The earliest biography of Liu Haichan is in the (1241) Jinlian zhengzong ji 金蓮正宗記 Records of the Orthodox Sect of the Golden Lotus, which inspired most later accounts of his life (Boltz 1987: 173). It records that Liu was a native of the Yan Mountains, a major mountain range in northern Hebei province, near present-day Beijing. During the turbulent Five Dynasties period (907-957), Liu, who was an expert in Huang-Lao philosophy, passed the imperial examination with a jinshi degree (Pas and Leung 1998: 211). After briefly serving as a minister to Liu Shouguang, the self-declared emperor of the Yan state (911-914), Liu Haichan was appointed Prime Minister under Abaoji in 916, the founder of the foreign Liao dynasty or Khitan Empire (907-1125).