Early Life
Yuan was born into a Hakka family in Maoping county, at the foothills of the Luoxian Mountains, in October, 1898. After graduating from a private elementary school, he dropped out of a local public middle school when his father abruptly died in 1920, leaving the family destitute. Being one of the extremely few peasants who received some education, he was elected by the local peasants as their representatives in their struggle against the brutal oppression of local landlords. As a result, he was deeply feared and hated by local strongmen such as Xie Guannan (谢冠南). In 1923, Xie Guannan (谢冠南) had Yuan Wencai's home ransacked, house burned down, his elder brother imprisoned, his wife raped and then enslaved, while his mother murdered execution style. The local strongmen were able to bribe the corrupted local government and had Yuan Wencai as wanted criminal. This marked the end of Yuan's struggle for welfare of the local peasants in legal means. The young Yuan Wencai, then in his early twenties, fled into the mountains and joined a group of brigands calling themselves the "Horse and Sword Brigade" (馬刀隊) headed by Hu Yachun (胡亚春). Yuan Wencai soon proved himself and it was not long before he became the leader of bandits. They operated in the hills of Jinggangshan, particularly around Ningang county, and had close ties with the "Green Forest" (绿林) bandits based on higher terrain, led by Wang Zuo. Yuan Wencai proved to be a better leader than Wang Zuo in that he had managed to win greater support of local peasants, and in 1924, Yuan's band attacked and took the town of Ninggang (宁冈), burned down the governmental administrative building.
Jiangxi government sent in a battalion to eradicate Yuan's force, but due to the completely lack of support of local population which cheered Yuan's action, not only the campaign had failed to eradicate Yuan's force and resulted in defeat, but also suffered heavy casualties, though a great portion of the casualties suffered by the governmental force was due to illness. The failed governmental attempt increased Yuan's reputation among local peasants. In 1925, Wang Zuo was forced to flee to Yuan Wencai's turf due to a coup staged by his subordinates, and Yuan helped Wang to defeat his opponents and firmly reestablished Wang's position as the chief of the band. The two became sworn brothers and strategically positioned their forces to secure their bases in Jinggangshan. 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).
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