[1][2] Wang was born in Jiaxing County, Zhejiang, China,[1] to a school teacher and his illiterate wife.

Her father, Wang Yanchen (who owned the local school), provided her initial education.

[2] After graduation, she moved to Shanghai where her cousin, Shen Yanbing, later known as Mao Dun (in later years one of the well known writers of China), introduced Wang to Marxists.

She married Li Da, a Marxist philosopher and feminist, who had returned from Japan after studies, in autumn of 1920; they shared an apartment with Chen Duxiu and his wife, Gao Junman.

[2] Wang's earliest publication on Women's emancipation was entitled "Chinese Woman Question: Liberation from a Trap" which was published in 1919 in the Young China; the theme of this book was on early traditional marriage custom all related to the dominant role of the husband in every aspect of his wife's life.

[9] A memorial in honour of Wang's contribution to the cause of women in China was established at Wuzhen, a World Heritage town, in northern Zhejiang Province.