Background
It is not known when Li Yiyan was born. His family was from Wei Prefecture (魏州, part of modern Handan, Hebei), but his ancestors were said to be originally from Longxi (隴西, in modern Tianshui, Gansu), thus sharing an origin with Tang Dynasty's imperial Li clan, but he was considered sufficiently distant not to be considered an imperial clan member. His father Li Xuande (李玄德) served as the county magistrate of Yingtao County (癭陶, in modern Xingtai, Hebei).
Li Yiyan himself passed the imperial examinations when he was young, and subsequently served as the sheriff of Taiyuan County. At that time, he served under the famed general Li Shiji, who served as the commandant at Bing Prefecture (并州, i.e., Taiyuan). Because of Li Shiji's accomplishments and reputation, the other subordinate officials were all fearful of him and dared not to speak on important matters with him, but Li Yiyan was said to be unafraid of the commandant and was willing to discuss matters of importance. As a result, Li Shiji respected him.
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