Lì is the pinyin romanization of the

Chinese surname Chinese surnames are used by Han Chinese and Sinicized ethnic groups in China, Taiwan, Korea, Vietnam, and among overseas Chinese communities around the world such as Singapore and Malaysia. Written Chinese names begin with surnames, unlike the ...

written in traditional characters and in simplified characters. It is also spelled Lai according to the Cantonese pronunciation. It is listed 247th in the Song dynasty

classic text A classic is a book accepted as being exemplary or particularly noteworthy. What makes a book "classic" is a concern that has occurred to various authors ranging from Italo Calvino to Mark Twain and the related questions of "Why Read the Cla ...

'' Hundred Family Surnames''. Relatively uncommon, Li 厲 is not among the top 300 surnames in China. People with the surname are concentrated in Zhejiang, Jiangsu,

Shandong Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...

, Henan, and Hunan provinces of China. According to tradition, the Li 厲 surname originated from

Duke Li of Qi Duke Li of Qi (; died 816 BC) was from 824 to 816 BC the ninth recorded ruler of the State of Qi during the Western Zhou dynasty of ancient China. His personal name was Lü Wuji (呂無忌), ancestral name Jiang ( 姜), and Duke Li was his posthu ...

of ninth century BC, and the Zhou dynasty state of Li 厲. The oldest extant

genealogy book A genealogy book or register is used in Asia and Europe to record the family history of ancestors. Greater China It is the Chinese tradition to record family members in a book, including every male born in the family, who they are married to, e ...

of the Li surname dates from the early fourth century AD.

Origins

According to traditional accounts, there are two ancient origins of the Li 厲 surname: 1. From

: Wuji, the ruler of the State of Qi during the Western Zhou dynasty, was killed in a rebellion in 816 BC. After his death, he was given the posthumous title Li, which was adopted by his descendants as their surname. As Duke Li's ancestral name was Jiang (姜), this branch originated from the Jiang surname. 2. From the minor state of Li 厲 during the Zhou dynasty: Li was located at modern Li Township (厉乡) in Sui County, Hubei province. The state was conquered by

Chu Chu or CHU may refer to: Chinese history * Chu (state) (c. 1030 BC–223 BC), a state during the Zhou dynasty * Western Chu (206 BC–202 BC), a state founded and ruled by Xiang Yu * Chu Kingdom (Han dynasty) (201 BC–70 AD), a kingdom of the Ha ...

, a major power of the time. The people of Li adopted the name of their state as their surname.

Later adoptions

As the character 厲/厉, meaning "strict" or "severe", has negative connotations, it was sometimes given to people as a form of punishment. During the Three Kingdoms period, General

Sun Xiù The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radia ...

( 孙秀), a cousin of Emperor Sun Hao of

Eastern Wu Wu ( Chinese: 吳; pinyin: ''Wú''; Middle Chinese *''ŋuo'' <

Eastern Han Chinese

: ''*ŋuɑ''), known in h ...

, defected to Eastern Wu's enemy Jin. As punishment, Sun Hao forbade Sun Xiu's descendants to use the royal surname and changed their surname to Li. During the Tang dynasty, Prince Li Jin ( 李晋), a member of the extended royal family, plotted a rebellion together with Princess Taiping, and was executed after the plot failed. After Emperor Xuanzong ascended the throne, he ordered Li Jin's family members to change their surname from the royal name of Lǐ 李 to Lì 厲.

Migration and distribution

The Li surname is concentrated in the provinces of Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shandong, Henan, and Hunan. Among the extant

s of the Li surname, the one from the Li clan of Dongyang, Zhejiang is the oldest, dating from the Yongjia era (307–313 AD) of Western Jin. During the Disaster of Yongjia, when northern China was overrun by the Wu Hu nomads, Li Leifu (厉雷甫) fled from

Xinye Xinye () is one of the counties of Nanyang that lies in the southwest of Henan province, China. To the south lies the prefecture-level city of Xiangyang in Hubei province, to the east is Tanghe County and to the west is the county-level city of ...

, Henan south to

Jinhua , alternately romanized as Kinhwa, is a prefecture-level city in central Zhejiang province in eastern China. It borders the provincial capital of Hangzhou to the northwest, Quzhou to the southwest, Lishui to the south, Taizhou to the east, ...

, and his descendants subsequently moved to nearby Dongyang. From there they prospered and spread all over Zhejiang province, establishing sublineages in Cixi, Yuyao, Yongkang, Wenzhou, and

Zhoushan Zhoushan , formerly romanized as Chusan, is an urbanized archipelago with the administrative status of a prefecture-level city in the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang. It consists of an archipelago of islands at the southern mouth of H ...

. The Qing dynasty poet and scholar

Li E Li E (; 1692–1752), courtesy name Taihong (太鴻), ''hao'' Fanxie (樊榭), was a Qing Dynasty Chinese poet, essayist, and scholar. Known for his erudition and his poems of the "pure and spare" style, Li is recognized as one of the leaders of t ...

was a member of the Cixi sublineage. There are several Li clans in Jiangsu province. The Danyang Li clan is said to have descended from Li Wen (厉温), the Marquis of Yiyang (义阳侯) during the Han dynasty. His descendant Li Jie (厉介) migrated south to Danyang when the Jurchen Jin dynasty overran much of northern China in the 12th century. During the Ming dynasty, Li Guohua (厉国华) from the Danyang Li clan served as the governor of Fujian province. The Li clan of Liuyang, Hunan province is also said to descend from Li Wen, Marquis of Yiyang. Some of his descendants had moved to Jiangxi province by the Song dynasty. From Jiangxi they then migrated to neighbouring Hunan.

Notable people

*Li Wen (厉温), Marquis of Yiyang during the Han dynasty. *Li Zhongfang (厉仲芳), Song dynasty military leader who invented "Jiu Niu Nu" (九牛弩), a war chariot with crossbows. *

(厲鶚, 1692–1752), Qing dynasty poet, essayist, and scholar. *Li Zhi (厉志) or Li Yunhuai (厉允怀; 1804–61), Qing dynasty poet, calligrapher, and painter. *

Zee Yee Lee Zee Yee Lee (; 1891–1944) was a Chinese aviation pioneer. After becoming the first Chinese pilot to earn a Royal Aero Club certificate in October 1911, he brought two Etrich Taube monoplanes to China and flew on over Shanghai in April 1912. He ...

or Li Ruyan (厲汝燕, 1891–1944), aviation pioneer *

Li Yining Li Yining (; born 22 November 1930) is a Chinese economist. He has been a leading voice for the privatization of state-owned companies, and his advocacy led to the establishment of China's stock markets in 1990. Nicknamed "Mr. Stock Market", he ...

(厉以宁, born 1930), influential reformist economist. * Tingye Li (厉鼎毅, 1931–2012), Chinese-American scientist. * (厉有为, born 1938), former Communist Party Chief and Mayor of Shenzhen. * Li Wuwei (厉无畏, born 1942), Vice-Chairman of the

Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC, zh, 中国人民政治协商会议), also known as the People's PCC (, ) or simply the PCC (), is a political advisory body in the People's Republic of China and a central part of ...

, from Dongyang.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Li Chinese-language surnames Individual Chinese surnames