Shi Jingtang was born in 892, during the reign of Emperor Zhaozong of Tang, in Taiyuan. His mother was stated to be a Lady He, and it was not stated whether she was Shi Shaoyong's wife or concubine. (However, after he later became emperor, Shi Jingtang honored Shi Shaoyong's concubine Lady Liu, first as consort dowager, and then as empress dowager, suggesting the possibility that Lady He was Shi Shaoyong's wife and Shi Jingtang's "legal" mother, but that Lady Liu was his birth mother.) In his youth, Shi Jingtang was said to be quiet and stern. He studied the military strategies and particularly tried to take after Li Mu and Zhou Yafu.