The surname Li has five origins: According to the book "New Book of Tang: Clan Lineage" written in the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty: the surname Li originated from the surname Ying, and was a direct descendant of the Gaoyang family of Emperor Zhuanxu. Gao Tao became the official of Emperor Yao, and Zi Boyi was given the surname Ying. His descendants took Guan as their surname and called him Li. I, Li Er, was the first person named Li. Other people changed their surname. During the Three Kingdoms period, after Zhuge Liang pacified the barbarians, he gave the local ethnic minorities the surnames of Zhao, Zhang, Yang, and Li. Xianbei had the compound surname Chi Li. After Chineseization, it was changed to the single surname Li in Chinese characters, which became the Luoyang Li family. It comes from changing his surname to Li. According to records, the generals who were the founding fathers of the Tang Dynasty were given the Li family name from the Tang Dynasty for their meritorious service. For example, Li Yuanhao was originally from Dangxiang Tuoba clan. From this, the Li surname became a huge family. Originated 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. Laozi'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". Originated from the old surname theory. 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. Paleophilologist Tang Lan believes that the statement that Laozi's surname was Li Ming'er is not accurate: "According to the common names 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 character 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: 1. In old pre-Qin books such as "Zhuangzi" and "Xunzi", Confucius, Mo and others were all named "Confucius" and "Mozi", while Laozi was called "Lao Dan" "Instead of calling him "Li Dan"; he calls him "Laozi" instead of "Lizi", so "it is clear that Laozi's original surname is Lao." 2. "In ancient times, there was Lao surname but no Li surname." "Customs": "Lao, after Zhuanxuzi Laotong." There was no Li surname in the Spring and Autumn Period. Li Li in "Historical Records: Biographies of Xunli" is the mistake of Shi Li in "Zuo Zhuan" and is not Li. Li Kui and Li Mu first appeared in "Warring States Policy", and the surname Li originated much later. 3. Most of the surnames of ancient people had no original characters, and they often borrowed homophones. The old surname became Li, which was also a homophone. 4. "The ancient rhyme "Lao" belongs to the You tribe, and "Li" belongs to the tribe. The two parts have similar sounds, and they may not be distinguished in ancient times." Gao Heng quoted a large number of sentences from the book "Laozi" to prove that the phonology of Youbu and Zhibu is harmonious. Finally, he said: "The sounds of the two characters Lao and Li both belong to Lai Niu (that is, the initial consonant is L), and their rhymes belong to the same group. However, their sounds are clearly the same, so they changed from Lao to Li." According to Gao Heng and others, the surname Li did not evolve from the surname Li, but from the surname Lao. Mr. Gao cited detailed and convincing evidence from the perspective of phonology.