Background
Cen Wenben was born in 595, during the reign of Emperor Wen of Sui. His grandfather Cen Shanfang (岑善方) served under Emperor Xuan of Western Liang, a vassal of Sui Dynasty's predecessor state Northern Zhou who claimed to be the legitimate emperor of Liang Dynasty. His father Cen Zhixiang (岑之象) served as a magistrate of Handan County late in Sui Dynasty. In 608, Cen Zhixiang was falsely accused of crimes. Cen Wenben, who was already talented in writing and was calm and dexterious in his actions, went to the ministry of justice to proclaim his father's innocence and, when questioned, was able to answer and explain clearly. The officials were surprised by his ability to do so despite his young age, and, to test his writing ability, asked him to write an ode to lotus. Cen was able to write it well quickly. Subsequently, he was able to convince the officials that his father was falsely accused, allowing his father to be exculpated. He became famous from the incident. He was subsequently recommended for imperial examinations by the commandery government of his home commandery, but as by that time, most of Sui territory was engulfed in agrarian rebellions against Emperor Yang, Cen Wenben did not report for the examinations.
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