liu yang was born in 28 to emperor guangwu and his first love, consort yin lihua. emperor guangwu, then still an official under gengshi emperor, had married yin in 23 and, after he became emperor in 25, had wanted to create her empress, but she declined because she had no sons at that point. instead, she endorsed consort guo, who had already had a son (liu jiang (劉疆)), and emperor guangwu created consort guo empress and prince jiang crown prince in 26. however, prince yang's birth in 28 was still considered a major event.