The Sassoon Files takes place in the world of 1920s Shanghai. There are two parts of this setting: the historical and the Mythos. This blog post series is about the historical settings… the background which the player characters may know about as they begin their investigations. See Part #1 about The Green Gang, here.
As a leading detective for a foreign power’s concession as well as an underground crime boss, Pockmarked Huang used his power to further expand the Green Gang’s business while using an “underworld court” to feed unruly gang members and competitors to the French Concession Police.
Huang Jinrong married Lin Guisheng, a clever woman from Suzhou. Lin Guisheng enthusiastically helped her husband manage their growing crime business. She created a special crime squad dedicated to stealing opium from the docks to sell at discount through a legitimate company.
Du Yuesheng (“Big Eared” Du), an orphan at 9 years of age, went to Shanghai to work as a body guard in a brothel. He joined the Green Gang at 16, and soon met Lin Guisheng and Pockmarked Huang. Lin Guisheng and Pockmarked Huang took a liking to Big Eared Du, and through that relationship, Big Eared Du soon became a lieutenant in the Green Gang.
Big Eared Du was an up-and-coming gangster when the Qing dynasty fell in 1911. For a brief period, Shanghai was controlled by National Revolutionary Forces led by Chen Qimei, who pledged support for Sun Yat-sen. At that time, Chen had reached out to the French Concession police through Pockmarked Huang. A relationship was formed between Chen and Huang. The two also introduced their favored disciples; Pockmarked Huang brought Big Eared Du. Chen Qimei brought Chiang Kai-shek, the future ruler of China.
In 1924, Pockmarked Huang took a romantic interest in Lu Lanchun, a young and beautiful opera singer who often performed at one of Pockmarked Huang’s theatres. Lu Lanchun was also romantically pursued by Lu Xiaojian, the son of a prominent Zhejiang warlord Lu Yongziang. When Lu Lanchun spurned the advances of Lu Xiaojian, Lu Xiaojian heckled her during a performance. Pockmarked Huang, who was also in attendance, ordered his lieutenants to “educate” Lu Xiaojian.
Pockmarked Huang was subsequently arrested for the embarrassing beating that Lu Xiaojian suffered at the hands of Pockmarked Du and his men, as the leaders of the French Concession sought to appease Lu Xiaojian’s father. Big Eared Du negotiated with all the parties involved to secure the release of his mentor, and after this episode, Pockmarked Huang retired from business, giving control of the Green Gang to Big Eared Du.
At the age of 36, Big Eared Du ran a large share of the opium dens, protection rackets, brothels, and casinos in Shanghai. He also owned Shanghai’s largest shipping company and two banks, and effectively asserted pressure on the city’s labor unions. He lived in a four-story house in the French Concession, with his 4 wives, 12 concubines, and many children. He dressed in the best clothes, frequented the best night-clubs and sing-song houses, and socialized with all of Shanghai’s elite (Chinese and foreigners alike). He was frequently spotted at events with a retinue of White Russian bodyguards. Big Eared Du also had some peculiar practices; he had dried monkey heads sewn into his cloths and carried spell inscriptions with him at all times for protection.
Big Eared Du maintained a friendship with Chiang Kai-shek. The two shared a common vision for a unified China. Chiang Kai-shek and Big Eared Du also both distrusted the Communists. Chiang Kai-shek was suspicious of the influence of his own Soviet benefactors, who Chiang suspected of plotting his own assassination. Likewise, Big Eared Du viewed communism as contrary to Confucian ideals and viewed communist leaders as potential rivals to his influence in the city’s labor unions.
In March of 1927, Shanghai labor union workers led by Zhou Enlai initiated a citywide protest and labor strike. Chiang Kai-shek decided it was time to rid the city and the KMT of Communists. Big Eared Du invited the local Communist Party labor leader to his residence; on arrival, the labor leader was strangled to death. Big Eared Du then ordered his Green Gang enforcers to attack labor union offices and hunt down the city’s Communists. In the weeks that followed, thousands of Communists and labor union leaders were rounded up and violently executed during the “White Purge”, also known by locals as the “Shanghai Massacre.” The Shanghai Massacre would be the starting point of a decade long civil war; a conflict in which the Green Gang fired the first shots. In return for his loyalty, Big Eared Du was appointed as the president of the Opium Suppression Bureau.
