It is an official name, which originated from the won surname, or from Li Zheng, a descendant of Emperor Liewen of Zhuan Xu after Hao Tao, or from Laozi Li Er, the founder of Taoism in the Zhou Dynasty.
In the Yao era, he served as the official in charge of the prison in Dali, and his son Boyi was given the surname of Won, and his descendants inherited the position of Dali for three generations. According to the custom at that time, their descendants took Guan as their surname and called Li.
There are two versions of Shi Li's change:
There is a saying: In the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, Li Zheng, a descendant of Hao Tao, was an official in North Korea. He offended Shang Zhouwang by telling her and was executed. When his wife Qihe fled with her son Li Zhen, she survived by eating plums. She dared not say Li, so she changed her surname to Li.
Another way of saying it is: According to historical records, there was no Li before the Zhou Dynasty. Because there is an old man named Li, his name is Er, and he is a descendant of Li Zhen, so Li is also called Li, because his ancestor is Li Guanren, and he has the same ancient sound as Li. Apparently, Li began to call himself by his surname in Li Er.
At the end of Shang Dynasty, Zhou Wang was overbearing and indulged in womanhood, which was deeply hated by the rulers and people. Li Zheng, the descendant of Hao Tao, out of loyalty, bluntly pointed out Zhou Wang's mistakes and suggested that he correct them. As a result, he angered Zhou Wang and was killed. After hearing the news, Li Zheng's wife Qihe fled with her youngest son, Li Zhen. Qihe's family was originally from Chen State (now Huaiyang, Henan Province), and wanted to escape back to her family, but she was afraid of bringing trouble to her family, so she fled to the west of Henan Province. When we arrived at Houyi Market in yi river Valley in western Henan, mother and son were already hungry and exhausted, especially Xiao Lizhen, who was starving. However, this area is deserted, how can we find food? Fortunately, Qi Heshi found some "Mu Zi" in a nearby tree, so they picked them and ate them. In this way, mother and son saved their lives by eating wild fruits. Then, they went to eastern Henan and settled in Guxian (now east of Lu Yi, Henan Province), which is not too far from Huaiyang. He Zizhen began to change Li's name to Li's in order to be grateful for saving his life, to avoid the pursuit, and because Li and he are common.
His family changed his surname to Li.
Originated from changing the surname, belonging to the surname given by the emperor.
During the Three Kingdoms period, Zhuge Liang, the prime minister of Shu and Han Dynasties, gave local ethnic minorities surnames such as Zhao, Zhang, Yang and Li.
After Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty moved to Luoyang, the Xianbei people adopted a comprehensive sinicization policy and changed their Chinese characters to Li.
Among the Hui surnames, many are given by the emperor, such as Li, Da, A, Zhang, Bai, Mu, Shaanxi, Zheng, Zhu and Jin. Li Hui is a minority of Persians and Arabs, who came to China and settled in the 7th century. /kloc-After 0/3rd century, some Central Asians, Persians and Arabs moved to China, and in the process of getting along with Han, Uygur and Mongolian, they formed the Hui nationality, also known as Hui. Hui nationality is widely distributed, mainly living with Han nationality, with a population of about 7.3 million, and distributed in northwest China, Henan, Hebei, Shandong, Yunnan, Anhui, Liaoning, Beijing and other provinces and cities. Hui people account for a high proportion of Li people, some of whom come directly from ancient Persia or Arabia. For example, Li Xun, a poet in Shu five generations ago, was born in Persia. After coming to China, he lived in Zizhou (now Santai, Sichuan).
His surname was changed to Li.
Since he changed his surname to Li. According to records, the founding fathers of the Tang Dynasty named Ali surnamed tang for their meritorious service. For example, Li Yuanhao was originally a Tangut Tabashi. As a result, Li became a huge family.
Tiger totem theory
From the tiger totem theory. This view holds that Li's totem is not a plum tree, but a tiger. The totem of Laozi's birthplace in Li Er, Chen Chu is a tiger, and "Li Er" means "tiger" in Chu language. Gong wrote the Outline of Primitive Worship, saying: Li Er is also a Chu language, that is, a tiger. Lao Tzu's old country was Chen and died in Chu, so he was a Chu man. Chen is from the Huaihe River Basin. He calls the tiger "Li Er". This is why Lao Zi is also called Li Er. Li Er should be Chu Chenren's common name for tigers. According to legend, Lao Tzu was born in Geng Yin, a tiger. At that time, Kuxian dialect called the tiger "raccoon", so my relatives and neighbors called me raccoon, and later it gradually evolved into "Li Er".
Old surname theory
Originated from the old surname theory. This statement mainly comes from the textual research of Laozi's surname, and holds that Laozi is not surnamed Li but surnamed Lao, and Li's surname comes from the old surname. Tang Lan, an archaeologist, thinks that Laozi's surname Li Minger is untrue: "According to the common appellation of people at that time, the old word was the name of his clan, because people who called Zi at that time, such as Confucius, Youzi, Ceng Zi, Yoko, Mozi, Mencius, Zhuangzi and Huizi, all added Zi under the clan", "There is no trace of Li in ancient books." (Tang Lan: Textual Research on Lao Dan's Name and Time, Book IV of Ancient History, photocopied by Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, 1982).
Make it clear that Lao Tzu is not surnamed Li, but surnamed Lao. Guo Moruo, Ma Xulun, Chen Duxiu and others agreed with Tang's viewpoint. Gao Feng has further textual research on this statement. In Preface to Laozi, he said that Laozi and Li Yi have changed. Laozi's original surname was Laozi, and later it changed, with the same pronunciation, so there must be two. He listed four pieces of evidence:
First, in the old pre-Qin books such as Zhuangzi and Xunzi, Confucius and Mozi were given surnames, while Lao Dan was called "Kun Li" when he was alone with Laozi, not "Kun Li"; It is called "Lao Zi" instead of "Mei Zi", so "it can be seen that Lao Zi's original surname is old."
Second, "in ancient times, there was an old surname but no Li surname." Custom Yi Tong: "Lao Shi, the son of Zhuan Xu." There was no Li surname in the Spring and Autumn Period. Li Jue in Historical Records is an error of Li Jue in Zuo Zhuan. During the Warring States Period, Li Mu appeared, and the origin of Li was very late.
Third, many ancient surnames have no original words, and they often borrow homophones. Changing the old surname to Li is also homophonic.
Fourth, "the ancient rhyme' Lao' belongs to the hidden voice, and' Li' belongs to the voice. The two voices are close in sound and ancient is not ancient." Gao Feng quoted a large number of sentences in Laozi, which proved that the occult and the part are harmonious. Finally, he said: "Both Lao and Li belong to Lai Niu (that is, the initial consonant is L), and they belong to the same rhyme, but the sound is very clear, but the sound is the same, so they changed from Lao to Li."
According to others, the surname Li did not evolve from the surname Li, but originated from the old surname. Teacher Gao's quotations from the perspective of phonology are very detailed and convincing.