According to official history, Liu Bao was a member of the Luandi clan as the son of the Southern Xiongnu chanyu, Yufuluo.
[1] In 216, Huchuquan travelled to Ye (present-day Handan, Hebei) to receive nominal titles from the Han imperial court and remained in city.
Deng Ai advocated to the Wei paramount ruler, Sima Shi for the Southern Xiongnu to be divided into two, although it would not be until the Xianxi era (264–266) when they were re-split into three and then into four.
It is believed that Liu Bao was a prominent member of the non-related but influential Chuge tribe, also known as Xiuchuge, who overthrew the Southern Xiongnu chanyu and sent Yufuluo into exile in 188.
[7] Liu Bao may have also been the Wise Prince of the Left who took the poet Cai Wenji as his concubine after Li Jue's coup in Chang'an in 195.