His family was from Ding Prefecture (Chinese: 定州; pinyin: Dìng Zhōu, in modern Baoding, Hebei).
[5] In Qi Kang's youth, the Anshi Rebellion swept over the northern parts of the Tang empire, and he took his mother and fled to Kuaiji (present-day Shaoxing in Zhejiang), where he spent his time studying.
Zhang thus issued an order that Li report to Long Prefecture (Chinese: 隴州; pinyin: Lǒng Zhōu, in modern Baoji).
[7] After the rebellions were quashed in 784 and Emperor Dezong returned to Chang'an, the treasury was drained, and a major part of the empire was laid waste.
[5] Soon, for minor faults that are lost to history, he was demoted to be the prefect of Chu Prefecture (處州, in modern Lishui, Zhejiang).
[3] He was later recalled serving as imperial attendant (給事中, Jishizhong) and then the mayor of Henan Municipality (河南, i.e., the region of the eastern capital Luoyang).
He later successively served as Mishu Jian (秘書監), the director of the Palace Library and then the minister of worship (太常卿, Taichang Qing).