Rubuta ci gaba don wannan sakin layi - Ye ya fito ne daga dangin malamai a lardin Hubei, ɗan Ye Zhishen 葉志<unk> kuma masanin kayan tarihi. An ba shi "juren" 舉人 digiri a 1835, da "jinshi" 進士, ko mafi girman digiri, a 1837, bayan haka ya ɗan ɗauki matsayin mai tsarawa a makarantar mashahuran masarauta, Cibiyar Hanlin 翰林院. A cikin 1838, Ye ya sami nadin aikinsa na farko a matsayin magajin Xing'an a lardin Shaanxi kuma daga baya ya tashi cikin sauri ta hanyar matsayin a cikin ma'aikatar gwamnati ta Qing. A cikin shekaru masu zuwa ya yi aiki a matsayin mai kula da Yanping a lardin Shanxi, mai binciken gishiri a Jiangxi, kwamishinan sa ido a Yunnan da kwamishinan kudi da farko a Hunan, daga baya a Gansu da kuma karshe lardin Guangdong, wanda ya zama gwamnan a 1848, kamar yadda Taiping Rebellion
yana fitowa.