《明史·列传·卷一百八十一》
父亲休息时爱听《史记》，他每晚为父诵读，直到父亲熟睡为止。崇祯四年，农民起义军攻陷中部县，禋背着父亲逃走。
父少寐，爱听《史记》，禋每夕朗诵，俟父熟寝乃已，崇祯四年，贼陷中部，禋负父走免。
When his father wanted to take a nap, he would always listen to "Historical Records", and Liu Yan would read to his father every night until his father fell asleep. In the fourth year of the Chongzhen era, the peasant rebels conquered central Shaanxi County, and Liu Yan carried his father and fled.