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75-697: Deng, who had been in and out of favor during the Cultural Revolution, first spoke publicly of the ideas of Boluan Fanzheng in September 1977, roughly a year after Mao's death and the subsequent arrest of the Gang of Four . With the help of allies such as Hu Yaobang , who later became the party's General Secretary , Deng was able to launch his reforms after the 3rd Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee in December 1978, where he had ascended to

150-565: A trial of the Gang of Four and six other people, eventually announcing death penalties with a two-year reprieve for Jiang Qing and Zhang Chunqiao , and imprisonment of various terms up to life imprisonment for other members. In June 1981, at the 6th Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee of CCP , senior CCP officials unanimously passed the Resolution on Certain Questions in

225-538: A comprehensive review on the Cultural Revolution within China would fundamentally threaten the legitimacy of CCP as China's only ruling party. Others, at the same time, have also pointed out that even though Deng and other senior CCP officials admitted that the Party had made numerous mistakes in the past, yet they were still trying to preserve CCP's one-party rule in China. Massacres took place across mainland China during

300-456: A plane crash in 1971. Chen Boda is often classed as a member of Lin's faction rather than Jiang Qing's. At the beginning of the Cultural Revolution, on November 10, 1965, Yao Wenyuan, in one of his most famous pieces of writing, published an article in Wenhuibao criticizing the play Hai Rui Dismissed from Office . The article argued that the opera was actually a sympathetic portrayal of

375-534: A potential erosion of the era's reforms and a more autocratic rule under Xi Jinping , who became General Secretary in 2012. The term Boluan Fanzheng ( 拨乱反正 ) is a chéngyǔ (Chinese literary idiom) that references a line in the Gongyang commentary to the Spring and Autumn Annals of ancient China. The idiom means "correcting chaos and returning to normal". On September 19, 1977, Deng Xiaoping first proposed

450-501: A significant role in taking over the Guangming Daily , helping Mao's successor Hua Guofeng oust the Gang of Four and put an end to the Cultural Revolution. In 1978, the reformist CCP leader Hu Yaobang appointed Yang Xiguang , formerly with Shanghai's Jiefang Daily , chief editor of the Guangming Daily . Under Yang's editorship, Guangming was the first Chinese newspaper to stop publishing Chairman Mao's Quotations on

525-525: A virtual halt during the Cultural Revolution. In the early months of the Cultural Revolution, schools and universities were closed. Primary and middle schools later gradually reopened, but all colleges and universities were closed until 1970, and most universities did not reopen until 1972. The university entrance exams were cancelled after 1966, to be replaced later by a system whereby students were recommended by factories, villages and military units. Values taught in traditional education were abandoned. In 1968,

600-598: The 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests . The phrase has in turn been denounced by the four individuals. Guangming Daily The Guangming Daily , also known as the Enlightenment Daily , is a national Chinese-language daily newspaper published in the People's Republic of China . It was established in 1949 as the official paper of the China Democratic League . Starting from 1982, it

675-677: The Anti-rightist Campaign in 1957. Within a few years after 1978, victims in over 3 million such cases were rehabilitated. However, eventually, there were still around 100 " rightists " who did not receive official rehabilitation, notably Zhang Bojun , Luo Longji , Chu Anping and so on. In addition to the "rightists" of the " Five Black Categories ", the Central Committee of the CCP decided in January 1979 to abolish

750-559: The Boluan Fanzheng period are listed below. The rehabilitation of these important figures were endorsed and directed by Deng Xiaoping, Chen Yun , Hu Yaobang and other senior CCP officials. The first Constitution of the People's Republic of China, commonly known as the " 1954 Constitution ", came into effect in 1954. However, in 1958, Mao Zedong publicly advocated the " rule of man " over the " rule of law ", saying: We can't rule

825-542: The Boluan Fanzheng period, Deng Xiaoping himself was in charge of the rehabilitation of scientists and intellectuals who were persecuted during the Cultural Revolution. In March 1978, Deng emphasized at the National Science Conference that intellectuals were part of the working class and that the core of modernization was the modernization of science and technology. Later, he also emphasized that knowledge and talented people must be respected, whereas

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900-564: The Boluan Fanzheng program in order to correct the mistakes of Cultural Revolution. Since the late 1970s, Deng and his allies gradually dismantled the Maoist line of "continuous class struggles ", shifting the focus of the CCP and the Chinese government to " economic construction " as well as " modernization ". In 1980–1981, Hua Guofeng eventually resigned from his positions as the Chairman of

975-533: The Cultural Revolution . In May 1978, Deng, together with Hu Yaobang and other allies, initiated a large-scale debate within the Chinese society, discussing the criteria for testing truth and criticizing the ideology of "Two Whatevers". Deng and his allies endorsed the philosophy of "practice is the sole criterion for testing truth", which was first proposed in an article published by Guangming Daily on May 11, 1978, and gained widespread support from

1050-486: The Gang of Four in a political coup at Huairen Hall , putting an end to the Cultural Revolution. However, after Hua Guofeng became the new paramount leader of China after Mao, he continued to follow Maoist policies and adhere to the guideline of " Two Whatevers ", without invalidating the Cultural Revolution. After Deng Xiaoping won power struggle over Hua and became the new paramount leader of China in December 1978, he and his allies began to systematically implement

1125-581: The National College Entrance Examination ( Gaokao ) after its ten-year halt during the Cultural Revolution, thus re-establishing the higher education system in China and changing the life of tens of millions. Deng viewed science and education as the fundamentals of China's Four Modernizations . A compulsory education system was proposed during the Boluan Fanzheng period and, with the support of Deng and others,

1200-685: The Supreme People's Court of China with Jiang Hua presiding; in January 1981, they were convicted of anti-party activities. During the trial, Jiang Qing in particular was extremely defiant, protesting loudly and bursting into tears at some points. She was the only member of the Gang of Four to argue on her own behalf. The defence's argument was that she obeyed the orders of Chairman Mao Zedong at all times. Zhang Chunqiao refused to admit any wrongdoing. Yao Wenyuan and Wang Hongwen expressed repentance and confessed their alleged crimes. The prosecution separated political errors from actual crimes. Among

1275-555: The "Gang". Chen Boda and Mao Yuanxin , the latter being Mao's nephew, were also considered some of the Gang's closer associates. Most Western accounts consider that the actual leadership of the Cultural Revolution consisted of a wider group, referring predominantly to the members of the Central Cultural Revolution Group . Most prominent was Lin Biao , until his purported defection from China and death in

1350-615: The "achievement" of the Cultural Revolution and manifest statements like the "leadership of CCP" in China. During the Boluan Fanzheng period, however, Deng Xiaoping made an important speech titled On the Reform of the System of Party and State Leadership (党和国家领导制度改革) on August 18, 1980, proposing to the National People's Congress that China needed political reforms and a systematic revision of its Constitution. Deng pointed out that

1425-617: The 1950s. In 1983, the Anti-Spiritual Pollution Campaign was launched, followed by the Anti-Bourgeois Liberalization Campaign which was launched in late 1986. The two campaigns were initiated by left-wing conservative politicians and received some support from Deng, but they were both called off eventually thanks to the persuasion and interventions from Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang, the leading reformists besides Deng within

1500-516: The 1980s, notable Chinese scholars including Ba Jin called on the Chinese society to establish "Cultural Revolution Museums" so that future generations may learn from the history and prevent Cultural Revolution from happening again. The proposal received support from many Chinese citizens, however there was no official response from the Chinese Communist Party. On the other hand, Ba Jin was subsequently criticized and attacked during

1575-824: The Anti-Spiritual Pollution Campaign as well as the Anti-Bourgeois Liberalization Campaign launched in the 1980s. In 1996, the local government of Shantou in Guangdong Province decided to establish the first Cultural Revolution museum in mainland China—the Shantou Cultural Revolution Museum , which was eventually opened to the public in 2005. However, the museum was forced to shut down in 2016 by Xi Jinping's administration. Gang of Four The Gang of Four ( simplified Chinese : 四人帮 ; traditional Chinese : 四人幫 ; pinyin : Sì rén bāng )

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1650-655: The Boluan Fanzheng period as well as the early phase of the Reform and Opening-up period, Deng Xiaoping on one hand stressed the importance of "emancipating the mind", while on the other hand repeatedly warning against the so-called " Bourgeois liberalization ". In addition, notable people like Zhang Bojun and Luo Longji who were persecuted during the Anti-Rightist Campaign were among the small number of exceptions who did not receive rehabilitation, and Deng played an important role in carrying out that campaign in

1725-607: The CCP , the Chairman of the Central Military Commission and the Premier of the People's Republic of China . Deng succeeded as the new chairman of the military, while two of his closest allies assumed the other two positions: Hu Yaobang as the new Chairman of CCP and Zhao Ziyang as the new Premier. From November 20, 1980, to January 25, 1981, a special court under the Supreme People's Court carried out

1800-534: The Chinese Communist Party (CCP). After the Cultural Revolution, the Central Committee of CCP failed to systematically clear the "elements" associated with the Revolution inside the Chinese society, meanwhile banning comprehensive reflections and reviews on this period of history within China. The main reason why CCP took such actions, according to a number of researchers and observers, is that having

1875-515: The Chinese Communist Party. In 1984, it was officially recognized as an institution directly under the Chinese Communist Party and supervised by the Central Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party . In 1998, Guangming Daily launched its official website, which was one of the earliest news websites in China. Two Guangming Daily journalists, Xu Xinghu ( 许杏虎 ) and his wife Zhu Ying ( 朱颖 ), were killed on

1950-580: The Chinese people, "70% were good and 30% were bad", whereas attributing many disasters in Cultural Revolution to Lin Biao and the Gang of Four. After his death, Mao has been viewed as a controversial figure worldwide. In the late 1970s, political dissidents in China such as Wei Jingsheng started the " Democracy Wall Movement " in Beijing, criticizing Mao as well as Maoism and the one-party rule in China while demanding democracy and freedom. However, Wei's initiatives were eventually suppressed by Deng. During

2025-411: The Chinese public. The debate also gave rise to the massive " New Enlightenment movement " in mainland China which lasted over a decade, promoting democracy , humanism and universal values such as human rights and freedom . On December 13, 1978, Deng delivered a speech at the closing ceremony of the 3rd Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee of CCP , during which he replaced Hua Guofeng as

2100-591: The Communist Party instituted the Down to the Countryside Movement , in which "Educated Youths" ( zhishi qingnian or simply zhiqing ) in urban areas were sent to live and work in agrarian areas to be re-educated by the peasantry and to better understand the role of manual agrarian labor in Chinese society. In 1977, upon the suggestion of Zha Quanxing and Wen Yuankai , Deng Xiaoping restored

2175-407: The Cultural Revolution ended in 1976, following the guidelines of Hua Guofeng's "Two Whatevers", a third Constitution of China (known as the " 1978 Constitution ") was published in 1978. Although some of the expressions associated with the Cultural Revolution were deleted from the 1978 Constitution, most of the content from the 1975 Constitution remained in the new Constitution, including recognition of

2250-641: The Cultural Revolution included Xiong Qinglai , Jian Bozan , Lao She , Tian Han , Fu Lei , Wu Han , Rao Yutai , Wu Dingliang , Yao Tongbin and Zhao Jiuzhang . As of 1968, among the 171 senior members at the headquarters of Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, 131 were persecuted, and among all the members of the academy nationwide, 229 were persecuted to death. As of September 1971, more than 4,000 staff members of China's nuclear center in Qinghai were persecuted: among them, 40 committed suicides, five were executed , and 310 were permanently disabled. During

2325-536: The Cultural Revolution. Around the time of the death of Lin Biao in 1971, the Cultural Revolution began to lose momentum. The new commanders of the People's Liberation Army demanded that order be restored in light of the dangerous situation along the border with the Soviet Union (see Sino-Soviet split ). Premier Zhou Enlai , who had accepted the Cultural Revolution, but never fully supported it, regained his authority, and used it to bring Deng Xiaoping back into

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2400-487: The Cultural Revolution. However, in the subsequent Boluan Fanzheng period, many of the leaders and perpetrators of these massacres either received minor punishment (such as getting expelled from the Chinese Communist Party) or received no punishment at all, sparking public outrage. Tens of thousands of people travelled to Beijing in person, petitioning for justice from top officials in the country. In

2475-400: The Gang of Four and Lin Biao for the excesses of the Cultural Revolution. Celebrations were prominent and not limited to the streets of Beijing and other major cities. During the nationwide "Movement of Exposition, Criticism and Uncovering (揭批查运动)" millions of formerly " rebel faction " red guards were publicly criticized as they were thought to be related to the Gang of Four. Immediately after

2550-570: The Gang of Four began using their newspapers to criticize Deng and to mobilize their urban militia groups. Much of the military and party security remained under the control of the party elders of the Central Committee, who generally took a cautious role in mediating between the reformist Deng and the radical Gang of Four. They agreed to the removal of Deng from office after the April Tiananmen Incident but took steps to ensure that Deng and his allies would not be personally harmed in

2625-742: The Gang of Four, including Chen Boda and Mao Yuanxin, were also sentenced. In the struggle between Hua Guofeng's and Deng Xiaoping's followers, a new term emerged, pointing to Hua's four closest collaborators, Wang Dongxing, Wu De , Ji Dengkui and Chen Xilian. In 1980, they were charged with "grave errors" in the struggle against the Gang of Four and demoted from the Political Bureau to mere Central Committee membership. In 2013, mainland Chinese state media labelled Anson Chan , Martin Lee , Joseph Zen and Jimmy Lai as 'Hong Kong's "Gang of Four"' due to their alleged foreign connections. In 2016,

2700-515: The History of Our Party since the Founding of the People's Republic of China . The resolution was drafted under the supervision of Deng Xiaoping and officially invalidated the Cultural Revolution by calling it "a domestic havoc launched mistakenly by the leader (Mao Zedong) and taken advantage of by the counter-revolutionary gangs ( Lin Biao and the Gang of Four)" and that it "was responsible for

2775-492: The Maoist policies and followed the guideline of " Two Whatevers " ("Whatever Chairman Mao said, we will say and whatever Chairman Mao did, we will do"). In July 1977, with support from a number of influential senior officials such as Ye Jianying and Chen Yun , Deng Xiaoping was officially rehabilitated and was reinstated as the Vice Chairman of CCP and Vice Premier of China, after being purged (twice) by Mao during

2850-430: The Party leadership at the 10th Party Congress in 1973. Liu Shaoqi had meanwhile died in prison in 1969. Near the end of Mao's life, a power struggle occurred between the Gang of Four and the alliance of Deng Xiaoping, Zhou Enlai, and Ye Jianying . Zhou Enlai died in January 1976, and, in the subsequent months, a power struggle occurred in the top echelons of the party. The reformist Deng was named acting premier, while

2925-476: The Reform and Opening era, it dropped to 800,000 in 1993. To survive in the market, it reduced political coverage and propaganda, and increased its coverage on culture and science. Guangming Daily is considered to be a less political newspaper, and today focuses mostly on cultural, educational and scientific content. Guangming Daily is published by Guangming Daily News Agency, a deputy-ministerial-level institution. In 2003, Guangming Daily partnered with

3000-535: The arrests, Premier Hua Guofeng , Marshal Ye Jianying, and economic czars Chen Yun and Li Xiannian formed the core of the next party leadership. These four, together with the rehabilitated Deng Xiaoping and Wang Dongxing, were elected party Vice Chairmen at the August 1977 National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party . At the politburo level, the membership of all four living marshals, seven other generals and at least five others with close military ties reflected

3075-452: The basic salary of professors in mainland China , increasing their monthly payments by 100 Yuan , and the proposal was soon approved by Deng. It has been argued that the Boluan Fanzheng program launched by Deng Xiaoping had limitations and controversies, such as incorporating the " Four Cardinal Principles " into the 1982 Constitution which forbid Chinese citizens from challenging China's socialist path, Maoism, Marxism–Leninism as well as

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3150-544: The compulsory education was written into the "1982 Constitution" while China's nine-year compulsory education was eventually established in 1986 under law ( Law on Nine-Year Compulsory Education ). In 1985, upon the recommendation of Zhao Ziyang , then Premier of China, the National People's Congress designated "September 10" as the annual National Teacher's Day . In addition, renowned Chinese American mathematician Shiing-Shen Chern once proposed to Deng to raise

3225-405: The deep concern for national stability. The Gang of Four trials were part of the communist party's effort to establish an institutionalized justice system. The trials were highly visible to the Chinese public thanks to the daily television broadcasts of trial sessions and wide circulation of documentary films about the trials. In late 1980, the four deposed leaders were subjected to a trial by

3300-501: The end of the Cultural Revolution, which had been launched by Mao in 1966 as part of his power struggle with leaders such as Liu Shaoqi , Deng Xiaoping and Peng Zhen . Mao placed his wife Jiang Qing, a former film actress who before 1966 had not taken a public political role, in charge of the country's cultural apparatus. Zhang, Yao and Wang were party leaders in Shanghai who had played leading roles in securing that city for Mao during

3375-424: The entire process of change came later, with the return of Deng Xiaoping at the 11th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party and Hua's gradual loss of authority. The group was led by Jiang Qing , and consisted of three of her close associates, Zhang Chunqiao , Yao Wenyuan , and Wang Hongwen . Two other men who were already dead in 1976, Kang Sheng and Xie Fuzhi , were named as having been part of

3450-516: The established principles would "come to no good end". The radicals hoped that the key military leaders Wang Dongxing and Chen Xilian would support them, but instead, Hua won the Army over to his side. On 6 October 1976, Hua had the four leading radicals and a number of their lesser associates arrested. Han Suyin gave a detailed account of their overthrow: An emergency session of the Politburo

3525-471: The front page every day. On 11 May 1978, it published Hu Fuming 's famous editorial " Practice is the Sole Criterion for Testing Truth ", refuting Hua Guofeng's Two Whatevers theory in support of Deng Xiaoping 's Reform and Opening policy. The article was quickly reprinted in almost all major Chinese newspapers, cementing support for Deng's victory over Hua. Since November 1982, it was run by

3600-465: The idea of "Boluan Fanzheng" during a meeting with senior officials of the Ministry of Education of China , asking the officials to correct the mistakes of Cultural Revolution in the field of education. After Mao Zedong died in September 1976, Hua Guofeng succeeded Mao as the Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Chairman of the Central Military Commission . Hua carried on most of

3675-402: The latter were the usurpation of state power and party leadership; the persecution of some 750,000 people, 34,375 of whom died during the period 1966–1976. The official records of the trial have not yet been released. Audience members who attended the opening of the trial included selected people's representatives from each province and autonomous region, as well as victims' families including

3750-477: The leadership of the Chinese Communist Party. Erecting the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong on Tiananmen Square and retaining the picture of Mao on Tiananmen were also disputed. Furthermore, a few scholars have pointed out that Deng Xiaoping himself revealed his personal limitations in his understanding of Mao and totalitarianism ; these could be seen, for example, when Deng insisted that among all that Mao had done to

3825-461: The light treatment of figures who had been involved in the period's atrocities , as well as the enshrinement of the " Four Cardinal Principles " in the country's constitution , which upheld one-party rule in China. The CCP has not declassified many documents related to the Cultural Revolution, and has contributed to the chilling effect dissuading its academic study and public discussion within Chinese society. Recently, there have been concerns about

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3900-505: The majority of people by relying on law. The majority of people [can be ruled only] by relying on the cultivation of [good] habits. The army's reliance on rule by law didn't work; what's actually worked has been the 1,400-man conference. Who could remember so many clauses of a civil code or criminal law? I participated in the formulation of the Constitution, even I can't remember [it]. During the Cultural Revolution, China's Constitution

3975-445: The most severe setback and the heaviest losses suffered by the Party, the country, and the people since the founding of the People's Republic". During the Boluan Fanzheng period, Hu Yaobang , then General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), was supported by Deng Xiaoping and others to take charge of the rehabilitation of millions of victims who were persecuted in the so-called "unjust, false, erroneous cases (冤假错案)" since

4050-742: The new paramount leader of China . In his speech titled Emancipate the Mind, Seek Truth from Facts, and Unite as One in Looking to the Future (解放思想，实事求是，团结一致向前看), Deng urged the Chinese society to seek truth from facts and pointed out that if the CCP, the whole country and the people continued to follow Maoism with stubborn mindset and blind superstition, then they would never be able to move forward and they would perish. On September 9, 1976, Mao Zedong died in Beijing, and on October 6, Hua Guofeng together with Ye Jianying , Wang Dongxing and others arrested

4125-482: The new Constitution must be able to protect the civil rights of Chinese nationals and must demonstrate the principle of separation of powers ; he also described the idea of " collective leadership ", advocating " one man, one vote " among senior leaders to avoid the dictatorship of the General Secretary of CCP. In December 1982, the fourth Constitution of China (commonly known as the " 1982 Constitution "),

4200-570: The night of 7 May 1999 in the United States bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia . The Guangming Daily has been documented to have been used as cover by Ministry of State Security (MSS) officers posing as journalists overseas. Guangming Daily 's circulation reached 1.5 million in 1987, but as independent publications flourished during

4275-439: The operation was not completely bloodless – Wang Hongwen killed two of the guards trying to capture him and was wounded himself before being subdued. Beginning on 21 October, nationwide denunciations of the Gang began, which culminated in the December release of files related to the Gang's alleged crimes to the public. The party issued a denunciation of the Gang of Four as "left in form, right in essence". Government media blamed

4350-409: The other four discriminated social categories. According to official statistics, by 1984, around 4.4 million "landlords" and "rich farmers" had been rehabilitated, and a total of more than 20 million people who were labelled as members of the "four black categories" or their families had received rectification in their social status. Some of the notable victims who received official rehabilitation during

4425-558: The paramount leadership role. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Chinese government gradually dismantled the many distinctly Maoist policies associated with the Cultural Revolution, and rehabilitated millions of people who had been targeted during its decade of turmoil. Boluan Fanzheng lasted until early the 1980s, after which the primary focus of CCP and the Chinese government shifted from " class struggle " to further modernization and " economic construction ". The subsequent speed of China's transformation in this period from one of

4500-482: The poorest countries to one of the world's largest economies is unmatched in history. In addition, the " 1978 Truth Criterion Discussion " during the Boluan Fanzheng period was the starting point of the decade-long New Enlightenment movement in mainland China. However, the Boluan Fanzheng period also saw many controversies, such as the handling of the legacies of Mao and the Cultural Revolution—namely

4575-456: The power organs of the CCP through the later stages of the Cultural Revolution, although it remains unclear which major decisions were made by Mao Zedong and carried out by the Gang, and which were the result of the Gang of Four's own planning. Their fall did not amount to a rejection of the Cultural Revolution as such; it was organized by the new leader, Premier Hua Guofeng , and others who had risen during that period. Significant repudiation of

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4650-661: The pro-Beijing newspaper Sing Pao Daily News started publishing editorials that criticized Tung Chee-hwa , Leung Chun-ying , Zhang Xiaoming and Jiang Zaizhong as another 'Hong Kong's Gang of Four'. The articles claim that although all of them appeared to be loyal to Beijing, they were actually betraying it and destabilizing Hong Kong for their personal interest, by igniting social and political conflicts, as well as through other mischievous means. In 2019, Chinese state media labelled Anson Chan, Martin Lee, Jimmy Lai and Albert Ho as yet another 'Gang of Four of Hong Kong' due to their alleged collusion with foreign forces in relation to

4725-428: The process. On September 9, Chairman Mao died. For the next few weeks the Gang of Four retained control over the government media, and many articles appeared on the theme of "principles laid down" (or "established") by Mao near the end of his life. (The words "principles laid down" were themselves supposedly a quotation from Mao, but their canonical status was in dispute. ) Urban militia units commanded by supporters of

4800-498: The radical group were placed on a heightened state of readiness. Premier Hua Guofeng attacked the radicals' media line at a Politburo meeting in late September; but Jiang Qing emphatically disagreed with Hua, and she insisted that she be named as the new party chairman. The meeting ended inconclusively. On October 4 the radical group warned, via an article in the Guangming Daily , that any revisionist who interfered with

4875-477: The reformist efforts of the military hero Peng Dehuai and thus an attack on Chairman Mao's Great Leap Forward . Mao subsequently purged Peng from power. The article is cited as the spark that launched the Cultural Revolution . Jiang Qing staged revolutionary operas during the Cultural Revolution and met with the Red Guards . The removal of this group from power is sometimes considered to have marked

4950-466: The sole magazine Red Flag . The four periodicals, known as "the three papers and one magazine", dominated China's public affairs. For safety reasons, regional newspapers and specialist magazines all took cues from the big four, and largely reprinted articles from them. Before the death of Mao Zedong , the paper fell under the control of the radical left-lean Gang of Four led by Mao's widow Jiang Qing . In October 1976, Vice Premier Ji Dengkui played

5025-498: The widows of Liu Shaoqi, He Long , and Luo Ruiqing . Jiang Qing and Zhang Chunqiao received death sentences that were later commuted to life imprisonment, while Wang Hongwen and Yao Wenyuan were given life and twenty years in prison, respectively. All members of the Gang of Four have since died; Jiang Qing committed suicide in 1991, Wang Hongwen died in 1992, and Yao Wenyuan and Zhang Chunqiao died in 2005, having been released from prison in 1996 and 1998, respectively. Supporters of

5100-402: The wrong thought such as disrespecting intellectuals must be opposed. One of Deng's notable statements was that "science and technology are primary productive forces". Since the Boluan Fanzheng period, various new genres of literature have emerged, including the " scar literature ", the "contemplative literature (反思文学) " and the "literature of reforms (改革文学)". China's education system came to

5175-485: 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 ( Mao Zedong 's last wife). The other members were Zhang Chunqiao , Yao Wenyuan , and Wang Hongwen . The Gang of Four controlled

5250-577: Was arrested in Manchuria , and the propagandists of the Gang of Four in Peking University and in newspaper offices were taken into custody. All was done with quiet and efficiency. In Shanghai, the Gang's supporters received a message to come to Beijing "for a meeting". They came and were arrested. Thus, without shedding a drop of blood, the plans of the Gang of Four to wield supreme power were ended. According to historian Immanuel C.Y. Hsü ,

5325-617: Was launched on 16 June 1949 in Beijing . It was originally the official newspaper of the China Democratic League , but later became the Chinese Communist Party 's official organ for China's educated elite. During the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), Guangming Daily was one of the only three national newspapers that remained in circulation, together with the People's Daily and the People's Liberation Army Daily , and

5400-440: Was passed by the 5th National People's Congress , embodying Chinese-style constitutionalism , and much of its content remains effective as of today. Compared to previous versions, some of the notable changes in the 1982 Constitution include: During the Cultural Revolution, academics and intellectuals were regarded as the " Stinking Old Ninth " and were widely persecuted. Notable academics, scientists and educators who died due to

5475-589: Was revised in 1975 and the second Constitution, commonly known as the " 1975 Constitution ", absorbed Maoism and vocabulary such as the "absolute leadership of CCP (in China)" into its main content. The Constitution also incorporated manifest descriptions of the CCP organization, abolishing top government positions including the President and the Vice President of the People's Republic of China . Soon after

5550-443: Was run by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and was officially recognized as an institution directly under the Central Committee of the CCP from 1994. As one of China's "big three" newspapers during the Cultural Revolution , it played an important role in the political struggle between Hua Guofeng and the Gang of Four in 1976 and between Hua and Deng Xiaoping in 1978. The Guangming Daily , then romanized as Kuangming ,

5625-466: Was to take place in the Great Hall of the People that evening. Their presence was required. Since Wang Dongxing had been their ally, they did not suspect him... As they passed through the swinging doors into the entrance lobby, they were apprehended and led off in handcuffs. A special 8341 unit then went to Madam Mao's residence at No. 17 Fisherman's Terrace and arrested her. That night Mao Yuanxin

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