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).

[3] In 907, Li Keyong's archrival Zhu Quanzhong the military governor of Xuanwu Circuit (宣武, headquartered in modern Kaifeng, Henan), who then had the Tang imperial court under his control, seized the throne from Emperor Zhaozong's son and successor Emperor Ai, ending Tang and starting a new dynasty known as Later Liang.

[8] In 919, there was a battle at Desheng (德勝, in modern Puyang, Henan), a fortress on the Yellow River that Li Cunxu was trying to enlarge.

During the battle, Li Siyuan's son-in-law Shi Jingtang, who served as one of the commanders under him, was stricken by a Later Liang soldier, and his horse's armor was broken.

[9] By 932 — at which point Jin had destroyed Later Liang and taken over its territory as a new state of Later Tang, and Li Siyuan was its emperor — Shi was made the military governor of Hedong.

They issued a number of orders, moving Li Congke from Fengxiang to Hedong, Shi from Hedong to Chengde Circuit (成德, headquartered in modern Shijiazhuang, Hebei), and Chengde's military governor Fan Yanguang to Tianxiong Circuit (天雄, headquartered in modern Handan, Hebei).

[11] In 935, there was an incident where Shi, then with the Hedong army at Xin Prefecture (忻州, in modern Xinzhou, Shanxi) to defend against a potential Khitan incursion, was present with an imperial messenger, who was delivering Li Congke's edict issuing the soldiers summer clothing.

At the urging of the staff member Duan Xiyao (段希堯), Shi had Liu arrest 36 of the leading chanters and execute them.

When Shi climbed up the city walls to review its defenses, Liu stated to him, "I see that Zhang Jingda and his ilk built tall fortresses and deep trenches, hoping to make the siege last a long time.

As he prepared to leave, he stated to Shi, "Liu Zhiyuan, Zhao Ying, and Sang Weihan are all great contributors to your establishment of the empire.

"[12] As Shi headed for Luoyang, Li Congke, finding defeat inevitable, committed suicide by immolation with his family and officers closed to him.

At that time, it was said that because of these rebellions (as well as a suppressed mutiny at Hua Prefecture (滑州, in modern Anyang, Henan), the people of the new Later Jin state were in great shock.

[13] In fall 937, Liu's military governorship was moved to Zhongwu Circuit (忠武, headquartered in modern Xuchang, Henan), and he remained the discipline officer of the imperial guards.

In order to divert the Tuyuhun support from An Chongrong, Liu sent his close associate Guo Wei to meet with the Tuyuhun chieftain Bai Chengfu (白承福), offering to give his people good grazing land (as their prior grazing land, in the northern part of Hedong, had been ceded to Liao) and pointing out that An Chongrong's rebellion was not likely to succeed.

When Shi Jingtang died shortly after, Feng, after consulting the imperial guard discipline officer Jing Yanguang, believed that an older emperor would more appropriate for the state at that time given the frequent rebellions.

As part of the operations, Emperor Taizong, whose main forces headed toward Tianxiong, sent his uncle Yelü Anduan (耶律安端) the Prince of Wei to attack Hedong.

As part of the Later Jin defense, Shi Chonggui commissioned Liu as the commander of the operations against You Prefecture (幽州, capital of Lulong) with Du Wei (i.e., Du Chongwei, who changed his name to Du Wei to observe naming taboo for Shi Chonggui), then the military governor of Shunguo Circuit (順國, i.e., Chengde, the name of which was changed to Shunguo after An Chongrong's rebellion) serving as his deputy and Ma Quanjie (馬全節) the military governor of Yiwu Circuit (義武, headquartered in modern Baoding, Hebei) serving as the disciplinary officer, apparently to try to distract the main Liao operations.

However, after Liu, in cooperation with Bai Chengfu, repelled Yelü Anduan's incursion,[15] Liu made no additional action against Liao despite Shi Chonggui's orders to have him join forces with Du and Ma at Xing Prefecture (邢州, in modern Xingtai, Hebei) and to send forces north to attack Liao.

The tribespeople, knowing that the Later Jin imperial forces were weak and fearing Liu's strictness, considered fleeing back to their former lands (now possessed by Liao).

Emperor Taizong commissioned him as the governor of Yun Prefecture (雲州, in modern Datong), to try to entice Bai Chengfu.

As a result, Murong was spared of his life, but he was stripped of his offices and exiled to Fang Prefecture (房州, in modern Shiyan, Hubei).

He spread false news that Zhao Yanshou was intending to defect to Later Jin, rumors that were believed by Feng and Li Song.

As for Liu Zhiyuan, he firmed up Hedong's defenses and then sent his subordinate Wang Jun to submit three petitions to Emperor Taizong, showing submission.

That is the perfect strategy.However, when Zhang Cong'en, then the military governor of Zhaoyi Circuit (昭義, headquartered in Changzhi, Shanxi), whose territory was close to Luoyang, which Liao controlled, considered going to Kaifeng to pay homage to Emperor Taizong but secretly consulted Liu, Liu stated to him, "I have but a small piece of territory, so how would I dare to oppose the great realm?

Guo Wei and Yang Bin, however, argued to him that right now the people's minds are unsettled, and that if he continued to hesitate, someone else might take advantage of the situation.

[2] His nephew Yelü Ruan the Prince of Yongkang, after a power struggle with the Han Chinese general Zhao Yanshou, claimed the Liao throne (as Emperor Shizong).

This episode brought a strong criticism from the Song historian Sima Guang, the lead editor of the Zizhi Tongjian:[4] Han's Emperor Gaozu killed 1,500 innocent soldiers from You; this showed a lack of compassion.

It is appropriate that the life of his state was not long.Meanwhile, on Later Han's western border, there was the issue that Zhao Yanshou's son Zhao Kuangzan (趙匡贊) the military governor of Jinchang Circuit (晉昌, headquartered in modern Xi'an, Shaanxi) and Hou Yi (侯益) the military governor of Fengxiang, both having apprehensions about how they might be received by the Later Han emperor, submitted to Later Shu.

Liu decided to nevertheless send Wang to the west, under the excuse that the Ganzhou Huigu's emissaries were being intercepted by the Dangxiang (i.e., Dingnan Circuit) and needed escort.

He entrusted his younger son Liu Chengyou to Su Fengji, Yang Bin, Shi Hongzhao, and Guo Wei, stating, "My remaining breaths are getting short, and I cannot speak much.