Background
Su Gui was born in 639, around the time that Emperor Gaozong became emperor. He was a great-grandson of the Sui Dynasty chancellor Su Wei, and his grandfather Su Kui (蘇夔) and father Su Dan (蘇亶) also served as officials during Sui and its successor Tang Dynasty. Su Gui himself passed the imperial examination when he was young and was made a military officer at Heng Prefecture (恆州, roughly modern Shijiazhuang, Hebei). When his mother died, his mourning was viewed as so deep and genuine that it got the attention of the chancellor Zhang Da'an, who recommended him for promotion, and he was made a member of the staff of Emperor Gaozong's son Li Dan the Prince of Yu. He was respected by his superiors on Li Dan's staff, Wang Dezhen and Liu Yizhi.
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