Why are so many Koreans surnamed Li? What is the reason?

First of all, South Korea's Li surname is partly caused by China immigrants, but the bigger reason is that the last feudal dynasty on the Korean peninsula was the Li Dynasty. As a royal surname, Li's population has developed very rapidly. In addition, when the Korean peninsula belonged to China's ancient dynasty, the language was influenced by Chinese, so the homonym of Li surname was simply used for Li surname.

According to the data of South Korea's census, the population surnamed Li in South Korea accounts for nearly 30% of the national population. Li is the second surname in China after Jin. In fact, due to some historical reasons, there are many people surnamed Li in Korea.

First of all, Li has more than 100 branches in Korea, of which about 30 branches were handed down from China, and the rest are native Koreans. The rest of the people surnamed Li joined Silla and Baekje with the help of the Tang Dynasty because Goguryeo surrendered to the Tang Dynasty. During this period, many people relied on the rich and powerful, so in order to better show their patron status, they changed their surname to Li.

In addition, after the Korean Peninsula became a vassal state of China, it was gradually influenced by Chinese. They changed all untranslatable words into homophones, and naturally included all the homophones of Li's surname, which is also the biggest source of Li's surname in South Korea now.

Then the early Ming Dynasty. At that time, the Yuan Dynasty still refused to give up, and ordered Korea attached to it to assist the Yuan Dynasty in attacking the Ming Dynasty. At that time, the North Korean general was Li Chenggui, who could see the form very clearly, so he used his military strength to give feedback to the North Korean royal family at that time. After he became king, he soon wanted to be a vassal of the Ming Dynasty.

When he became king, he gave Li's surname to an active minister. Li Dynasty existed for a very long time, as long as 600 years, and it was the last feudal dynasty on the Korean peninsula. During these 600 years, Li, as the surname of the royal family, was naturally protected and promoted. It is conceivable that Li's population must have increased rapidly during this period, which is one of the reasons for Li's large population.