 His paternal grandfather was a Mongolian beggar who migrated to Hubei in search of a better livelihood, and his family originally had the Mongol surname "Kuli" () or "Ku" ().He was often known in English as J. S. Lee (J for Zhongkui/Jung-kuei, S for Siguang).Li studied in Osaka Technical College in Japan and the University of Birmingham in UK in his early years.