Early Life
Liu Yao's father Liu Lü (劉綠) died early, and he was raised by Liu Lü's cousin Liu Yuan. When he was young, Liu Yuan became impressed with his intelligence and strength. As he grew, he became known for his archery skills and his studiousness—although his studies were described to be surveys rather than careful readings, except for books on military strategy, which he spent much of his time on. He often deprecated Wu Han and Deng Yu, instead comparing himself to the great Warring States general Le Yi, the great Han Dynasty prime minister Xiao He, and the Han general Cao Can (曹參). When people heard these remarks, they often criticized him for being overly arrogant, but Liu Yao's son Liu Cong respected him and remarked, "Yongming should be compared to Shizu (the temple name of Emperor Guangwu of Han) and Emperor Wu of Wei (Cao Cao); Le, Xiao, and Cao Can cannot be compared to him."
When Liu Yao was young, he, along with his cousin Liu Cong, were studying in the Jin capital Luoyang, when on one occasion he committed an unspecified crime punishable by death. He therefore fled to Chaoxian (朝鮮, near modern Pyeongyang, North Korea -- not, in this case, a generic geographic term for Korea). Later, after a general pardon, he returned, but decided to live in the mountains away from trouble.
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