Origin of Li in Gongan County, Hubei Province

Li's surname was originally official. Yan Tao is the legendary leader of Dongyi tribe, whose activity place is in Qufu City, Shandong Province today. When Yao was the leader of the Yan-Huang-Yi Alliance, Gou Tao took the post of Li Guan, in charge of criminal law, and his descendants followed his official position and named the family Li. Yan Tao is famous for his uprightness and straightness, and Shun continues to be reused after Yao's throne.

Later generations argued that Li Zheng was an official in Shang Dynasty, dared to speak out, offended Shang Zhouwang, and was punished and died. His wife, Qi He, and her son, Li Zhen, fled to the Yihou Market (now the Yihe River Valley in western Henan), where they hid themselves and survived by eating Mu Zi (plum fruit). So from Lizhen, Li's surname was changed to Li's to commemorate the plum that saved Li's surname.

The famous Lao Zi is said to be the 11th grandson of Li Lizhen. In the Tang Dynasty, Li became the "national surname". In the early years of the Tang Dynasty, all the generals who followed Li Yuan and Li Shimin in farmland were given the surname Li, which greatly expanded the population of Li. The Tang Dynasty was the heyday of China's feudal society, which lasted for more than 3 years. Li was the most noble, and the population of Li was greatly developed.

in the early Ming dynasty, Li began to migrate overseas. During the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, even more Li people emigrated overseas.

The population with surname of over 2, in ancient and modern times now ranks first

According to the latest research by experts, there are more than 22, surnames in ancient and modern times in China, which is the largest statistical record of surnames in China so far. Among the top ten surnames, Li is the first. It accounts for 7.9% of the total population.

According to a report by Xinhuanet on July 28th, these 22, surnames also include the Chinese-translated surnames of ethnic minorities belonging to Chinese territory in past dynasties. With the changes of the times, many surnames have disappeared, and there are about 3,5 Chinese surnames in use at present.

Experts found that among the top ten surnames, Li was the first. The three surnames of Li, Wang and Zhang reached 27 million, accounting for more than 22% of the country's total population.

Among the 22, surnames, there are Chinese versions of surnames belonging to ethnic minorities in China. With the change of times, many surnames have disappeared, and there are about 3,5 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 27 million people, making them the three largest people with the same surnames in the world.

One hundred common 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, Guo and Ma. Historically, about half of China's population has been concentrated in these 19 surnames.

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

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * However, do you know that their ancestors' surname was "Li" instead of "Li" now?

tens of thousands of years ago, our ancestors lived in a matriarchal clan society, where women led their lives and labor, and everyone had only a first name but no last name. About 5, years ago, in order to make the men and women who intermarry come from different clans, and to prevent the marriage of close relatives from affecting the growth of future generations, it was decided to give each clan a title as recognition, that is, the oldest surname.

so, what did the ancestors take as their surnames? Most of them use local materials, and some take their country names as surnames, such as Qin, Zhao, Han, Wei, Chen and Song. Some take official positions as surnames, such as Shi, Zuo, Dong and Sima. Some simply take occupation as their surnames. Tao, a pottery maker, Bu, a fortune teller, and Tu, a butcher.

According to legend, in the era of Emperor Yao, the state had the post of administrator. The duty of the administrator is to settle disputes between people, distinguish between black and white, and then make a fair judgment. At that time, a manager named Gao (pitch) Tao was fair and strict, and he was very respected. His descendants also inherited the post of Li Guan and took Li as their surname.

at the end of Shang dynasty, the tyrant Zhou Wang was in power. Magistrate Li Zheng often criticizes Zhou Wang's evil deeds, and punishes people who do wrong around Zhou Wang. In a rage, Zhou Wang put him to death. In order to avoid being implicated, Li Zheng's wife immediately took her young son Li Zhen and hid in a remote forest.

Mother and son live in the Woods. When they are thirsty, they drink mountain springs, and when they are hungry, they eat wild fruits on the trees. Year after year, Lili really grew up on wild fruit from spring water. It was not until Zhou Wang was overthrown that the mother and son returned home. Li Lizhen changed his surname from "Li" to "Li" to commemorate the day when he grew up eating wild fruits in the forest. "Li" is a combination of "wood" and "son", which can be interpreted as a fruit on a tree or a child under a tree.

since then, the descendants of the Li family have many tribes. The most powerful Tang Dynasty in China's history, the emperor was surnamed Li. At that time, many meritorious ministers were given the surname Li. Gradually, there are more and more people surnamed Li, almost all over the world.

Li's surname is the most populous surname in China, and it has gone through the process of naming a surname by an official position to a surname by a tree. According to legend, there was a descendant of Emperor Shao Hao named Hao Tao, who served as Dali (the name of the long palace of justice) when he was Emperor Yao, and he made a five-zhong penalty. Never make mistakes in handling cases. Hao Tao's descendants inherited the post of Dali, and after three generations of Yu, Xia and Shang, they were called Li's. At the end of Shang Dynasty, Li Zheng offended Zhou Wang and was executed for failing to enforce the law. Li Zheng's wife, Qi He's family, fled to the market of Yi Hou with her son Li Zhen. There are many local plum trees, which are also in the fruit ripening season. Mother and son in distress, with plums to satisfy their hunger, only to survive. So he changed "Li" to "Li", and later people took Li as their surname. In the Tang Dynasty, Xu, An, Du, Hu, Hong, Guo, Xian Yu, Zhang, Abu, A Di, Relic, Zhu Xie, Dong, Luo, etc. were given the surname Li for their contributions to the founding of the country of Li Yuan and Li Shimin, which made the Li clan more favored. Li's family lived in Longxi County (now Lanzhou, Gongchang and Qin Zhou in Gansu). There are many famous people in Li's history, such as Li Guang, a flying general in the Western Han Dynasty, Li Shimin, Li Bai, Li He and Li Shangyin in the Tang Dynasty, Li Qingzhao in the Song Dynasty, Li Zicheng and Li Shizhen in the Ming Dynasty.