Hu Yaobang's ancestors were Hakkas from Jiangxi. During the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) they migrated into Hunan, where Hu was born. Hu Yaobang was born into a poor peasant family, and received little formal education. As a child he never attended school, and he taught himself to read. Hu participated in his first rebellion when he was twelve, left his family to join the Chinese Communist Party when he was only fourteen, and became a full member of the Party in 1933. During the factional struggles that polarized the CCP during the 1930s, Hu supported Mao Zedong and opposed the 28 Bolsheviks.