Prince of Jin
Li Zhi was born in 628. He was the ninth son of his father, Emperor Taizong, and the third son of his mother, Emperor Taizong's wife Empress Zhangsun. In 631, he was created the Prince of Jin. In 633, he was made commandant of Bing Prefecture (并州, roughly modern Taiyuan, Shanxi), but remained at the capital Chang'an rather than reporting to Bing Prefecture. When Empress Zhangsun died in 636, Emperor Taizong was particularly touched by the grief that Li Zhi displayed, and from that point on particularly favored him. Sometime while he was the Prince of Jin, at the recommendation of his grand aunt Princess Tong'an, he married the grandniece of Princess Tong'an's husband Wang Yu () as his wife and princess.