He became a guard soldier for Li Keyong's adoptive son Li Siyuan. Liu Zhiyuan was said to be serious in his disposition as a young man. This half-brother of Liu Zhiyuan's was named Murong Yanchao. Lady An - likely after Liu Dian's death - bore a son to a man with the surname of Murong. He had at least one other brother of the same father (and possibly of the same mother), Liu Chong. His mother was a Lady An, likely Liu Dian's wife. His father Liu Dian ( 劉琠) served as an officer under the major late- Tang warlord Li Keyong the military governor of Hedong Circuit (河東, headquartered at Taiyuan).

Liu Zhiyuan was born in 895, during the reign of Emperor Zhaozong of Tang, at Taiyuan. 4 During Liao occupation of central China.