The Gang of Four was a Maoist political faction composed of four Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials. They came to prominence during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) and were later charged with a series of treasonous crimes due to their responsibility for the excesses and failures in the Cultural Revolution. The gang's leading figure was Jiang Qing. The other members were Zhang Chunqiao,Yao Wenyuan,and Wang Hongwen.
Hua Guofeng was a Chinese politician who served as Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party and Premier of the People's Republic of China. The designated successor of Mao Zedong,Hua held the top offices of the government,party,and the military after the deaths of Mao and Premier Zhou Enlai,but was gradually forced out of supreme power by a coalition of party leaders between December 1978 and June 1981,and subsequently retreated from the political limelight,though still remaining a member of the Central Committee until 2002.
The Politburo Standing Committee (PSC),officially the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China,is a committee consisting of the top leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Historically it has been composed of five to eleven members,and currently has seven members. Its officially mandated purpose is to conduct policy discussions and make decisions on major issues when the Politburo,a larger decision-making body,is not in session. According to the party's constitution,the General Secretary of the Central Committee must also be a member of the Politburo Standing Committee.
Wang Hongwen was a Chinese labour activist and politician who was the youngest member of the "Gang of Four". He rose to prominence during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976),after organizing the Shanghai People's Commune,to become one of the foremost members of national leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Kang Sheng was a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) official,best known for having overseen the work of the CCP's internal security and intelligence apparatus during the early 1940s and again at the height of the Cultural Revolution in the late 1960s and early 1970s. A member of the CCP from the early 1920s,he spent time in Moscow during the early 1930s,where he learned the methods of the Soviet NKVD and became a supporter of Wang Ming for leadership of the CCP. After returning to China in the late 1930s,Kang Sheng switched his allegiance to Mao Zedong and became a close associate of Mao during the Second Sino-Japanese War,the Chinese Civil War,and after. He remained at or near the pinnacle of power in the People's Republic of China from its establishment in 1949 until his death in 1975. After the death of Mao and the subsequent arrest of the Gang of Four,Kang Sheng was accused of sharing responsibility with the Gang for the excesses of the Cultural Revolution and in 1980 he was expelled posthumously from the CCP.
The Chairman of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party was the leader of the Chinese Communist Party. The position was established at the 8th National Congress in 1945 and abolished at the 12th National Congress in 1982,being replaced by the general secretary. Offices with the name Chairman of the Central Executive Committee and Chairman of the Central Committee existed in 1922–1923 and 1928–1931,respectively.
Chen Boda,was a Chinese Communist journalist,professor and political theorist who rose to power as the chief interpreter of Maoism in the first 20 years of the People's Republic of China. Chen became a close associate of Mao Zedong in Yan'an,during the late 1930s,drafting speeches and theoretical essays and directing propaganda.
The Zunyi Conference was a meeting of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in January 1935 during the Long March. This meeting involved a power struggle between the leadership of Bo Gu and Otto Braun and the opposition led by Mao Zedong. The result was that Mao left the meeting in position to take over military command and become the leader of the Communist Party. The conference was completely unacknowledged until the 1950s and still no detailed descriptions were available until the fiftieth anniversary in 1985.
Wang Jiaxiang was one of the senior leaders of the Chinese Communist Party in its early stage and a member of the 28 Bolsheviks. Wang held a variety of high-level posts in the Party:during the Civil War he was the director of the Red Army's General Office,upon the founding of the People's Republic of China he was the first ambassador to the Soviet Union,and then became the first head of the Party's International Department.
Tao Zhu was a member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.
The 9th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP),formally the Political Bureau of the 9th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China,was elected at the 1st Plenary Session of the 9th Central Committee of the CCP on 28 April 1969 in the aftermath of the 9th National Congress. This electoral term was preceded by the 8th Politburo and succeeded by the 10th. Five of the 21 members served concurrently in the 9th Politburo Standing Committee.
The 10th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party was in session from 1973 to 1977. It was preceded by the 9th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. It held three plenary sessions in the four-year period. It was formally succeeded by the 11th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.
The 9th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party was in session from 1969 to 1973. It was preceded by the 8th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. It was the second central committee in session during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Even amidst partial cultural disintegration,it was succeeded by the 10th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. It held two plenary sessions in the 4-year period.
The 8th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party was in session from 1956 to 1969. It was preceded by the 7th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. It held 12 plenary sessions in this period of 13 years. It was the longest serving central committee ever held by the Communist Party.
The 7th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party was in session from 1945 to 1956. It was a product of the convening of the 7th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party. It held six plenary sessions in this 11-year period. It began in June 1945,before the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War,and the resumption of the Chinese Civil War. This committee would be succeeded by the 8th Central Committee.
The 6th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party was in session from 1928 to 1945,during most of the Chinese Civil War,and during the Second Sino-Japanese War. It held seven plenary sessions in this period. It was formally preceded by the 5th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. It was the first central committee to have Mao Zedong as a high-ranking member. It was succeeded by the 7th Central Committee.
The Central Case Examination Group was a special organization established in the People's Republic of China in 1966 under the aegis of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party to persecute those accused of "anti-party activities". It was,in essence,an organization dedicated to political persecution of senior party leaders as well as ordinary functionaries. Initially conceptualized as a beachhead by Chairman Mao Zedong's most radical supporters to 'gather dirt' on opponents of the Cultural Revolution,it later began taking up cases against all manner of perceived political opponents irrespective of their ideological allegiance. Many of its early leaders,such as Jiang Qing,later themselves became the subject of persecution by the Group. The Group was compared by Cultural Revolution-era propagandist Wang Li to the Soviet Cheka,but he noted that the CCEG had even broader powers. Its leading members included nearly all of the members of the Cultural Revolution Group (CRG) as well as Premier Zhou Enlai and the chief of Mao's security detail Wang Dongxing. The CCEG worked closely with the CRG during its investigations.
Ren Bishi was a military and political leader in the early Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Liu Shaoqi was a Chinese revolutionary and politician. He was Chairman of the NPC Standing Committee from 1954 to 1959,first Vice Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party from 1956 to 1966 and Chairman of the People's Republic of China,the head of state,from 1959 to 1968,during which he implemented policies of economic reconstruction in China. For 15 years,Liu held high positions in Chinese leadership,behind only Chairman Mao Zedong and Premier Zhou Enlai. Although originally considered as a successor to Mao,from 1966 onward,Liu was criticized and then purged by Mao. Liu was arrested and imprisoned in 1967. He was forced out of public life and was labelled the "commander of China's bourgeoisie headquarters",China's foremost "capitalist-roader",and a traitor to the revolution. He died in prison in 1969 due to complications from diabetes.
Qiu Huizuo was a lieutenant general of the People's Liberation Army (PLA),best known as one of the "four guardian warriors" of Vice Chairman Lin Biao during the Cultural Revolution. Qiu rose through the ranks of the PLA during the civil war between the Chinese Communist Party and the Kuomintang. He took charge as the PLA logistics chief in 1959,and was persecuted at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution. He was later rehabilitated owing to the blessing of Zhou Enlai and Lin Biao,and elevated to the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party in 1969. In return,he helped to persecute Lin's enemies and consolidate Lin's power in the PLA. After Lin's flight and death in 1971,Qiu was purged and sentenced to 16 years in prison.
