Having lost both his parents by the age of twelve, Hsu Yu-ch'uan grew up in difficult circumstances and barely completed elementary school, finally graduating at age seventeen.
他六歲喪母、十二歲喪父，家庭的變故與清寒的環境，使他的教育中輟。好不容易在親友接濟下，念完小學時，已是全校最「高齡」的畢業生。