang family of Emperor Zhuanxu after Gaotao, or from Laozi, the founder of Taoism in the Zhou Dynasty Li Er is a surname named after an official position.

In the Yao period, Gaotao once served as Dali (an official in charge of prisons), and his son Boyi was given the surname Ying. His descendants inherited the position of Dali for three generations, and their descendants followed the custom of the time. , with Guan as his surname, he was called Li surname.

There are two general theories about the change of Li family to Li family:

One theory is: During the Shang Dynasty, Li Zheng, a descendant of Gaotao, became an official in the court because of his direct advice. He offended King Zhou of Shang Dynasty and was executed. When his wife Qihe fled with her son Li Zhen, she survived by eating plums to satisfy her hunger. Therefore, she did not dare to be reasonable, so she changed her surname to Li.

Another theory is: According to historical records, there was no Li family before the Zhou Dynasty. Since then, there has been Laozi, whose surname is Li and whose name is Er, who is a descendant of Li Zhen. Because his ancestors have been officials for generations, Li, The two characters "Li" have similar ancient pronunciation, so they also took Li as their surname. Obviously, the Li family name started from Li Er.

In the last years of the Shang Dynasty, King Zhou was tyrannical and unruly, and indulged in women, which made the princes and people resentful. There was a man named Li Zheng, a descendant of Gaotao, who pointed out King Zhou's mistakes out of loyalty and persuaded him to correct them. As a result, he offended King Zhou and was killed. After Li Zheng's wife Qi He heard the news, she fled with her young son Li Zhen. Qihe was originally from the state of Chen (now Huaiyang, Henan). He wanted to escape back to his natal family, but was afraid of harming his natal family, so he fled to the west of Henan. When they reached the "Ruins of Yihou" in the present-day Yihe River Basin in western Henan, the mother and son were unbearably hungry and exhausted, especially Xiao Lizhen, who was on the verge of death from hunger. However, this area is deserted, how can we find food? Fortunately, Qihe found some "wood" on a nearby tree, so he picked it and ate it. In this way, the mother and son saved their lives by eating wild fruits. Then, they went to eastern Henan and settled in Ku County (now east of Luyi, Henan), not far from Huaiyang. In order to appreciate "Muzi" for his life-saving contribution, and to avoid the pursuit of King Zhou, and because Li and Li have the same pronunciation, Zi Lizhen began to change the Li family name to Li.

The second source: other clans changed their surnames

It originated from the surname change, which is based on the surname given by the emperor.

During the Three Kingdoms period, Zhuge Liang, the Prime Minister of the Shu Han Dynasty, gave various local ethnic minorities the surnames Zhao, Zhang, Yang, Li, etc. after pacifying the Ailao Yi.

The Xianbei tribe in the Northern Wei Dynasty had the compound surname Chi Li. After Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty moved the capital to Luoyang, he implemented a comprehensive sinicization policy and changed it to the single surname Li in Chinese characters.

Among the Hui surnames, there are many surnames given by emperors of the past dynasties, such as Li, Da, Da, Zhang, Bai, Mu, Shaan, Zheng, Zhu, Jin and other surnames. The Hui Li family is one of the few Persians and Arabs who came to China and settled in China since the 7th century. After the 13th century, some Central Asians, Persians and Arabs moved into China. In the process of getting along with the Han, Uyghur and Mongolian people, they The Hui ethnic group is formed in China, also known as "Hui Hui". The Hui people are widely distributed and mainly live together with the Han people. They are mostly distributed in the northwest region and provinces and cities such as Henan, Hebei, Shandong, Yunnan, Anhui, Liaoning, and Beijing, with about 7.3 million people. The Li family accounts for a high proportion among the Hui people, and some of them come directly from ancient Persia or Arabia. For example, Li Xun, a poet in Shu during the Five Dynasties, whose ancestors were Persians, settled in Zizhou (today's Santai, Sichuan) after coming to China.

The third source: the change of his surname to Li

It originated from the change of surnames of various ethnic groups, which is a Chinese change of surname to surname.

((8) Hui Nationality

The Li family among the Hui Nationality is mainly derived from the given surname.

According to the "A Brief History of Muslim Famous Virtues in Chinese Dynasties": In the Tang Dynasty, "Li Guangyan, Ben'a Tulu, was one of the fifteen tribes in Chile. Because of his martial arts skills, he was given the national surname Rong."

Tang Lan clearly stated: Lao Tzu is not surnamed Li. , but the surname is Lao. Guo Moruo, Ma Xulun, Chen Duxiu and others agree with Tang Lan's theory. Gao Heng has further research on this theory. He said in "Laozi Zhengzhe·Preface": Lao and Li changed their original surname. Lao, later changed to Li with the same pronunciation. He listed four pieces of evidence:

In order to distinguish the surname Li from other surnames with the same pronunciation, the surname is often called "Shibazi Li" or "Muzi Li". According to an article on "surnames" published by Chinese historian Li Dongming in "Oriental Magazine" in 1977, the surname Li is one of the top ten Chinese surnames in the world.

According to statistics, the total number of people surnamed Li is increasing. There are 100 million people, including 92.074 million people with the surname Li in mainland China, accounting for 7.19% of the total population in China. Henan Province is the largest province with the surname Li in China.

The first source: derived from the surname Ying

Deriving from the surname Ying, it may come from Li Zheng, a descendant of the Gaoyang family of Emperor Zhuanxu after Gaotao, or from Laozi, the founder of Taoism in the Zhou Dynasty Li Er is a surname named after an official position.

In the Yao period, Gaotao once served as Dali (an official in charge of prisons), and his son Boyi was given the surname Ying. His descendants inherited the position of Dali for three generations, and their descendants followed the custom of the time. , with Guan as his surname, he was called Li surname.

There are two general theories about the change of Li family name to Li family name:

One theory is: During the Shang Dynasty, Li Zheng, a descendant of Gaotao, became an official in the court because of his direct advice. He offended King Zhou of Shang Dynasty and was executed. When his wife Qihe fled with her son Li Zhen, she survived by eating plums to satisfy her hunger. Therefore, she did not dare to be reasonable, so she changed her surname to Li.

Another way of saying it is: According to historical records, there was no Li family before the Zhou Dynasty. Since then, there has been Laozi, whose surname is Li and whose name is Er. He is a descendant of Li Zhen. Because his ancestors have been Li officials for generations, Li, The two characters "Li" have similar ancient pronunciation, so they also took Li as their surname. Obviously, the Li family name started from Li Er.

In the last years of the Shang Dynasty, King Zhou was tyrannical and unruly, and indulged in women, which made the princes and people resentful. There was a man named Li Zheng, a descendant of Gaotao, who pointed out King Zhou's mistakes out of loyalty and persuaded him to correct them. As a result, he offended King Zhou and was killed. After Li Zheng's wife Qi He heard the news, she fled with her young son Li Zhen. Qihe was originally from the state of Chen (now Huaiyang, Henan). He wanted to escape back to his natal family, but was afraid of harming his natal family, so he fled to the west of Henan. When they reached the "Ruins of Yihou" in the present-day Yihe River Basin in western Henan, the mother and son were unbearably hungry and exhausted, especially Xiao Lizhen, who was on the verge of death from hunger. However, this area is deserted, how can we find food? Fortunately, Qihe found some "wood" on a nearby tree, so he picked it and ate it. In this way, the mother and son saved their lives by eating wild fruits. Then, they went to eastern Henan and settled in Ku County (now east of Luyi, Henan), not far from Huaiyang. In order to appreciate "Muzi" for his life-saving contribution, and at the same time to avoid the pursuit of King Zhou, and because Li and Li have the same pronunciation, Zi Lizhen began to change the Li family name to Li.

The second source: changing the surname from another clan

It originated from changing the surname, which is based on the surname given by the emperor.

During the Three Kingdoms period, Zhuge Liang, the Prime Minister of the Shu Han Dynasty, gave various local ethnic minorities the surnames Zhao, Zhang, Yang, Li, etc. after pacifying the Ailao Yi.

The Xianbei tribe in the Northern Wei Dynasty had the compound surname Chi Li. After Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty moved the capital to Luoyang, he implemented a comprehensive sinicization policy and changed it to the single surname Li in Chinese characters.

Among the Hui surnames, there are many surnames given by emperors of the past dynasties, such as Li, Da, Da, Zhang, Bai, Mu, Shaan, Zheng, Zhu, Jin and other surnames. The Hui Li family is one of the few Persians and Arabs who came to China and settled in China since the 7th century. After the 13th century, some Central Asians, Persians and Arabs moved into China. In the process of getting along with the Han, Uyghur and Mongolian people, they The Hui ethnic group is formed in China, also known as "Hui Hui". The Hui people are widely distributed and mainly live together with the Han people. They are mostly distributed in the northwest region and provinces and cities such as Henan, Hebei, Shandong, Yunnan, Anhui, Liaoning, and Beijing, with about 7.3 million people. The Li family accounts for a high proportion among the Hui people, and some of them come directly from ancient Persia or Arabia. For example, Li Xun, a poet in Shu during the Five Dynasties, whose ancestors were Persians, settled in Zizhou (today's Santai, Sichuan) after coming to China.

The third source: his surname was changed to Li

It originated from the surname change of various ethnic groups, which is a Chinese change of surname to surname.

(1) Miao people

The Miao people live in the south, with more than half of them in Guizhou and the rest distributed in Hunan, Yunnan, Guangxi, Sichuan, Guangdong, Hubei and other provinces. They are closely related to other ethnic groups. There are about 5.1 million people living in mixed settlements and small settlements. The Li family occupies a certain proportion of the Miao people and is one of the common surnames among the Miao people in the Weining area of ??western Guizhou. The Han surname is "Li" and the Miao surname is "Meng Enlu". This is a special way of writing that they implement the "son-father-name system". Some of the Li family names among the Miao people are the product of ethnic integration, and some have nothing to do with the original meaning of the Li family name. For example, during the Miao uprising in Guizhou led by Zhang Xiumei during the Xianfeng and Tongzhi years of the Qing Dynasty, there was a rebel general named Li Hongji, but his surname was not Li. "It means water cow in Miao language, and "Hongji" means "bent horn", so "Li Hongji" means "water cow with crooked horns". According to research by relevant scholars, when the Qing Dynasty officials registered the household register, they replaced the Miao name of the male household head with a Chinese surname with the same sound, thus forming the Miao Han surname. Some Li families among the Miao people were born in this way.

(2) Zhuang Nationality

The Zhuang nationality developed from a branch of the ancient Baiyue. It is the most populous ethnic minority in China, with approximately 13.4 million people. More than 90% of them are distributed in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, with a small number living in Yunnan, Guangdong and other provinces. The Li family is the largest among the Zhuang people, and there have been some influential figures, such as the famous Taiping Heavenly Kingdom generals Li Kaifang, Li Jingui, Li Wencai, etc., all of whom are from the Li family of the Zhuang ethnic group.

(3) Yao Nationality

The Yao Nationality mainly developed from a part of the ancient "Changsha Wuling Barbarians". There are approximately 1.45 million people distributed in the mountainous areas of the five provinces of Guangxi, Hunan, Yunnan, Guangdong, and Guizhou. Among them, the Yao people in Guangxi account for about 70% of the total. The Li family is one of the main surnames of the Yao ethnic group, ranking fifth among the original twelve surnames of the Yao ethnic group.

The Li family of the Yao ethnic group is divided into several "houses" based on their bloodline; each house has a title, and the seniority titles include "Bentou", "Babi", "Jiugu", etc. The Li family of the Yao ethnic group had the spirit of resisting feudal oppression. In the Qing Dynasty, there was Li Ying, the anti-Qing leader of the Bapai Yao people in Guangdong, and Li Yuanfa, the leader of the Hunan Yao people's uprising.

(4) Bai Nationality

The Bai people call themselves "Baizi" and "Baini". They mainly live in Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, and are scattered in Bijiang, Yuanjiang, Kunming, Yunnan Province, In Zhaotong and Bijie, Guizhou Province, there were about 1.13 million people in 1982. Du You, a historian of the Tang Dynasty, once served as the governor of Lingnan and was familiar with the situation of ethnic minorities in the south. The surnames of the Bai people were recorded in his "Tongdian": "There are dozens of tribes in this area... There are dozens of surnames, with Yang, Li, Zhao, and Dong are famous families, each occupying their own territory and not subordinate to each other." It can be seen from this that the Li family is a common surname among the Bai people, with a history of at least more than a thousand years. Going back further, during the Three Kingdoms period, Zhuge Liang, the Prime Minister of Shu, gave the surname Zhang to the Nanman chief Long Youna who had lived in Yunnan for a long time. He also gave the surnames Yang, Li, Zhao and other surnames to the chiefs. This also shows that the Bai people in Yunnan had the Li family more than 1,700 years ago. After the Three Kingdoms, many Han people of the Li family migrated to Yunnan, and over time, they merged with the Bai people. For example, the "Xi'erhe barbarians" in the Zhenguan period of the Tang Dynasty, with surnames such as Yang, Li, and Zhao, all claimed to be originally Han people. No wonder some people say that it is difficult for the Li family in Yunnan to distinguish who is Han or Bai. In history, some relatively famous figures have emerged from the Li family of the Bai ethnic group, such as Li Zicong, a state minister in Dali in the Song Dynasty, Li Yuanyang, a writer and historian in the Ming Dynasty, and scholars Li Zhuoyun, Li Genyun, and Li Chongjie in the Qing Dynasty. Today, the Li family is still one of the four major surnames of the Bai ethnic group.

(5) She Nationality

She means burning hazelnut farming, that is, burning the grass and trees in the field before sowing and using the ashes as fertilizer. The She people got their name from their practice of slash-and-burn farming. They call themselves "She people" or "mountain guests". There are about 380,000 people distributed in more than 60 areas in five provinces: Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Guangdong and Anhui. Some mountainous areas in counties (cities) are most common in Fujian and Zhejiang provinces. They speak Chinese and are mainly engaged in agriculture. They have lived together with the Han people for a long time and have a very close relationship. The genealogy of the She people in Xiapu County, Fujian Province records that "in the second year of Tang Guangqi's reign (AD 886), Pan, Lan, Lei, Zhong, and Li had more than 360 Dingkou. They were appointed as township Taoist officials by Wang Shenzhi, the king of Fujian, and came from the sea. Fujian", which shows that there was a Li family of the She ethnic group in Fujian in the late Tang Dynasty. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, there was Li Zhifu, the leader of the Fujian peasant uprising, who was said to be from the She ethnic group.

(6) Jewish people

Jews were called "Hebrews" in ancient times. They lived in Palestine in the 13th century BC and spoke Hebrew (belonging to the Semitic family of Semitic languages). ), established the Kingdom of Israel in the 11th century BC and founded Judaism. During the rule of the Roman Empire in the first to second centuries AD, most of them were driven out of their places of residence. Those who dispersed into Europe were persecuted and massacred, or they merged with local ethnic groups. The entry of Jews into China began in the Tang Dynasty; more people came to China in the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty. The ancestors of this group of Jews who entered China during the Northern Song Dynasty left the Jewish homeland in the 1970s BC and migrated to the Bombay area of ??India. After settling there for more than 1,100 years, in the middle or late 11th century Ye, followed the sea route and pushed eastward, reaching China. They came to Tokyo, the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty (today's Kaifeng, Henan Province), paid their sincere greetings to the emperor, and paid tribute to Western cloth. The emperor accepted their tribute and agreed that they "leave Bianliang behind". As a result, this group of Jews settled in Kaifeng and adopted Han surnames. At the same time, there were some Jews scattered in Luoyang, Beijing, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Quanzhou and other places, but the largest number were Jews living in Kaifeng. This group of Jewish immigrants living in Kaifeng, headed by the Li family, included Li, An, Ai, Gao, Mu, Zhao, Jin, Zhou, Zhang, Shi, Huang, Nie, Jin, Zhang, Zuo, and Bai There are seventeen surnames, among which two are Li, two are Jin, and two are "same surname but different family". In the third year of Dading of Emperor Shizong of the Jin Dynasty (1163 AD), he purchased land in the southeast of Shangzizi, Kaifeng (now Nanjiaojing Hutong, Kaifeng, Henan Province) and built a temple. It was named after the meaning of "the pure ones are the best, the true ones are upright and innocent". It is a mosque, commonly known as a mosque, which serves as the center of Jewish religious activities in Kaifeng. This temple is the earliest, longest-standing, and most famous Chinese Jewish temple of worship in Chinese history. In the Ming Dynasty, Kaifeng Jews entered their heyday, with believers growing to more than 500 households and about 4,000 people. In September of the fifteenth year of Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty (AD 1642), the Ming army dug the embankment of the Yellow River and released water to flood Li Zicheng's rebel army. Kaifeng was reduced to a state of emptiness, and the Jews of Kaifeng fled to various places. The surviving Jews returned to Kaifeng along with the Han and Hui people, and later rebuilt the mosque on the site of the temple. In the early Qing Dynasty, Kaifeng Jews had seven surnames: Li, Ai, Zhao, Zhang, Gao, Jin and Shi, with Li still ranking first. Now Kaifeng Jews still have four surnames, including Li. They have fully accepted Han culture.

(7) Mongolian ethnic group

It is derived from the Li Yala family of the Eight Banners of Chen Mongolia. They originally lived in the Qifengling area of ????Xiuyan, Dandong. The first letter of their surname was later taken as a homophone of the Chinese character "Li" As a clan, it belongs to Mongolia with Xianghong Banner. In the 26th year of Emperor Kangxi's reign in the Qing Dynasty (AD 1687), he was ordered to garrison the Qifeng Ridge area of ??Xiuyan. From then on, his descendants scattered in places such as Xiuyan Tangchi and Fengcheng Horse Racing.

(8) Hui Nationality

The Li family among the Hui Nationality is mainly derived from the given surname.

According to the "A Brief History of Famous Muslim Virtues in China": During the Tang Dynasty, "Li Guangyan was one of the 15 tribes in Chile. Because of his martial arts skills, he was given the national surname Rong. "

Li Shunxian (poet), Li Yu (literary, pharmacologist), and Li Cheng were the three brothers and sisters of Shu in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms. They were natives of Persia. They first came to China to do business and settled in China during the Sui Dynasty, and later became officials. After becoming an official, it was given to Li. In the first year of Dazhong in the Tang Dynasty (847 AD), he was recommended by Lu Jun, the governor of the Xuanwu Army, to take the imperial examination, and was awarded the title of Li Yansheng in the following year; in the fourth year of Kaibao, the Taizu of the Tang Dynasty (971 AD), he was granted the title of Huaihua Li Ke, the general, was a great eater of the country's people at the end of his life, and his surname was also the surname given to him after he was granted the title. In the Tang Dynasty, family status was strict and hierarchies were clear. The surnames and genealogies were all "certified by imperial edict" by the emperor, so "national surnames" were not dared to be used fraudulently.

The Li family given to the Hui people was not only found in the Tang Dynasty, but also in the Ming Dynasty. For example, Ha Zhi, who was originally promoted to the commander of the Jinyiwei after translating foreign documents, was given the surname Li (Cheng) because he had no Chinese name when the imperial court granted him the title in the second year of Xuande in the Ming Dynasty (1427 AD).

In addition, some Li surnames are derived from the Gai surname. "Book of Fujian? Fang Waizhi" records: Li Zhe of the Ming Dynasty was originally named Lin, but his ancestor "had an upright and unyielding nature, which was suspected of being in power, and he calmly died in Fuzhou", so he later changed his surname to "Li". In the Qing Dynasty, the Ministry of Internal Affairs changed the surname of Niyazan from the Hui ethnic group to Li, which was also another branch of the Li family of the Hui ethnic group.

The ancestor who got the surname: Li Lizhen.

Gaotao, a descendant of Zhuanxu, served as the magistrate in charge of prisons during the reign of Yao and Shun. Gaotao was very accurate in judging cases and never made any mistakes. He was very famous at that time. His descendants inherited the position of "Dali" and took the official surname as "Li family". At the end of the Shang Dynasty, Gaotao's descendant Zheng offended King Zhou because of his fair handling of the case, and was executed by the tyrant for no reason. His wife fled with her son Li Zhen, and she survived by eating muzi (muzi is the fruit of the plum tree) along the way. In order not to forget this difficult history and remember the life-saving grace of "Muzi", Li Zhen's mother decided to change the surname "Li" to the "Li" surname composed of "Muzi". Li Lizhen thus became the ancestor of the Li family.

The Li Hui people are mainly distributed in Hebei, northwest and northeastern regions.

The fourth source: the tiger totem theory

It comes from the tiger totem theory. This view holds that Li's totem is not a plum tree, but a tiger. The totem of the Chenchu ??area where Laozi Li Er was born is the tiger, and "Li Er" means "tiger" in the Chu language. Gong Weiying's "Outline of Primitive Worship" says: Li Er also speaks Chu language, that is, tiger. Lao Tzu's homeland of Chen was destroyed by Chu, so he became a Chu native. Chen belongs to the Huaihe River Basin, and the tiger is called "Li Er". This is why Lao Tzu is also named Li Er. Li Erying is the common name for tiger in Chen and Chu. According to folk legend in today's Chen region, Lao Tzu was born in the Gengyin year and was born in the year of Tiger. At that time, the dialect in Ku County called tiger "Li Er", so my relatives and neighbors jokingly called me Li Er, which later evolved into "Li Er".

The fifth source: the theory of old surnames

It comes from the theory of old surnames. This view mainly stems from the research on Lao Tzu's surname. It is believed that Lao Tzu's surname is not Li but Lao, and that Li's surname is derived from Lao's surname. Tang Lan, a paleontologist, believes that the statement that Laozi's surname is Li Ming'er is not accurate: "According to the common titles of people at that time, Lao Dan's laozi was the name of his clan, because at that time, people who called him "zi" were like Confucius, Youzi, and Zengzi. , Yangzi, Mozi, Mencius, Zhuangzi, Huizi and others all have the word "zi" added to their clan names. "There is no trace of Lao Dan's surname Li in ancient books" (Tang Lan: "Lao Dan's Name and Era". "Research", the fourth volume of "Ancient History", photocopied by Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, 1982).

Tang Lan made it clear: My surname is not Li, but Lao. Guo Moruo, Ma Xulun, Chen Duxiu and others agreed with Tang Lan's theory. Gao Heng provided further research on this theory. He said in "Laozi Zhengzhe·Preface": Lao and Li changed from one to the other. Laozi's original surname was Lao, and later it was changed to Li with the same sound. There are no two.

He listed four pieces of evidence: