董璋
It is not known when or where Dong Zhang was born, but it was known that he, along with later prominent political figures Gao Jixing and Kong Xun, served as servant boys under the merchant Li Rang () of Bian Prefecture (汴州, in modern Kaifeng, Henan). While the late-Tang Dynasty major warlord Zhu Quanzhong (who would later take over the Tang throne and establish Later Liang) served as the military governor of Xuanwu Circuit (宣武, headquartered at Bian Prefecture), Zhu took Li as an adoptive son (changing his name to Zhu Yourang (), and Li's servants thus got the chance to serve in Zhu Quanzhong's army. Dong later was promoted to be an officer in the army.