In Chinese history, the chief members of the radical faction that played a key role in directing the Cultural Revolution and tried to seize power after the death of the communist leader Mao Zedong in 1976.
It included his widow Jiang Qing and three young Shanghai politicians: Zhang Chunqiao, Wang Hongwen, and Yao Wenyuan.
The coup failed and the Gang of Four were arrested. Publicly tried in 1980, they were found guilty of treason.
The Gang were blamed for the excesses of the Cultural Revolution, but Jiang asserted during her trial that she had only followed Mao’s orders as an obedient wife.
Jiang received a death sentence in January 1981, which was subsequently commuted to life imprisonment.
Related Posts
Jeremy Thorpe John Jeremy Thorpe was born on 29 April 1929, the youngest child of a leading lawyer and former Conservative MP,…
Anita Cobby It was the crime that shocked Australia - pretty 26-year-old nursing sister Anita Lorraine Cobby was found brutally murdered in…
Ted Bundy American serial killer Theodore Robert Bundy was born on 24 November 1946 at the Elizabeth Lund Home for Unwed Mothers…
Unabomber The Unabomber - so named because his case was given the acronym UNABOM which stood for the places he targeted; UNiversity…
Black Panthers The Black Panthers wanted to be the vanguard of a revolution that would create economic, social and political equality across…
Richardsons, The Charlie Richardson was born in Camberwell, south-east London in 1934. His brother Eddie was born in 1936, the youngest sibling…
Harold Holt Harold Edward Holt was born in Sydney in 1908 and educated at Melbourne University. He worked as a solicitor and…
Moors Murderers Between 1963 and 1965, Ian Brady and Myra Hindley were responsible for the abduction, sexual abuse, and murder of two…
The coup failed and the Gang of Four were arrested. Publicly tried in 1980, they were found guilty of treason.
