Wang Zuo - Early Life

Early Life

Wang Zuo was born in a Hakka village in Suichuan (遂川) county, just south of Jinggangshan. Wang's family was poor and his father died when he was young. The family did not have enough money for the burial, and as a result, lost the tiny piece of land they had to a local landlord who provided the money in the form of usury. Wang Zuo had to work as cowherd and gathering firewoods for the very landlord who provided usury. At the age of 15, Wang Zuo became a tailor by trade, and it was during this time he became a student of a famous local kung fu master, Wang Dongwen (王冬文), and became an expert in martial arts. Witnessing the hopeless struggle of local peasantry via legal means in the reign of corrupted Beiyang warlords, the disillusioned Wang Zuo joined the "Green Forest" (綠林) bandits commanded By Zhu Deaf (朱聋子) in 1923 and rose in ranks, though his contact with bandits could be as early as in 1921 via his kung fu master, Wang Dongwen (王冬文). Wang was liked by everyone in the gang and soon supplanted the gang's leader, Zhu Kongyang (朱孔陽).

In 1924, Wang Zuo became independent and formed his own gangs, which occupied the village of Dajing, which controlled the passes up Mount Jinggangshan, as their stronghold. Wang himself commandeered the large house of a former landlord as his own. He was recognised as superior by smaller bandit groups and came to be known locally as the "Great King of the Mountain" (山大王). Around 1924, the "Horse and Sword Brigade", formerly subordinate to Wang, came under the independent leadership of Yuan Wencai. In 1925, Wang's subordinate staged a coup and Wang was forced to flee to Yuan, who helped him to reestablish himself. Wang and Yuan became sworn brothers and their two groups maintained close ties and cooperated to defend against the county authorities, with Yuan's force was stationed at the foothills at Maoping (茅坪), while Wang's force was stationed in the mountains at higher elevation at Greater and Lesser Five Wells (Daxiaowujing 大小五井). Wang Zuo eventually developed the reputation of a local Robin Hood. A peasant song from the 1920s celebrates his deeds:

Nandougu, a tiger sitting in the mountain,

Beating the landlord, helping the poor.

Famed in the mountains and on the plains,

As a king on the mountain eating the wealthy.

However, Wang Zuo gained most of his fame for his martial arts expertise in an ambush: once the unarmed Wang was along in a yard of a landlord and was suddenly besieged by more than a dozen members of landlord's militia in the pre-planned ambush. Grabbing a bench as a weapon, Wang knocked out the landlord's militia members who were closest to him and jumped onto the roof from the ground, and safely escaped without any injury. Experience like this elevated Wang's status among the local populace.