Background
Liu Jingyan was born in 534, when her father Liu Yan (柳偃) was a Liang Dynasty official. His wife was the Princess Changcheng, a daughter of Emperor Wu of Liang. (The traditional histories imply that she was the princess' daughter, but did not clearly state so.) Liu Yan came from a lineage of officials, as his grandfather Liu Shilong (柳世隆) was a key general under Emperor Gao of Southern Qi and Emperor Wu of Southern Qi, and his father Liu Yun (柳惲) was a Liang official. When Liu Yan died while being governor of Poyang Commandery (鄱陽, roughly modern Shangrao, Jiangxi), Liu Jingyan was eight, and as she had no older brothers (she had one younger brother, Liu Pan (柳盼)), she was said to have managed the affairs of the household as well as an adult could. After the rebel general Hou Jing attacked the capital Jiankang in 548 and captured it in 549, Liu Jingyan and Liu Pan went to Jiangling to rely on the Princess Changcheng's brother Xiao Yi the Prince of Xiangdong. On account of the princess, Xiao Yi treated them with kindness.
Read more about this topic: Empress Liu Jingyan
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