Zhang Xianzhong was a famous leader of the peasant uprising in the late Ming Dynasty. His early experiences were not only full of hardships and sufferings, but were also an important cornerstone of his perseverance and rebellious spirit in the future.
Zhang Xianzhong was born in the 34th year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (1606). His hometown, Liuqu Village, Haotan Township, Dingbian County, Shaanxi Province, was shrouded in the deep social conflicts in the late Ming Dynasty. Land annexation is becoming more and more serious, people's lives are poor, and excessive taxes and miscellaneous taxes are numerous, making it even more difficult to support a family on the already barren land. His family, a typical poor peasant family, lived a particularly difficult life. The few acres of thin farmland at home are like candles in the wind, which may extinguish the family's weak fire of survival at any time. The parents work hard every day, soaking every inch of the land with sweat, but they are still unable to fill their families' stomachs. Hunger and poverty follow them closely, threatening this shaky family at all times.
Zhang Xianzhong has deeply understood the hardships and difficulties of life since he was a child. He did not have the opportunity to receive a good education, nor did he have the conditions to pursue higher material enjoyment. In his childhood, he mostly helped his parents work in the fields and shared the burden of the family. His thin body was plowed under the scorching sun, and thick calluses were worn out on his small palms. Whenever he saw other people's children being able to go to school, his heart was filled with envy and desire, but the reality was like a mountain, weighing him down.
The poverty of his family meant that Zhang Xianzhong had almost no recreational activities in his childhood. He often sits alone on the ridge of the field, looking into the distance, his heart full of longing and confusion for the future...
