In 1956, his parents left mainland China's Jiangxi Province for Taiwan, where Li was born a second-generation mainland immigrant. He reserves a special sentiment for his ancestral homeland of China, so when deciding on his college major, his first choice was Chinese. He thus entered the Department of Chinese at National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU).
來自江西的雙親於民國 45 年在台灣生下了他，外省第二代，對於祖居地中國有一份特別的戀慕，因此在大學選填志願時，他以中文系為第一志願，進入師大國文系就讀。