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What is known is that he was an army officer from Taining Circuit (泰寧, headquartered in modern Jining, Shandong) who participated in the operations against the major agrarian rebel Huang Chao early in the reign of Emperor Xizong.
It is known that as of 881, when Zheng Tian was serving as the military governor of Fengxiang and the overall commander against the major agrarian rebel Huang Chao — after Huang had captured the imperial capital Chang'an earlier that year and forced then-reigning Emperor Xizong to flee to Chengdu — Li Changyan was serving as the commander of the Fengxiang forces (行軍司馬, Xingjun Sima) and stationed at Xingping (興平, in modern Xianyang, Shaanxi).