Sanbai Li is a descendant of Gao Zu Li Yuan and Teng Wangyuanying. Wu Chuan San Bai Li Kai Ji Zu Mu Gong entered Guangdong from Fujian, and his descendants have exceeded 3,. Li Xiucheng is the current president of Nanjin Sanbai Lee Historical and Cultural Research Association. Nanjin Sanbai Li Ancestral Hall was built in memory of Li Mu, the founder of Sanbai Li and the county magistrate of Dashi Shilong (now Huazhou). It is located on Qianqiu Ridge, one of the eight scenic spots in Huazhou, "Qianqiu jathyapple". It was built in the 14th year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty, and has been over 63 years, covering an area of 3 hectares with a building area of 1,24 square meters. The building is magnificent and antique. The fourth grandson, Li Mulu, moved back to Nanjin to settle down and built the Nanjin Sanbai Li Ancestral Hall.

Li's surname was originally official. Yan Tao is the legendary leader of Dongyi tribe, whose activity place is in Qufu City, Shandong Province today. When Yao was the leader of the Yan-Huang-Yi Alliance, Gou Tao took the post of Li Guan, in charge of criminal law, and his descendants followed his official position and named the family Li. Yan Tao is famous for his uprightness and straightness, and Shun continues to be reused after Yao's throne.

Later generations argued that Li Zheng was an official in Shang Dynasty, dared to speak out, offended Shang Zhouwang, and was punished and died. His wife, Qi He, and her son, Li Zhen, fled to the Yihou Market (now the Yihe River Valley in western Henan), where they hid themselves and survived by eating Mu Zi (plum fruit). So from Lizhen, Li's surname was changed to Li's to commemorate the plum that saved Li's surname.

The famous Lao Zi is said to be the 11th grandson of Li Lizhen. In the Tang Dynasty, Li became the "national surname". In the early years of the Tang Dynasty, all the generals who followed Li Yuan and Li Shimin in farmland were given the surname Li, which greatly expanded the population of Li. The Tang Dynasty was the heyday of China's feudal society, which lasted for more than 3 years. Li was the most noble, and the population of Li was greatly developed.

in the early Ming dynasty, Li began to migrate overseas. During the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, even more Li people emigrated overseas.