Role of the Gang of Four 1

Phase III: the “Gang of Four” 1972 – 1976 power struggle between –the radical “Gang of Four”, led by Jiang Qing, Mao’s wife –Goal continue Cultural revolution…failed when Mao dies and his power is gone…gang of 4 put on trial and convicted….Dang Xiaoping takes power

 Gang of Four During China’s Cultural Revolution ( ), Zhang Chunqiao, Jiang Qing, Yao Wenyuan, and Wang Hongwen, clockwise from top right, developed a series of radical political campaigns with the support of Communist Party leader Mao Zedong. The campaigns caused ten years of chaos and violence. After Mao’s death in 1976, the group was dubbed the Gang of Four, and each was tried and convicted of crimes associated with the Cultural Revolution.

Role of the Gang of Four Later, the Gang of Four, especially Jiang Qing considered everything as Capitalist; they condemned a basic theory that production power decided the relation of production to the character of the society as ‘Revisionism’; in a sense referring to looking back to the past. They agitated workers openly by saying ‘[not to] fear to stop production and work’. They disliked modernism; they referred the introduction of technological plants as ‘worshipping and toadying to foreign countries’. Most workers complained about the Four’s policies, and made an effort to produce. However, a decline in production was impossible, with their constant exposure to slogans created by Jiang's groups

Mao & The Gang of Four Mao Zedong ( ) – He was the communist leader of China during the Cultural Revolution. The Gang of Four – They were the four Chinese Communist Party Officials. Jiang Qing ( ) – Mao's last wife and the leading figure of the group and her close associates whose were: Zhang Chunqiao ( ) – Sentenced to death, but sentence was changed to life imprisonment. Yao Wenyuan ( ) – Arrested and sentenced to 20 life imprisonment. Wang Hongwen ( ) – He was an important figure after Mao’s death. He was also arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment.

The Gang of Four Pictured here are the original Gang of Four members.

Mao and Zhou Died in 1976 Turning point in China’s postwar era “Gang of Four” were arrested End of the Cultural Revolution

End of Radicalism The death of Mao and the purge of the Gang of Four in 1976 marked the end of the Cultural Revolution. The Eleventh Party Congress officially ended the Cultural Revolution in December of Throughout the ten years, many people were left in poverty and for many, educational opportunity was forever over. The burden of the ten years known as Mao’s Bloody Years left a burden on China that continued after the end of the Cultural Revolution. The educational systems took many long years to repair. The greatest impact of all was that all educational opportunities and potential productive careers were denied to people who experienced the Cultural Revolution during their teens and early adulthood. For some people, their lives changed for the better as they were able to escape the hardships of the Cultural Revolution. As for most, the nightmares of the Cultural Revolution still linger and escaping that piece of reality is only hope, because the collapse of the economy and government had huge impacts on their lives which took years and years to restore.

Mao’s legacies