 His father, Cen Yuying (岑毓英; 1829–1889), served as the Viceroy of Yunnan and Guizhou.He was very ill-behaved in his youth and was one of the "Three Notorious Youngsters in the Capital" () alongside Ruicheng and Lao Ziqiao ().In 1879, he first entered the civil service as a "zhushi" ().