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.
Peng Zhen was a leading member of the Chinese Communist Party. He led the party organization in Beijing following the victory of the Communists in the Chinese Civil War in 1949, but was purged during the Cultural Revolution for opposing Mao's views on the role of literature in relation to the state. He was rehabilitated under Deng Xiaoping in 1982 along with other 'wrongly accused' officials, and became the inaugural head of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission.
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.
Gao Gang was a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader during the Chinese Civil War and the early years of the People's Republic of China (PRC) before he became the victim of the first major purge within the party since before 1949. The events surrounding Gao's purge, the so-called "Gao Gang Affair", are still the subject of debate: a limited amount of research has been done on the topic, partly because of the relatively small amount of information available.
Tao Zhu was a member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.
National Day, officially the National Day of the People's Republic of China (中华人民共和国国庆节), is a public holiday in China celebrated annually on 1 October as the national day of the People's Republic of China, commemorating Mao Zedong's formal proclamation of the establishment of the People's Republic of China on 1 October 1949. The Chinese Communist Party victory in the Chinese Civil War resulted in the Kuomintang retreat to Taiwan and the Chinese Communist Revolution whereby the People's Republic of China replaced the Republic of China.
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.
Tiananmen Square or Tian'anmen Square is a city square in the city center of Beijing, China, named after the Tiananmen located to its north, which separates it from the Forbidden City. The square contains the Monument to the People's Heroes, the Great Hall of the People, the National Museum of China, and the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong. Mao Zedong proclaimed the founding of the People's Republic of China in the square on October 1, 1949; the anniversary of this event is still observed there. The size of Tiananmen Square is 765 x 282 meters. It has great cultural significance as it was the site of several important events in Chinese history.
The 3rd Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party was a pivotal meeting of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party held in Beijing, China, from December 18 to December 22, 1978.
Lu Dingyi was a leader of the Chinese Communist Party. After the establishment of the People's Republic of China and before the Cultural Revolution, he was credited as one of the top officials in socialist culture.
The 9th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was held in the Great Hall of the People, Beijing, between April 1 and 24, 1969. 1,512 delegates represented the party's estimated 22 million members.
Liu Zihou was a Communist revolutionary leader and politician of the People's Republic of China. He served as Governor of Hubei and Hebei provinces, and as the top leader of Hebei during the Cultural Revolution, but was ousted from his positions after he opposed the reforms of Deng Xiaoping. He was a protégé of Li Xiannian, one of China's top leaders.
Lin Tie was a Communist revolutionary leader and politician of the People's Republic of China (PRC). He served as the first Chinese Communist Party Committee Secretary and the second Governor of Hebei province of the PRC, but was purged in 1966 at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution.
Liu Shaoqi was a Chinese revolutionary and politician. He was the chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress from 1954 to 1959, first-ranking vice chairman of the Chinese Communist Party from 1956 to 1966, and the chairman of the People's Republic of China, the head of state from 1959 to 1968. He was considered to be a possible successor to Mao Zedong, but was purged during the Cultural Revolution.
Events in the year 1959 in China. The country had an estimated population of 665 million people.
The 10th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party was held in the Great Hall of the People, Beijing, between August 24 and 28, 1973. 1,249 delegates represented the party's estimated 28 million members. It was preceded by the 9th National Congress and was succeeded by the 11th National Congress.
Mao Zedong's cult of personality was a prominent part of Chairman Mao Zedong's rule over the People's Republic of China from the state's founding in 1949 until his death in 1976. Mass media, propaganda and a series of other techniques were used by the state to elevate Mao Zedong's status to that of an infallible heroic leader, who could stand up against the West, and guide China to become a beacon of communism.
The proclamation of the People's Republic of China was made by Mao Zedong, the Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), on October 1, 1949, in Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The government of a new state under the CCP, formally called the Central People's Government, was proclaimed by Mao at the ceremony, which marked the foundation of the People's Republic of China.
The Seven-Thousand Cadres Conference was one of the largest work conferences ever of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It took place in Beijing, China, from 11 January to 7 February 1962. The conference was attended by over 7,000 party officials nationwide, focusing on the issues of the Great Leap Forward which resulted in the deaths of tens of millions in the Great Chinese Famine. CCP chairman Mao Zedong made self-criticism during the conference, after which he took a semi-retired role, leaving future responsibilities to Chinese President Liu Shaoqi and Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping.
