 His father was named Wu Xiang (), and both his father and he served in the army of Weibo Circuit (魏博, headquartered in modern Handan, Hebei), when he became friendly with another Weibo soldier, Wu Shaocheng.Sometime after Wu Shaocheng became military governor ("Jiedushi") of Zhaoyi Circuit in 786, he sent gold and silk to Weibo Circuit, requesting that he be allowed to have Wu Shaoyang.Weibo allowed Wu Shaoyang to report to Zhangyi.