The Li surname is the most populous surname in the world. The Li surname is ranked 4th in The Hundred Surnames. The total population of the Li surname is over 100 million, accounting for more than 7.19% of China's total population. It is the second most populous surname in mainland China in 2007. However, according to the National Civil Status Information System (NCIIS) of the household registration department, Li is the third largest surname. Li is also a common surname in North Korea and Vietnam, where it is the second largest. According to statistics, Luyi in Henan Province is the birthplace of the Li surname, and Henan Province is the first largest province in China with the Li surname.
From the time of the formation of the Li family name, the clan lived in the area of Luyi in present-day Henan Province. Li Er, who lived during the Spring and Autumn Period, was the first Li character to be biographed in official history. Li Er, with the characters Bo Yang, Dan, and Lao Zi, was born in Qu Ren Li, Li Township, Bitter County, Chu State. He was a Zhou Dynasty historian who managed the collection of books and was the founder of Taoism and a thinker during the Spring and Autumn Period, and is said to be the author of the book Lao Zi. Some ancient books say that he was a man at the time of King Ping of the Zhou Dynasty (early Spring and Autumn Period), and it is also said that Confucius at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period asked him about his rituals, and so it is said that he lived to be more than 160 years old or 200 years old, and that he lived to be that old because of cultivation and longevity.
The Laozi, also known as the Tao Te Ching and the Five Thousand Writings of Laozi, is a major classic of the Taoist school, which explains the evolution of the universe in terms of the Tao, and contains certain elements of simple dialectics, which had a great influence on the development of Chinese philosophy.
According to the New Book of the Tang Dynasty, the founder of the Li family name, Li Li Zhen, also married a daughter of the family of Chen Qi and had a son named Li Changzu, who later served as a doctor in the State of Chen and lived in Bitter County. Li Changzu's son was named Li Tongde. Tongde's great-grandson was named Li Shuozong, and he was given an eunuch (eunuchs, also known as eunuchs, caiji, or fiefs, were lands, including slaves working on the land, granted by emperors or vassals to ministers and feudal lords during the period of slave societies) in Bitter County by the King of Kang of the Zhou Dynasty. Li Shuozong's fifth grandson was named Li Qian (李乾), courtesy name Yuan Guo (元果), who served as an imperial historian in the Western Zhou Dynasty and married a woman named Yingshi (嬰敷) of the Yishou clan, which was Li Er's father and mother. Li Er's descendant, Li Zong, with the character Zunzu, was an official in the state of Wei, and was appointed to Duan, as a doctor of dry arts. Li Zong's son Li Tong was a general of the state of Zhao, his grandson Li Tui was a minister of Zhao, and his great-grandson Li Zhong was the ruler of Yang'an in the state of Zhao. Li Zhong had two sons: Li Yun and Li Ke. Li Hong, son of Li Ke, was the Crown Prince of Qin (in the area of present-day Gansu and Shaanxi), and his grandson Li Xing Clan was a general of Qin. His grandson Li Xing Clan was a general of Qin. Li Tan (李昙), son of Li Xing Clan, with the character Guiyuan (贵远), was an official in the state of Zhao, and was appointed as the Marquis of Bairen (present-day Tangshan, Hebei Province), and then joined the Qin Dynasty as an imperial historian. Li Tan had four sons: Chong, Ji, Zhao and Gui. They and their descendants were divided into two branches due to their respective official positions and settlements in foreign countries: the eldest son, Li Chong, served as the governor of Longxi (the seat of which is in present-day Lintao County, Gansu Province), and was appointed Duke of Nanzheng, as the Longxi Room; the fourth son, Li Gui, served as a minister of Qin at the end of the Warring States period, and Li Gui's second son, Li Mu, served as an official in the State of Zhao, and was settled in the county of Zhao (the seat of which is in present-day Handan, Hebei Province, southwest of the city of Handan), as the county of Zhao Room. Later, the Longxi house was divided into 39 houses, and the Zhao County house was further divided into 3 groups: east, south and west. After Li Er, the population of Li surname gradually increased. Spring and Autumn Jin Wendong (capital in today's Shanxi Yicheng southeast) of the prison officer Li Li, the Warring States period Wei Wenhou (capital in today's Shanxi Xiaxian northwest) phase Li Yul, are early moved into today's Shanxi Li people; the Warring States period was appointed by the King of Qin Zhaowang Shu County (seat in today's Chengdu, Sichuan Province, Li Bing, the earliest Li people moved into today's Sichuan; Li Ear grandson Li Tong, to the State of Zhao (the capital of today's Handan, Hebei Province) to do the job is the earliest Li people moved into today's Hebei. Li Tong's grandson Li Ke's son Li Hong, to the state of Qin (the capital is in the northeast of present-day Xianyang, Shaanxi Province) as an official, is the earliest to move into the present-day Shaanxi Li people; Li Hong's grandson Li Tuan, in the state of Qin as an imperial official, and his eldest son Li Chong to create the Longxi room, the fourth son of Li Gui's second son, Li Mu, to create a room in the Zhaoxian County, the formation of the most important and most fundamental Li clan of the two major branches.