General Pang was born in a rural household in Hebei Province and joined the newly formed modern army under the Qing dynasty. After graduating from the Manchurian Surveying Academy, he was given a rank equivalent to that of a captain. When the Xinhai Revolution broke out in 1911 his superiors suspected him of being a revolutionary sympathizer and forced him to resign. After he returned home, Pang started several small businesses in order to make a living. In 1920, when a bad drought hit his hometown and a famine broke out, he decided to take up military service again at the age of 41. So he entered the Northwestern Army and served under a number of local warlords, and eventually became one of the best known military commanders in the North China Region. When Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek launched the Northern Expedition in 1926, Pang was serving under General Wu Peifu, one of the most powerful warlords who had control over Central and Northern China. Pang demonstrated his political shrewdness when he announced his support for the nationalist revolution and joined with General Tang Shengzhi. After Chiang Kai-shek purged the communists in the Shanghai massacre, the Wuhan Nationalist Government ordered Pang Bingxun to attack