In the pre-Qin period, Li's activities began in Henan. By the end of the Warring States period, Li's activities had expanded to Shanxi, Hebei, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Hubei and other places. The Qin and Han Dynasties were an important stage in the migration of the Li surname to various places. When Qin Shihuang pacified Nanyue and Xiou, the surname Li first entered the Guangdong and Guangxi areas. The descendants of Li Er entered Gansu and developed into a prominent family with the surname Li in Longxi. Those living in Hebei became famous families with the surname Li in Zhao County. It reaches Shandong in the east, Jiangxi, Zhejiang and Jiangxi in the southeast, and the South China Sea and Beibu Gulf in the south.

The Tang Dynasty was the heyday of the Li surname. There were 19 emperors in the Li dynasty in Longxi, which lasted for 289 years. The Li surname was the national surname. There were royal relatives of the Li family everywhere, and the population of the Li family expanded rapidly. . At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, people with the Li surname began to enter Fujian and Hainan in large numbers. During the Ming Dynasty, the surname Li entered Taiwan.

People named Li

1. Li Si: A native of Shangcai (now Shangcai, Henan) during the Warring States Period, and the founding prime minister of the Qin Dynasty. Famous politician, calligrapher and writer. He assisted the First Emperor in winning political power, destroying six kingdoms, and unifying the weights and measures of writing, currency, and so he was known as "one phase through the ages."

2. Li Xin: Zi Youcheng, a native of Huaili (now Xingpingdong, Xianyang, Shaanxi Province), a famous general of the Qin State, who once led an army to defeat Prince Dan of Yan.

3. Li Zuoche: a native of Bairen (Longyao, Xingtai) of the Qin Dynasty. The grandson of Li Mu, the famous general of Zhao State, and a counselor during the Qin and Han Dynasties. At the end of the Qin Dynasty, when the six kingdoms came together, Li Zuoche assisted King Zhao Xie, made great military exploits for the Zhao Kingdom, and was named Lord Guangwu. After the death of Zhao, Han Xin asked him for advice, and Li Zuoche proposed a good strategy of "victory in a hundred battles", which enabled Han Xin to regain the lands of Yan and Qi. Li Zuoche left a famous saying to future generations: "A wise man will lose something if he thinks a lot; a fool will gain something if he thinks a lot." He also wrote a military book called "Guangwu Junlue".