Jiang Qing: Mao’s Propaganda Chief or the Scapegoat Who Carried His Crimes?

On the night of October 6, 1976, less than a month after Mao Zedong died, security officers drew four powerful figures into a meeting in Beijing and arrested them. Zhang Chunqiao, Wang Hongwen, Yao Wenyuan, and Jiang Qing were removed from power within hours. By the next morning, China’s new leadership could announce that the “Gang of Four” had been smashed.

Jiang Qing was not an outsider to the violence. She controlled the content of theatre, films, and public culture during the Cultural Revolution. She promoted a small group of “model” works in place of most older art, supported campaigns against Mao’s rivals, and helped create the language used to label people enemies. Yet the official story after 1976 gave her a special role. Mao was described as the person who launched and led the Cultural Revolution; Jiang Qing and Lin Biao were described as cliques that took advantage of his mistakes and committed the crimes.