In a sense, for a famous figure like Li Bai, this phenomenon is really incredible.
Because ancient people's congresses paid attention to family inheritance, especially scholars, who generally had their own genealogy, and for some scholars who were determined to pursue their careers, they paid great attention to family background.
As a world-renowned poet, Li Bai was once an official and was deeply loved by Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty. It stands to reason that his family background should not be a mystery, at least the simple deeds of his ancestors will stay, as long as Li Bai is willing. The problem is that there is no record of Li Bai's family except his father's name.
However, there are always some clues left in the dust curtain of history.
According to historical records, Li Bai was arrested and imprisoned in his later years for participating in the Lilin Rebellion in Wang Yong. Later, due to Guo Ziyi's rescue, he was lucky to be released.
After being released from prison, Li Bai was first exiled to Yelang. On the way, he was pardoned by the emperor and regained his freedom. So Li Bai immediately accelerated down the Yangtze River, and the famous "The Beginning of Baidicheng" was written at this time.
Later, Li Bai came to Jinling to spend his old age. In Jinling, he specially gave all his manuscripts to Li before his death and entrusted him to edit the anthology for himself. In this context, Li first copied Li Bai's manuscript with exquisite calligraphy, and then compiled it into a collection of works, which is the famous Caotang Collection.
Then, Li personally wrote a preface for this anthology. As for this preface, it is the famous preface to the collection of Caotang, and in this preface, Li accurately mentioned Li Bai's life story for the first time, that is, Li Bai was the ninth grandson of Liang Wang.
Later, on Li Bai's tombstone, Fan Zhengchuan, the son of Li Bai's old friend Fan Lun, specially wrote this passage:? Li Bai's handwriting is too white and Longxi is a disciplined person. Liang, grandson of Wang Zhen IX. Being re-elected into the Jueshi Group is remarkable in the world. Not guilty in the middle term, living in exile, changing your name?
Li Bai, the ninth grandson of Liang Wang, originally had a very prominent family background, but later his ancestors were exiled to the western regions because of crimes, and even changed their names and surnames. All the five dynasties became Shu Ren, and it was not until the early years of Shenlong that he showed his aristocratic status, and later he was renamed Li.
That is to say, on Li Bai's tombstone, there is actually no record that he is Li's great grandson, only that he is the ninth grandson of Liang Wang!
So, what is the relationship between Li Bai, the ninth grandson of Liang Wang?
This has something to do with it, because according to the above statement, Li Bai is the ninth grandson of Liang Wangwu. Many people may not have heard of this cool Zhao, but his descendants are definitely household names.
Because this fifth grandson of Li Jue is called Li Hu; His seventh grandson is called Tang Gaozu; His eighth grandson is Li, Li Yuanji. As for Li Bai, he claims to be his ninth grandson. In other words, Li Bai and Li are the same ancestor!
Of course, although Li Bai claimed to be the ninth grandson of Gui Li, it was not necessarily from the line of Li Yuan. After all, Gui Li has more than a dozen sons, all handed down from generation to generation, and Li Bai is still far from the royal family in Li Tang. However, if Li Bai is really a descendant of Li Yong, then he is at least a relative of the royal family, even if he is not a serious member of the royal family.
According to historical records, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty issued an imperial edict in the Kaiyuan period, allowing all descendants of Gui Li to register in the royal household registration, thus enjoying the imperial grain, which was a very glorious thing at that time.
Whether Li Bai will register or not is not clearly recorded in the history books, but the problem is that since Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty has clearly and formally included all the descendants of Gui Li in the genealogy, everyone is required to register within a time limit; After that, unregistered people can no longer claim to be descendants of Li Jue, otherwise they will pretend to be royalty and will be punished.
In this context, Li Hefan, as a serious official in the Tang Dynasty, dared to publicly declare that Li Bai was the ninth grandson of Gui Li, which proved that Li Bai should be registered, otherwise he would not dare to put a royal hat on Li Bai.
In fact, it may be because of Li Bai's registration that the surname Li was restored. As written on Li Bai's tombstone, Shenlong changed his surname to Li only after he fled to Sichuan in the early years.
In this sense, Li Bai can never be Li's great grandson. After all, they are from different generations. Li Bai and Li's son are of the same generation, and Li's son has been killed. In addition, since Li Bai has clearly registered himself as Li Ming's ninth grandson, and Tang Xuanzong has seen Li Bai many times, then Tang Xuanzong should know Li Bai's identity. If he is really a descendant of Li, it is impossible not to find out.