Chinese surname · rank 262
栗
栗 is read as lì.
lì
Simplified 栗 · Traditional 慄
chestnut tree, chestnuts
Wood
Time: Ancient Lilu clan tradition, Shang Li state line about 3100 years old, Qin-Han Li county and Li marquisate layer, Warring-States and Han figure layer, Northern-Wei Shangdang layer, and Ming Changzhi clan layer; Shang tradition, c. 1600-1046 BCE
Place: Li state and Li county around today's Xiayi, Henan; Li yi in Zuo Fengyi at today's Baishui, Shaanxi; Taishan and Qi historical contexts; Shangdang Tunliu around today's Changzhi, Shanxi; modern northern concentration including Henan, Hebei, Shanxi, Anhui, and Shaanxi
Origin note
is treated as a layered surname. One old legendary line traces the surname to the Lilu clan, a wind-surname group in early culture-hero genealogies; this is preserved as a traditional clan-origin account rather than a documentable single ancestor. A second line is state-name based: sources record a Shang-period Li state at today's Xiayi in Henan, later destroyed by Zhou, with descendants using the state name as a surname. A third layer is place-name based: 23mofang points to Western Han Li yi in Zuo Fengyi, at today's Baishui in Shaanxi, and Qin Li county in Dang commandery, later the Western Han Li marquisate, at today's Xiayi. Later layers include minority sinicized surname changes and some late changed-surname stories. The page keeps these layers separate and does not present the Lilu tradition as the only origin.
Historical figures
Historical figures to enrich
This surname page is ready for a fame-ranked figure list. Later passes can add generals, poets, rulers, artists, scholars and modern public figures with source links.