Cheng had two fathers and three mothers (his stepfather remarried after his first wife died), and none of them were literate. Most of his six elder siblings completed only elementary school. After Cheng graduated from elementary school his stepfather wanted to send him to study woodworking, but with the material shortages in the latter days of World War II the furniture store closed and there was no place for an apprentice.
鄭清文有 2 個父親，3 個母親（養母過世後，養父續絃），全都不識字，6 位兄姐最多只讀到小學；國小畢業時，養父有意要他學木工繼承家業，但適逢大東亞戰爭末期，物資貧乏，家具店開不成，也無法培養學徒，鄭清文便考入私立中學就讀。