Background
Zhang Xingcheng was born in 587, during the reign of Emperor Wen of Sui. He was from Ding Province (定州, roughly modern Baoding, Hebei), and in his youth, he studied under a man named Liu Xuan (劉炫). Liu was impressed with his studiousness, and told his other students, "Mr. Zhang does what is proper, and he is material to be an imperial official later." Toward the end of the reign of Emperor Wen's son Emperor Yang, Zhang was recommended by the officials of his home commandery, and he was made a reserve assistant to the imperial surveyor. After Emperor Yang was killed at Jiangdu (江都, in modern Yangzhou, Jiangsu), in 618 in a coup led by the general Yuwen Huaji, the Sui officials at the eastern capital Luoyang supported Emperor Yang's grandson Yang Tong the Prince of Yue as emperor, but the official Wang Shichong seized the throne in 619, ending Sui and establishing his own state of Zheng. Wang made Zhang his minister of census.
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