The Li family originated in the
Longxi Commandery and had
Han ethnic origins. They were also known as the
Longxi Li lineage (
隴西李氏), which included the famous Tang poet
Li Bai. The Li family were members of the northwest military aristocracy prevalent during the Sui dynasty. According to the official records of Tang dynasty, the Li family was
paternally descended from the famous Daoist sage
Laozi (whose personal name was Li Dan or Li Er), as well as the
Qin dynasty general
Li Xin and the
Han dynasty general
Li Guang, and
Li Gao, the ethnic Han ruler of
Western Liang dynasty. During the late
Northern and Southern dynasties period, the Li family intermarried with
Xianbei royalty when
Li Bing (the ethnically Han father of the
first Tang emperor) married the part-Xianbei
Duchess Dugu (the daughter of prominent Xianbei general
Dugu Xin). Marriages between elite Han men and Xianbei princesses were common in this period, as the
Northern Wei had arranged for Han elites to marry daughters of the Xianbei Tuoba imperial family since the 480s CE. More than half of the Tuoba Xianbei princesses of the Northern Wei were married to Han men from the imperial families and aristocrats from the
Southern dynasties, who had defected and moved north to join the Northern Wei. (504-569 CE). The
Khagans of the
Yenisei Kyrgyz Khaganate also claimed Longxi Li ancestry, through descent from the Han dynasty general
Li Ling. Li Ling, a grandson of Li Guang, had defected from the Han dynasty to the Xiongnu in the first century BCE. For this reason, the
Kyrgyz Khagan was recognized as a member of the Tang imperial family.
Emperor Zhongzong of Tang even said to the Kyrgyz that "Your nation and Ours are of the same ancestral clan (Zong). You are not like other foreigners." Other prominent members of the Longxi Li lineage from the Tang period included generals
Li Jing and
Li Jiongxiu, chancellors
Li Yiyan,
Li Kui,
Li Wei,
Li Fengji, and
Li Zhaode, the official
Li Zhongyan, and the poet Li Bai. The Tang Imperial Longxi Li lineage also included sub lineages like the Guzang Li (姑臧 ), from which Li Zhuanmei (
李專美) came from, who served the
Later Jin. During the Tang dynasty the Li family of Zhaojun (
趙郡李氏), the
Cui clan of Boling, the
Cui clan of Qinghe, the
Lu clan of Fanyang, the Zheng family of Xingyang (
滎陽鄭氏), the Wang family of Taiyuan (
太原王氏), and the Li family of Longxi (隴西李氏) were the seven noble families between whom marriage was banned by law. In more recent times, some scholars have speculated that the Tang imperial family might have modified its genealogy to conceal Xianbei heritage. They cite as an example the
Northern Zhou General
Li Xian, who claimed descent from the Han general Li Ling, but whose tomb indicates that he had distant Xianbei ancestry. There is however no direct evidence that the Tang imperial family carried out such actions. Some of the Tang dynasty Imperial family's cadet branches ended up in
Fujian. The branch founded by Li Dan (李丹) became prominent during the
Song dynasty, as did another founded by Li Fu (李富). Descendants of the Tang Emperors now live in Chengcun village, near the
Wuyi Mountains in Fujian. During the
Later Jin dynasty of the Five Dynasties period, there
were dukedoms (二王三恪) established for the descendants of the Northern Zhou,
Sui, and
Tang imperial families. The Hu family of
Xidi are descended from Hu Shiliang, of Wuyuan, who was a descendant of Hu Changyi, a son of
Emperor Zhaozong of Tang who was adopted by the Wuyuan Hu family. ==People==