張華
Zhang Jiuling was born in 678, during the reign of Emperor Gaozong. His family was from Qujiang () in Shao Prefecture (, roughly modern Shaoguan, Guangdong) in the region called Lingnan ), which was at the time a relatively remote area of the Tang empire. His family traced its ancestry to the Jin Dynasty (266–420) chancellor Zhang Hua, and his First Son (). His great-grandfather Zhang Junzheng () served as the secretary general of Shao Prefecture, and therefore settled there. His grandfather Zhang Zizhou () served as a county magistrate, and his father Zhang Hongyu () served as a county secretary general.