Background
Liu Zai was born in 715, during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong. His family was from Xiang Prefecture (襄州, in modern Xiangfan, Hubei) but claimed as their ancestral lands the Hedong region (河東, roughly modern Shanxi) and claimed the Jin Dynasty (265-420) official Liu Chun (柳純) as an ancestor. Their traceable ancestry included officials of Jin Dynasty, Liu Song, Southern Qi, Liang Dynasty, and Tang Dynasty. His grandfather Liu Shangsu (柳尚素) and father Liu Qingxiu (柳慶休) both served as county-level officials.
Liu Zai's father Liu Qingxiu died early. He was studious, but was poor as a result of his father's early death. He passed the imperial examinations early in Emperor Xuanzong's Tianbao era (742-756) and was made the sheriff of Danfu County (單父, in modern Heze, Shandong).
Read more about this topic: Liu Hun
Famous quotes containing the word background:
“In the true sense one’s native land, with its background of tradition, early impressions, reminiscences and other things dear to one, is not enough to make sensitive human beings feel at home.”
—Emma Goldman (1869–1940)
“Pilate with his question “What is truth?” is gladly trotted out these days as an advocate of Christ, so as to arouse the suspicion that everything known and knowable is an illusion and to erect the cross upon that gruesome background of the impossibility of knowledge.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“I had many problems in my conduct of the office being contrasted with President Kennedy’s conduct in the office, with my manner of dealing with things and his manner, with my accent and his accent, with my background and his background. He was a great public hero, and anything I did that someone didn’t approve of, they would always feel that President Kennedy wouldn’t have done that.”
—Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908–1973)