Li Gao
The northwest military aristocracy was the group from which the Sui dynasty Emperors originated; they emphasized that their patrilineal ancestry was ethnic Han, claiming descent from the Han official Yang Zhen. The New Book of Tang traced his patrilineal ancestry to the Zhou dynasty kings via the Dukes of Jin. The Sui Emperors had maternal Xianbei ancestry from a woman of the Xianbei Dugu family. The Tang dynasty Imperial family claimed to be paternally descended from Laozi (whose personal name was Li Dan or Li Er), the Han dynasty General Li Guang, Qin General Li Xin and Western Liang ruler Li Gao. This family was known as the Longxi Li lineage (隴西李氏). The Tang Emperors had Xianbei maternal ancestry, from Emperor Gaozu of Tang's Xianbei mother Duchess Dugu.