Han Xizai was born in 902, late in the Tang Dynasty. He was said to be from Beihai (北海, in modern Weifang, Shandong) (and, based on subsequent events, appeared to have been born there). In his youth, he lived as a hermit on Mount Song. Later, during the Tongguang era (923-926) of the reign of Li Cunxu, the founding emperor of the succeeding Later Tang, he passed the imperial examinations in the Jinshi class.