Wang Jingwei’s father, Wang Rulun (courtesy name Shengzhai), was originally from Shanyin, Zhejiang (present-day Shaoxing). Later, he traveled as a private secretary and arrived in Panyu, Guangdong (now Guangzhou) by sea, after which he registered his household there. His first wife, Lady Lu, gave birth to one son and three daughters — the son was Zhao Yong (courtesy name Boxu, 1861–1939). In 1871, Lady Lu passed away, and Wang Rulun remarried a woman from Guangdong surnamed Wu. Lady Wu initially had three daughters before giving birth to three sons: Zhao Fu (courtesy name Zhongqi, 1878–1903), Zhao Jun (courtesy name Shuhe, 1879–1901), and Zhao Ming (courtesy name Jixin, 1883–1944). In the traditional order of “eldest, second, third, and youngest,” Wang Jingwei was the youngest among the four brothers and also born to a concubine.
Grateful for His Eldest Brother’s Education and Care
Wang Zhaoyong was exceptionally intelligent in his childhood, capable of composing poetry by age ten. At eighteen, he accompanied his father, Mr. Gu’an, to study at the Sui Shan Study Hall, dedicating himself to classical literature, history, and prose. He was selected as a specialized student at Xuehaitang and became a distinguished disciple of Master Chen Lanfu of Dongshu. He associated with fellow townsmen such as Liang Dingfen and Tao Shaoxue, further advancing his learning. In the sixth year of the Guangxu reign, he was appointed as a county student. In the eleventh year, he was recommended to the Imperial Academy for his exemplary conduct. He was later tested for the position of county magistrate. In the fifteenth year, he passed the provincial examination but failed twice in the metropolitan examinations held by the Ministry of Rites. He then returned south and spent years studying legal codes while serving in the offices of prefectural and county magistrates.
Wang Zhaoyong was twenty-two years older than Wang Jingwei. When Wang Jingwei was born, their father was already sixty-two, but due to a large family to support, he still had to work as a private secretary. To ease his father’s burden, Wang Zhaoyong, as the eldest brother, took great care of his nine younger siblings, especially focusing on the education of his three younger brothers. He played the role of an “elder brother like a father,” teaching and providing for them.
In Wang Zhaoyong’s *Autobiographical Chronicle of the Modest Gentleman*, it is noted that in the seventeenth year of the Guangxu reign, “I attended to our father at his office in Sihui County and was ordered to teach my second, third, and fourth brothers.” In the nineteenth year of Guangxu, it is recorded: “Managing affairs together with our father, I also taught my third and fourth brothers.” In the twenty-second year of Guangxu, when Wang Jingwei was thirteen, his mother passed away; the following year, his father also died. The year after that, Wang Zhaoyong went to Lechang to handle salt administration. The chronicle states: “In the twenty-fourth year of Guangxu (1898), at the age of thirty-eight, in February I went to Lechang. My second brother stayed in the capital to teach, my third brother remained to study in the office, and I took my fourth brother, my sixth sister, my wife, and children along on the journey.” He specifically brought Wang Jingwei with him to take care of him nearby.
While in Lechang, Wang Jingwei “studied under Zhang Meixuan (Zong) of Panyu, focusing on literature, history, and practical governance.” Zhang Meixuan was actually the father-in-law of Wang Zhaojun. During those years in Lechang, “Wang Jingwei made significant academic progress. With his elder brother acting like a father, the family discipline was strict to the point of being harsh. Though Wang Jingwei may have harbored some private complaints, as an adult he was deeply grateful for the education and care his elder brother Zhaoyong provided.” In the twenty-seventh year of Guangxu (1901), Wang Zhaoyong’s “third brother” — Zhao Jun — unfortunately fell ill and passed away suddenly at the age of twenty-three.
Then, in the twenty-ninth year of Guangxu (1903), his “second brother” — Zhao Fu — had just ranked first in the county examination and was appointed as a county student, but just days later, he succumbed to an epidemic and died at the age of twenty-six. By this time, Wang Zhaoyong had lost several brothers, leaving only Wang Jingwei among the siblings.
Wang Xiwen, courtesy name Zishen, was the son of Wang Zhaoyong and the nephew of Wang Jingwei. Wang Xiwen was born on the sixth day of the ninth lunar month in the sixteenth year of Guangxu (October 19, 1890), just seven years younger than Wang Jingwei. Wang Xiwen and Liu Jiwen were born on the same day, same month, and same year, just at different times. Wang Xiwen was a distinguished student of Ku Yingfen, a veteran leader of the Kuomintang, while Liu Jiwen was Ku Yingfen’s son-in-law. At the time, they were engaged, but before the marriage could take place, Ku Wanyi passed away. Nevertheless, Liu Jiwen always regarded the Ku family as his own.
Nephew Sweeps Tomb and Lands a Government Post
Wang Xiwen and Liu Jiwen became acquainted through Ku Yingfen. By 1917, during the Constitutional Protection Movement, Sun Yat-sen declared himself Grand Marshal in Guangdong. Liu Jiwen served as a clerk in the Finance Department of the Grand Headquarters (with Tang Shaoyi and Liao Zhongkai as minister and vice-minister, respectively), while Wang Xiwen held a similar position in the Ministry of the Interior (with Ju Zheng and Ye Xiasheng as minister and vice-minister). The two saw each other frequently. Before the Northern Expedition, both experienced ups and downs in officialdom and could not be considered particularly successful. In 1927, Liu Jiwen suddenly rose to become the Mayor of Nanjing Special City, launching his meteoric rise, and later served as the Mayor of Guangzhou for four years — a position of both wealth and prestige. In contrast, before the war, Wang Xiwen had only served as the Magistrate of Panyu County in Guangdong, later holding positions such as Confidential Secretary in the Nationalist Government’s Ministry of Finance, Administrative Council Advisor during the Wang puppet regime, Provincial Committee Member of Zhejiang Province, Director of the Grain Bureau, then transferred to Director of the Social Welfare Bureau, and later to Administrative Inspector of the Fourth Administrative Region of Zhejiang Province and Commander of the Regional Security Forces — his highest rank being merely that of a Senior Secretary.
Speaking of Wang Xiwen’s assignment as Provincial Committee Member of Zhejiang Province and Director of the Grain Bureau, it happened in 1942 when Wang Jingwei sent him back to Shaoxing to sweep the family tomb. On his way through Hangzhou, the Governor of Zhejiang, Fu Shishuo, hosted a banquet in his honor. During the meal, Fu asked what work Wang Xiwen was doing in the Executive Yuan. Wang replied that he was reviewing documents from the Ministries of Finance, Industry, and Grain. Fu then invited him to serve as Director of the Zhejiang Grain Bureau. Wang demurred: “Your kindness is greatly appreciated, but I am here this time on orders to sweep the family tomb in Shaoxing. If the provincial government brings this up now, my uncle might misunderstand that I’m seeking office, which would be quite inappropriate. Please find someone else!” The very next day, however, Fu Shishuo telegrammed the Executive Yuan in Nanjing, requesting the appointment of Wang Xiwen as Provincial Committee Member of Zhejiang Province and Director of the Grain Bureau.
Upon receiving the telegram, Wang Jingwei consulted Chen Chunpu, Secretary-General of the Executive Yuan. Chen replied: “There has been disagreement between the ministry and the province for two months, preventing the appointment of a director for the Zhejiang Grain Bureau, which has affected food supplies. Appointing someone from within the Executive Yuan would be a compromise. Since Governor Fu has formally requested it, it seems appropriate to approve.” Thus, the matter was brought up at an Executive Yuan meeting and approved, with the appointment issued by the Wang government.
Wang Xiwen was previously married to a woman surnamed Jin. In the spring of 1928, he was widowed. Six years after her passing — in 1934 — he married Jiang Wanzheng, the eleventh daughter of Jiang Kongyi, as his second wife. At the time, Wang Xiwen was forty-five, and Jiang Wanzheng was twenty-nine. Wang Xiwen remarked: “Wanzheng is the eldest daughter of the late Scholar Jiang Xiaogong (Kongyi). She comes from a family steeped in scholarship, studied under the renowned scholar Feng Tongruo, and learned flower painting from the veteran artist Li Fenggong. She can write poetry, compose prose, and paint. At the age of twenty-nine, she married me as her second husband. Her talent far surpasses mine. I remember when she agreed to my proposal, she composed a poem in response: ‘Boundless tenderness, boundless talent, the grace of a recluse long renowned. Even if Wang Lang gains a cartful of fruit, without being a kindred spirit, he shall not be welcomed.’ Such was her wit.” Their union lasted just over a year when Jiang Wanzheng tragically passed away from lymphoma. Wang Xiwen endured the pain of losing a spouse once again.
Jiang Kongyi (1864–1951), courtesy name Shaoquan, was from Nanhai, Guangdong. As a youth, he was very active, constantly hopping about like a shrimp, earning him the nickname “River Shrimp.” He eventually adopted the alias “Xia Gong” (Lord of the Glow), playing on the homophonic similarity between “glow” and “shrimp.” The Xia Gong’s ancestors made their fortune in the tea trade. His father, Jiang Qingquan, was a major tea merchant in Shanghai, nicknamed “Jiang the Millionaire.”
By the ninth year of the Guangxu reign, after he passed the county-level imperial examination (commonly known as becoming a “licensed student”), his family’s fortunes had already declined. In his youth, Xia Gong did not apply himself diligently to his studies, but he was exceptionally intelligent. He had a knack for superficial scholarly pursuits such as poetry, lyrics, poetry contests, and couplets, and he also wrote excellent eight-legged essays. By his twenties, he had already earned a reputation as a “master wordsmith” in the Guangzhou literary scene. (To be continued)