French Concession Green Gang Leader
History
Du Yuesheng (杜月笙 , Dù Yuèshēng) (1888-1951) was certainely the most remarkable members of the trio and the one who reached the highest level of power of them all.
Born in a dirt poor family from Gaoqiao District, Pudong County, a real hinterland close to Shanghai, he only had four months of primary education before his family could not afford it anymore. Du remained an illiterate man for most of his life, what made him take a keen interest later in offering free education to poor families through the Zhengshi Middle School he funded. When all his close relatives died, he was placed as an apprentice to his uncle in Gaoqiao but relations quickly degraded between the two, pushing Du into a life spent at the local teahouses and gambling dens. Du would remain passionate about gambling for his entire life.
In 1902, he went to Shanghai to become a bookkeeper apprentice and worked in several shops selling fruits. His time as shop assistant drove him to dabble with local gangsters and introduced him to opium smoking, a habit he would never be cured of despite several attempts. His bad behaviour had him fired from his final work place and he is mentioned for the first time in April 1911 in local newspapers in an article about a drug seller extortion ring. He was later taken under the wing of a brothel madam in Shiliupu where he was in charge of odd jobs for the brothel, including protection of the girls.
After 1910, Du joined the Green Gang through the local gang leader, acquiring the Wu generational status – the gang leader eventually recommended him to Huang Jinrong. This was the starting point of Du’s ascension in the underworld as he began working for Huang’s wife, ‘Miss Gui’, who favoured him. His skills at managing gambling table served him well that he became Huang’s enforcer for gambling and opium activities. Du would from now on often be seen in Shanghai’s nightclubs and sing-song houses or at his four-story house in the French Concession with his many wives and concubines. The successful gangster liked eating luxury food, wearing fine clothes and be accompanied by the most beautiful women under the careful protection of his White Russian bodyguards. He was however quite a supersitious man, carrying three small monkey heads sewn to his clothes.
His rise became unstoppable after Huang’s arrest in 1924, whom he helped out of prison. Huang stepped down and handed over his empire to Du Yuesheng. Now nicknamed the ‘Grand master’ (宗师/宗師, Zōngshī), Du had a large empire of gambling and opium dens, brothels and protection rackets – even controlling two banks and a a large shipping company. With the tacit support of the French authorities, he was at the head of the opium trafficking in the French Concession, earning a fortune. As the Northern Expedition was progressing toward Shanghai in 1926-1927, Du Yuesheng chose to ally the Guomindang to keep his business running. His help was crucial for crushing the Shanghai March 1927 Insurrection.