After the establishment of the Li Tang Dynasty, he said that his ancestor was Li Er, the old prince of Taishang.
After Wu Zetian ascended the throne, he said that his ancestor was Ji Chang, the King of Zhouwen.
After the Koreans became rich, they insisted that goguryeo, who bullied the three Korean tribes, was their ancestor.
The traditional culture of the East pays attention to the recognition of ancestors and the return of ancestors, and having a prominent ancestor is a very face-saving thing, and in ancient times, finding a face-saving ancestor for yourself actually has many practical benefits.
The Southern Tang during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period claimed to be surnamed Li, and its ancestor was Li Ke, the son of Tang Xianzong, so rounded up, the Southern Tang was a continuation of the Tang Dynasty, but there were many doubts about such a statement.
The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms after the Tang Dynasty was another very chaotic period in ancient times, and the Southern Tang Dynasty among the Ten Kingdoms was the most famous one, not because of its strength, but more because of the literary talent of Li Yu, the lord of the Southern Tang Dynasty.
The founder of the Southern Tang Dynasty was Li Yu's grandfather Li Fu, that is, the Southern Tang Dynasty Liezu, Li Fu was indeed surnamed Li, he lost his family due to war when he was a child, and he wandered around today's juniors, and was later taken to Haozhou.
In 895, when Yang Xingmi, the taizu of Southern Wu, attacked Haozhou, he felt that Li Fu was very spirited and liked it in his heart, so he adopted him as an adopted son, but Yang Xingmi's son could not tolerate him, so Li Fu was handed over to the general Xu Wen to raise.
Xu Wen changed the name of Xu Zhihuan for Li Fu, and his wife Li Shi was very caring for this adopted son, and Xu Zhihuan in his youth received good care and upbringing, and he himself was also very mature and valued by Yang Xingmi.
Originally, Xu Wen was a heavy vassal of Southern Wu, and Xu Zhihuan also became the head of Southern Wu after he grew up, and in 918 AD, Xu Zhihuan gradually grasped the military power of Southern Wu, and from then on, he was in control and began to influence Southern Wu.
In 935, Xu Zhihuan had already served as a taishi and a grand chancellor, and had the title of county king, and at this time, Southern Wu was actually in his hands, and whether his subordinates or emissaries of the Southern Han and Min states advised him to simply become emperor himself.
When power was tilted against the opposition, Xu Zhiyan obtained ten prefectures, including Shengzhou, as fiefs and named it the State of Qi, and in 937 AD, Xu Zhihuan forced the Southern Wu Emperor Chan Rang to officially claim the title of emperor and establish the so-called Great Qi.
At the beginning of his ascension to the throne, Xu Zhihuan posthumously named his adoptive father Xu Wen as Emperor Taizu, and two years later, Xu Zhihuan suddenly restored his original Surname of Li, and said that his ancestors were the li tang royal family, and were descendants of Li Ke, the son of Tang Xianzong.
Not only that, Li Fu also established a temple for Li Yuan and Tang Taizong Li Shimin, posthumously honoring his father and grandfather for four generations as emperors, and his adoptive father Xu Wen became yizu, but the Xu clan was still treated favorably by Li Fu.
Regarding this ancestor who Li Fu posthumously sealed, there has long been a lot of controversy, because there is no evidence at all to prove that he himself is a descendant of Li Tang's royal family, which is his own one-sided statement.
Historical records of different dynasties have different accounts about who Li Fu's ancestors really were, some saying that it was Li Ke the founding king, some saying that it was an ordinary Li surname, and some saying that it was Li Xuan, the sixteenth son of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang.
Such a chaotic record of the account, li fu ancestor is no longer known, and the biggest possibility is that the so-called jianwang Li Ke's statement is actually made up by Li Fu to elevate his origins.
In the "New History of the Five Dynasties" compiled by the Song Dynasty, it is written that "Li Fu, zi zhenglun, Xuzhou renren, Shiben Weibei, father Rong, encountered the chaos at the end of the Tang Dynasty, did not know the end." ”
If Li Fu's ancestors were really the Li Tang royal family, even if they declined, they would not be called "lowly", and it should be known that the Longyou Li clan was the top door valve family in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, even if it was not a royal status.
What is more embarrassing is that the "History of the Old Five Dynasties", which was also compiled by the Song Dynasty, believes that Li Fu's ancestor was Li Xuan, the sixteenth son of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, who later became the so-called son of Emperor Xianzong, Li Ke the Prince of Jian.
Interestingly, this founding king Li Ke, who was posthumously regarded as an ancestor by the Southern Tang Dynasty, is not much recorded in history, and even he is uncertain whether he is the first son of Emperor Xianzong.
As for Li Ke himself, there is no record of him leaving descendants in the historical materials of the Tang Dynasty, and the Song Dynasty's "New History of Tang" also clearly states that Li Ke has no heirs, if so, where did he come to Li Fu, the grandson.
On the whole, li fu as a descendant of the Li Tang royal family, the so-called descendants of Li Ke, the founding king, is very unlikely, and the biggest possibility is only the means he wants to elevate his origins and make the Southern Tang look more justified.