House of Li

The House of Li () was the ruling house of the Western Liang and the Tang dynasty of China.
Family history.
Origin.
The Li family originated from the Longxi Commandery with patrilineality origins from the Han Chinese.
The Li family belonged to the northwest military aristocracy prevalent during the Sui dynasty and claimed to be paternally descended from the Daoist founder Laozi (whose personal name was Li Dan or Li Er), the Han dynasty General Li Guang, and Western Liang ruler Li Gao. This family was known as the Longxi Li lineage (隴西李氏), which includes the Tang poet Li Bai. On the other hand, there is also evidence indicates the Tang Emperors also had Xianbei maternal ancestry, from Emperor Gaozu of Tang's Xianbei mother Duchess Dugu. Li Yuan's father Li Bing (李昞), of Han ethnicity, inherited the title of the Duke of Tang and married one of the Dugu sisters, a daughter of the prominent Xianbei general Dugu Xin. Northern Zhou General Li Xian, who claimed to have the same ancestor as the imperial family of the Tang, was in fact of Xianbei origin. Genealogical records of the house seem to have been extensively modified during the rule of the Tang dynasty to conceal their Xianbei heritage. The Tang imperial family preserved many Xianbei customs. Marriages between elite Han men and Xianbei princess have been common. The Northern Wei started to arrange for Chinese elites to marry daughters of the Xianbei Tuoba royal family in the 480s. More than half of Tuoba Xianbei princesses of the Northern Wei were married to Han Chinese men from the imperial families and aristocrats from the Southern dynasties who defected and moved north to join the Northern Wei.
The Tang Imperial family was watched over by the Zongcheng si (宗正寺). Longxi Li were claimed by the Tang Emperors as their ancestors. The bigger Longxi Li lineage outside of the Tang Imperial family had prominent members like Li Jiongxiu, Li Yiyan, Li Kui (chancellor), Li Wei (Tang dynasty), Li Fengji, Li Zhongyan, Li Jing (general), Li Zhaode, and Li Bai. The Tang Imperial Longxi Li lineage also included sub lineages like the Guzang Li (姑臧李), 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.
The Tang dynasty included in their imperial family the title of Kaghan of the Yenisei Kirghiz, because the Tang dynasty family asserted Li Guang as their ancestor, and one of Li Guang's grandsons, Li Ling, was asserted as ancestor by the Kaghan of the Yenisei Kirghiz.
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.
There were dukedoms (二王三恪) established for the offspring of the royal families of the Zhou dynasty, Sui dynasty, and Tang dynasty during the Later Jin (Five Dynasties).
The Hu family of Xidi are descended from Hu Shiliang, from Wuyuan, who was a descendant of Hu Changyi, a son of Emperor Zhaozong of Tang who was adopted by the Wuyuan Hu family.