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Gang of Four, 1973-76 / sìrénbang

The Gang of Four is a term used by the post-Mao leadership to denote the four leading radical figures -- Jiang Qing (Mao's fourth wife), Zhang Chunqiao, Yao Wenyuan, and Wang Hongwen -- who played a dominant political role during the Cultural Revolution decade (1966-76) until Mao's death in September 1976. Their "antiparty" deeds are often linked with Lin Biao, an early leader of the Cultural Revolution, who had also been discredited. The term “Gang of Four” was coined by Mao Zedong in early January 1974 when he criticized Jiang Qing and others for targeting Zhou Enlai during the “Criticize Lin Biao and Criticize Confucius” campaign.

Jiang Qing (1914-May 14, 1991) was born in Dongguan Street, Zhucheng City, Shandong Province. She was named Li Jinhai and nicknamed Erni. Her grandfather was Li Chunhai, her father was Li Dewen, and her mother was Li Luan. During the Cultural Revolution, Jiang Qing was called "the great standard-bearer of proletarian culture." After the Cultural Revolution, she was once again called the contemporary "Empress Lü," "Empress Wu Zetian," "Cixi," and even "White Bone Demon." Some people in the West also called her "China's Eva Peron." After the Cultural Revolution, she formed the "Gang of Four" with Zhang Chunqiao, Yao Wenyuan, and Wang Hongwen, and actively planned to frame and overthrow a large number of party and state leaders, causing extremely serious harm to the party and the country. In 1981, she was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve, which was later commuted to life imprisonment in accordance with the law. On May 14, 1991, she committed suicide.

Zhang Chunqiao , was born in 1917, in Juye, Heze, Shandong Province. He was a member of the Chinese Writers Association. He was a member of the Gang of Four and a major planner of the Cultural Revolution. When the Gang of Four was arrested, Zhang Chunqiao remained silent in court, completing his final historical portrait. In January 1981, he was sentenced to death by the Special Court of the Supreme People's Court with a two-year reprieve. In January 1983, his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment and deprivation of political rights for life. In December 1997, his sentence was commuted to 18 years in prison and deprivation of political rights for 10 years. He was released on medical parole in January 1998. He died of illness on April 21, 2005.

Yao Wenyuan was born in 1931, from Zhuji, Zhejiang. After graduating from university, he worked in propaganda and culture. He joined the Communist Party of China in 1948. During the Cultural Revolution, he actively participated in Jiang Qing's activities to seize the highest power of the party and the state. He was one of the core figures of Jiang Qing's counter-revolutionary group. In 1976, he conspired with Jiang Qing, Zhang Chunqiao and Wang Hongwen to usurp the highest power of the party and the state. On October 7, 1976, he was placed under isolation and investigation by the decision of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee. In July 1977, the Third Plenary Session of the Tenth CPC Central Committee decided to expel him from the party forever and revoke all his posts inside and outside the party. On January 25, 1981, he was sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment and deprived of political rights for 5 years by the Special Court of the Supreme People's Court of the People's Republic of China. He was released in October 1996 after serving his sentence. He died of illness on December 23, 2005.

Wang Hongwen, born in 1935, from Changchun, Jilin, was Vice Chairman of the CPC Central Committee (1973-1976) and a member of the Gang of Four. In July 1977, the Third Plenary Session of the 10th CPC Central Committee decided to expel him from the CPC forever and revoke all his posts inside and outside the CPC. On January 25, 1981, the Special Court of the Supreme People's Court of the People's Republic of China sentenced him to life imprisonment and deprived him of his political rights for life. He died of illness in Beijing on August 3, 1992.

In 1965, with the support of Mao Zedong , the "Comment on the New Historical Drama Hai Rui Dismissed from Office" written by Yao Wenyuan under the instruction of Jiang Qing and Zhang Chunqiao became the fuse for launching the " Cultural Revolution". In the early stage of the Cultural Revolution, Jiang Qing, Zhang Chunqiao and Yao Wenyuan were the main members of the Central Cultural Revolution Group and played a crucial role in launching the "Cultural Revolution" and overthrowing the so-called "Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping bourgeois headquarters".

The "Shanghai Mafia," had all come to political power as a result of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution of 1966-69; the four had enjoyed close access to Chairman Mao and promoted the most radical of the Great Helmsman's policies. Using their control over China's propaganda machinery, the radicals had constantly heated up the political atmosphere, unsparingly urging the masses to attack the "revisionists," the "capitalist readers," and other "ghosts and monsters" who, they said, were hiding in the very nooks and crannies of the Communist Party itself (and who often were the radicals' personal enemies).

In 1971, after Lin Biao fled and died, Wang Hongwen, who started out as a rebel, was transferred from Shanghai to the central government. Soon, he formed an alliance with Jiang Qing and three others. At the 10th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 1973, the power of the Gang of Four became unprecedentedly strong. At the 10th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Wang Hongwen was appointed as Vice Chairman of the CPC Central Committee (after Zhou Enlai ) and member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, Zhang Chunqiao was appointed as member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, Vice Premier of the State Council, and Director of the General Political Department of the People's Liberation Army, and Jiang Qing and Yao Wenyuan were appointed as members of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee. The four formed a political group, engaged in sectarian activities, and attempted to usurp the party and seize power. During the Cultural Revolution, they colluded with each other and acted in a perverse manner.

During the early and mid-1970s, the radical group later known as the Gang of Four, whose members opposed reliance on foreign technology, attempted to dominate the power center through their network of supporters and, most important, through their control of the media. More moderate leaders, however, were developing and promulgating a pragmatic program for rapid modernization of the economy that contradicted the set of policies expressed in the media. Initiatives by Zhou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping were vehemently attacked in the press and in political campaigns as "poisonous weeds." Using official news organs, the Gang of Four advocated the primacy of nonmaterial, political incentives, radical reduction of income differences, elimination of private farm plots, and a shift of the basic accounting unit up to the brigade level in agriculture. They opposed the strengthening of central planning and denounced the use of foreign technology. In the face of such contradictory policy pronouncements and uncertain political currents, administrators and economic decision makers at all levels were virtually paralyzed. Economic activity slowed, and the incipient modernization program almost ground to a halt.

In January 1974, Jiang Qing and others launched the "Criticize Lin Biao and Criticize Confucius Movement" and directed their spearhead at Zhou Enlai. On July 17, 1974, at a meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, Mao Zedong criticized Wang Hongwen, Zhang Chunqiao , Jiang Qing , and Yao Wenyuan for engaging in gang activities, saying, "She (Jiang Qing) is a member of the Shanghai Gang! You should be careful not to form a small sect of four people." This was the first time in history that Jiang Qing and the other four were considered a sect.

The Gang of Four in the "February Countercurrent" framed the military officers represented by Marshal Chen Yi, saying that they were against Chairman Mao. They also hired a group of intellectuals who sold themselves to Mao as their minions, such as Liang Xiao and others, who carried out a deification movement in the name of promoting the authority of Mao Zedong Thought. The military officers represented by Marshal Chen Yi sometimes sincerely criticized Mao Zedong's shortcomings and mistakes, and were persecuted. The Gang of Four made their fortunes by writing, and used false, grandiose, and empty language to corrupt social morality. From then on, people no longer felt ashamed of telling lies and doing things against their will.

On May 3, 1975, when Mao Zedong convened a meeting with the members of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee in Beijing, he again mentioned the " three musts and three don'ts " (to practice Marxism -Leninism , not revisionism ; to unite, not split; to be open and aboveboard, not to engage in conspiracy and intrigue), and further said to Jiang Qing and the other four: "(You) don't want to form the 'Gang of Four'. If you don't want to form it, why do you still want to do it? Why don't you unite with the more than 200 members of the Central Committee? It is not good to form a minority of people. It has never been good." Since then, the "Gang of Four" has become a nickname for Jiang Qing and the other four.

Starting in late March 1976, the masses in many cities of China took advantage of the Qingming Festival custom of ancestor worship, broke through the resistance of the "Gang of Four", and held activities to commemorate Zhou Enlai . The masses of Beijing spontaneously gathered in Tiananmen Square and held a rally in front of the Monument to the People's Heroes to commemorate Zhou Enlai and denounce the "Gang of Four". On April 4, this activity reached its climax. That evening, at a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee, Jiang Qing and others characterized the situation in Tiananmen Square as a counter-revolutionary incident and decided to clear the wreaths and slogans in the square. On April 5, the angry masses clashed with some militia, police and soldiers. In the evening, the masses were driven away, beaten and arrested. This incident laid a strong mass foundation for the crushing of the "Gang of Four" group six months later.

Uncertainty and instability were exacerbated by the death of Zhou Enlai in January 1976 and the subsequent second purge of Deng Xiaoping in April. Mao's death in September 1976 removed a towering figure from Chinese politics and set off a scramble for succession. After Mao Zedong's death on September 9, 1976 , the "Gang of Four" was eager to usurp the supreme leadership of the Party and the country. They used the name of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee to ask all major issues in various parts of the country to report to them in a timely manner, in an attempt to command the whole country. They privately took "standard photos" to prepare for the stage, urged some people to write "loyalty letters", lobbied everywhere, spread rumors, attacked Deng Xiaoping , and opposed Hua Guofeng and the Party Central Committee. They also secretly colluded to plan armed rebellion, and even forged Mao Zedong's so-called " follow the established guidelines " on his deathbed, publicly sending a signal to seize power.

The long-expected struggle for power — or at least this momentous phase of it — was waged so quickly that it was over before any outsiders even knew it had begun. Former Minister of Pubic Security Hua Guofeng was quickly confirmed as Party Chairman and Premier. The radical clique most closely associated with Mao and the Cultural Revolution became vulnerable after Mao died, as Deng had been after Zhou Enlai's demise.

In October 1976, Hua Guofeng, Ye Jianying, Li Xiannian, Wang Dongxing and others conspired to overthrow the Gang of Four headed by Mao Zedong's wife Jiang Qing. The Gang of Four were arrested with the assistance of two senior Political Bureau members, Minister of National Defense Ye Jianying (1897-1986) and Wang Dongxing, commander of the CCP's elite bodyguard. On October 6, 1976, Hua Guofeng and Ye Jianying , on behalf of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, isolated and investigated Jiang Qing , Zhang Chunqiao, Wang Hongwen, Yao Wenyuan and their core gang members in Beijing, thus crushing the "Gang of Four".

Within days it was formally announced that Hua Guofeng had assumed the positions of party chairman, chairman of the party's Central Military Commission, and premier, thus ending a decade of radical politics. After the arrest of the 'Gang of Four' (October 6, 1976), the PRC developed a new party line that emphasized 'socialist legality' and the protection of individual rights. The purge of the "Gang of Four" stimulated new expectations, but higher standards of living and a significant military modernization program were initially financially impossible. The crushing of the "Gang of Four" was a historic victory, and the ten-year " Cultural Revolution " came to an end.

The jubilation following the incarceration of the Gang of Four and the popularity of the new ruling triumvirate (Hua Guofeng, Ye Jianying, and Li Xiannian, a temporary alliance of necessity) were succeeded by calls for the restoration to power of Deng Xiaoping and the elimination of leftist influence throughout the political system. By July 1977, at no small risk to undercutting Hua Guofeng' s legitimacy as Mao's successor and seeming to contradict Mao's apparent will, the Central Committee exonerated Deng Xiaoping from responsibility for the Tiananmen Square incident. Deng admitted some shortcomings in the events of 1975, and finally, at a party Central Committee session, he resumed all the posts from which he had been removed in 1976.

During 1977 the more vocal supporters of the Gang of Four were removed from positions of authority in research institutes and universities and replaced with professionally qualified scientists and intellectuals. Academic and research institutions that had been closed were reopened, and scientists were summoned back to their laboratories from manual labor in the countryside. The repressive and anti-intellectual policies of the deposed Gang of Four were blamed for the failure of China's science and technology to match advanced international levels. The news media characterized scientists and technicians as part of society's "productive forces" and as "workers" rather than as potential counterrevolutionaries or bourgeois experts divorced from the masses.

The post-Mao political order was given its first vote of confidence at the Eleventh National Party Congress, held August 12-18, 1977. Hua was confirmed as party chairman, and Ye Jianying, Deng Xiaoping, Li Xiannian, and Wang Dongxing were elected vice chairmen. The congress proclaimed the formal end of the Cultural Revolution, blamed it entirely on the Gang of Four, and reiterated that "the fundamental task of the party in the new historical period is to build China into a modern, powerful socialist country by the end of the twentieth century." Many contradictions still were apparent, however, in regard to the Maoist legacy and the possibility of future cultural revolutions.

After extensive deliberations, the Chinese Communist Party leadership reinstated Deng Xiaoping to all of his previous posts at the 11th Party Congress in August 1977. Deng then led the effort to place government control in the hands of veteran party officials opposed to the radical excesses of the previous two decades. The new, pragmatic leadership emphasized economic development and renounced mass political movements. At the pivotal December 1978 Third Plenum (of the 11th Party Congress Central Committee), the leadership adopted economic reform policies aimed at expanding rural income and incentives, encouraging experiments in enterprise autonomy, reducing central planning, and attracting direct foreign investment into China.

One of the more spectacular political events of modern Chinese history was the month-long trial of the Gang of Four and six of Lin Biao's closest associates. A 35-judge special court was convened in November 1980 and issued a 20,000-word indictment against the defendants. The indictment came more than four years after the arrest of Jiang Qing and her associates and more than nine years after the arrests of the Lin Biao group. Beyond the trial of ten political pariahs, it appeared that the intimate involvement of Mao Zedong, current party chairman Hua Guofeng, and the CCP itself were on trial. The prosecution wisely separated political errors from actual crimes. In January 1981 the court rendered guilty verdicts. On January 25, 1981, the Special Court of the Supreme People's Court sentenced the main criminals of Jiang Qing's counter-revolutionary group. The trial, which was publicized to show that China had restored a legal system that made all citizens equal before the law, actually appeared to many foreign observers to be more a political than a legal exercise.

The Second Plenum of the Twelfth Central Committee, held in October 1983, initiated a rectification program for the years 1984-86. Some 388,000 party members participated in the first stage of party rectification. The campaign was launched to ferret out residual leftist influence from the Cultural Revolution period, factionalism, and corruption. Discipline inspection committees were reinstituted. Three kinds of party members were singled out as special targets: followers of the Gang of Four or of Lin Biao, factionalists, and persons who "beat, smashed, and looted" during the Cultural Revolution.

There was the additional stipulation that officeholders in the reconstructed bureaucracy be qualified both politically and professionally, that is, be both "red" and "expert."