Dai Li - Early Life

Early Life

At age four, his father died and his mother was left to raise him by herself. By age six, Dai was enrolled in a private academy to begin studying the Chinese Classics, and later graduated valedictorian at the high school level Wenxi County Elementary School. His family could not afford to send him into university, so the 16-year-old Dai Chunfeng was forced to leave home and find his own way in the world. Without a secure income nor any guidance, he spent much of his time gambling and living rough in the streets of Shanghai. Dai Chunfeng was a gambler, and was a skilled one. He can often be found languishing in Shanghai's many casinos gambling and attempting to make ends meet off his winnings. It was in a Shanghai casino that he met the Criminal Boss Du Yuesheng, head of the Green Gang. It was through Du Yuesheng that he met Chiang Kai-shek. It in unclear when Chiang and Dai's first meeting took place but it is likely to be around 1921 when Dai was 24 and Chiang was 34. He later lost all of his money and was forced to return home to Baoan. In 1927 aged 30, Dai met his elementary school friend Mao Renfeng who suggested to him to enrol in the Whampoa Military Academy in Guangzhou. On hearing Chiang was the Superintendent-Commandant of the Academy, Dai took up the suggestion and got himself a letter of recommendation From Du Yuesheng and set off for Guangzhou. Dai enlisted in the 1st Student Regiment of the sixth class of The Nationalist Party of Chinese Army Officer Academy, also commonly known as the Whampoa Military Academy in early modern China. It was then that he changed his name to Dai Li (Chinese: 戴笠) which in Chinese refers to an assassin's hooded veil, reflecting the clandestine nature of his future career. Chiang soon made him a student informant within the academy to spy on Communist activities where he played an instrumental role in the Zhongshan Warship Incident.