From 1905 to 1907, Peng was enrolled in a traditional Confucian primary school. In 1908, Peng attended a modern primary school but at the age of ten was forced to withdraw from this school because of his family's deteriorating financial situation. In 1905 to 1906, there was a severe drought in Hunan. Peng's mother died in 1905, and Peng's six-month-old brother died of hunger. Peng's father was forced to sell most of his family possessions for food and to pawn most of his family's land. When Peng was withdrawn from school in 1908, he and his brothers were sent to beg for food in their village. From 1908 to 1910, Peng took work on looking after a pair of water buffaloes.