Li surname first reproduction in the ancient land of Lebanon, namely licheng area in Shanxi Province today.As early as the warring states period, Li Shi outward migration.

According to "the li clan", when the warring states period "of Li Shi or due to the officer, or refuge, then west into the beam (now shaanxi), yi (now jinning county in yunnan), east to green, xu (now shandong, jiangsu), migrating south, guang (now belongs to the guangxi, guangdong and northern Vietnam), north migration yan, ji (now hebei)".

To the han dynasty, the li surname and moved to jiangxi, hunan.

To the wei jin southern and northern dynasties, due to the war in the north, the li family flying again, and in the later time is also the main breeding migration in the south country, zhejiang, fujian has Li Shi move.

After the song, Ming, li surname gradually all over the country, but still to the south most distribution.In other words, history, Li Shi is more typical of a southern surnames in China.