Huang Jinrong (; 10 May 1868 – 20 June 1953), nicknamed "Pockmarked" due to a bad case of smallpox, Lintner, Bertil. ''Burma in Revolt: Opium and Insurgency Since 1948''. Silkworm Books. 1999. p.309 was a Chinese detective who worked for the

French Concession The Shanghai French Concession; ; Shanghainese pronunciation: ''Zånhae Fah Tsuka'', group=lower-alpha was a foreign concession in Shanghai, China from 1849 until 1943, which progressively expanded in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Th ...

police force in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

from 1892 to 1925. Even though he was a detective, he was also one of

's three major gangsters along with

Du Yuesheng Du Yuesheng (22 August 188816 August 1951), also known by Dou Yu-Seng or Tu Yueh-sheng or Du Yueh-sheng, nicknamed "Big-Eared Du",Lintner, Bertil. ''Burma in Revolt: Opium and Insurgency Since 1948''. Silkworm Books. 1999. p.309 was a Chinese m ...

and

Zhang Xiaolin Zhang may refer to: Chinese culture, etc. * Zhang (surname) (張/张), common Chinese surname ** Zhang (surname 章), a rarer Chinese surname * Zhang County (漳县), of Dingxi, Gansu * Zhang River (漳河), a river flowing mainly in Henan * ''Zh ...

, who worked for the

Green Gang The Green Gang () was a Chinese secret society and criminal organization, which was prominent in criminal, social and political activity in Shanghai during the early to mid 20th century. History Origins As a secret society, the origins and histor ...

. Despite the Gang's gradual collapse, Huang stayed in

until he died of illness in 1953.

Early life

Huang was born in

Suzhou Suzhou (; ; Suzhounese: ''sou¹ tseu¹'' , Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Soochow, is a major city in southern Jiangsu province, East China. Suzhou is the largest city in Jiangsu, and a major economic center and focal point of trade ...

but moved, at the age of 5, to

where his father opened a teahouse. He worked as an apprentice in a picture framing shop near the City God Temple. He later worked at his father's teahouse, where he developed connections with criminal and hustling patrons. Due to his father's connections with the constabulary, Huang was easily able to test into the

police at the age of 24 in 1892.Martin, Brian. "The Shanghai Greengang". University of California Press. 1996. p.66

Career

Huang began his career for the

in 1892 as a detective. He quickly rose to prominence as one of the leading detectives because he was able to solve many cases with assistance from the contacts he made in his father's teahouse. After an argument with his French officer, Huang briefly retired to

until he was brought back into the French police force based on his strength as a sleuth. His criminal influence grew as he organized drug trafficking, gambling dens, and granting "favors" to criminals. Each day, Huang held court to determine whether a felon should be turned over to the police. He married Lin Guisheng in 1900, who partly managed his opium dealings. Huang was introduced to

, whom Huang appointed to run some of his opium dens. Crime in the

increased as Huang had such a prominent position in the police force and organized most of the

's activity in this zone. Huang was dismissed from the police force in 1924 after he publicly beat the Shanghai Warlord Lu Yongxiang's son.
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He was arrested by the Shanghai Garrison, and only released after

and

negotiated and paid for his release. Huang stepped down from the police force but remained one of the

's bosses, which he formally joined in 1927.

Later life

Huang Jinrong remained in

for the rest of his life, controlling the

. Together with Du, he worked with the

Chiang Kai-shek Chiang Kai-shek (31 October 1887 – 5 April 1975), also known as Chiang Chung-cheng and Jiang Jieshi, was a Chinese Nationalist politician, revolutionary, and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1928 ...

to suppress the Communist movement in

in 1927.Young, Ronald. "Chiang Kai-shek Purges Communists". St James Press. 2004. p. 141-145 Huang eventually died of sickness at the age of 85 in 1953.

In popular culture

Some depictions of Huang in popular culture include: * Lord of Shanghai, a 2015 TV series, the character Chak Kam Tong portrayed by

Kent Tong Kent Tong (; born 29 September 1958) is a Hong Kong actor. He was a popular TVB actor during the 1980s, nicknamed "Prince" and one of the "Five Tiger Generals" of TVB. Early life Kent Tong was born to and grew up in a poor family in Hong Kong. Hi ...

is based on Huang Jinrong.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Huang Jinrong 1868 births 1953 deaths Chinese people of World War II Chinese crime bosses People from Suzhou People from Shanghai