Smashing of the "the Gang of Four"

On October 6, 1976, the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee led by Hua Guofeng, Ye Jianying, Li Xiannian, etc. resolutely detained and interrogated Wang Hongwen, Zhang Chunqiao, Jiang Qing and Yao Wenyuan. After the 10th CPC National Congress, Wang Hongwen, Zhang Chunqiao, Jiang Qing and Yao Wenyuan formed a political gang in an attempt to usurp Party leadership and seize state power.

The name “The Gang of Four” was first put forward by Mao Zedong. On July 17, 1974, Mao Zedong pointed out at the meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee that Jiang Qing was among the Gang of Shanghai and that she and Wang Hongwen, Zhang Chunqiao and Yao Wenyuan should not form a four-person clique, in response to their plot to mess up the whole country on the occasion of “criticizing Lin Biao and Confucius”. In December 1974, Mao Zedong said in his talk with Zhou Enlai and Wang Hongwen that “The Gang of Four” should stop its activities. This is the first time when Mao Zedong mentioned the concept of “The Gang of Four”. After the decease of Mao Zedong, “The Gang of Four” stepped up their conspiracy of usurping the supreme Party and state leadership. In order to smash the conspiracy of “The Gang of Four” to usurping the Party leadership and seize state power, Hua Guofeng, Ye Jianying, Li Xiannian, Wang Dongxing, etc., decided to detain and interrogate “The Gang of Four”, after the careful consideration and repeated discussions as well as the consent of most comrades of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee. At 8:00 p.m., October 6, 1976, Hua Guofeng and Ye Jianying summoned a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee in Huairen Hall in Zhongnanhai, Yao Wenyuan was told to participate in the meeting.

After Zhang Chunqiao, Wang Hongwen and Yao Wenyuan came into the meeting room one by one, it was respectively announced that they were to be detained and interrogated. At the same time, someone was dispatched to Jiang Qing’s residence in Zhongnanhai to implement the same decision. Thereafter, such central propaganda agencies as the Xinhua News Agency, China Central People's Radio Station and People’s Daily that are under the control of “The Gang of Four” were taken over. At 10:00 p.m. that night, the Central Committee summoned an emergency meeting of the Political Bureau to discuss the key Party and state issues after the downfall of “The Gang of Four”. It was unanimously approved that Hua Guofeng was appointed Chairman of the CPC Central Committee and Chairman of the Central Military Commission. From October 7 to 14, the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee held several briefing sessions in Beijing first among the leaders of the central Party, government and military organs, then among those of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government, and at last among those of major military regions, mainly to notify them of the decisions on “The Gang of Four” and the appointment of Hua Guofeng as Chairman of the CPC Central Committee and Chairman of the Central Military Commission. On October 18, the CPC Central Committee issued “The Notice on the Events of the Anti-Party Gang of Wang Hongwen, Zhang Chunqiao, Jiang Qing and Yao Wenyuan” to the Party organizations at the county and regimental level. In this notice, the crime of “The Gang of Four” and criticism on them from Mao Zedong since February 1974 were revealed. And the whole Party was called on to pool together in the fight against “The Gang of Four”.

Once the downfall of “The Gang of Four” was made public, the whole country was in raptures. From October 21 to 30, the 29 provinces, cities, autonomous regions and all the troops of the People's Liberation Army held large gatherings and parades to support the Party Central Committee's decisive measure to crush “The Gang of Four” and celebrate its great victory.To smash “The Gang of Four” was a struggle carried out in a special way by the Political Bureau of the Central Committee based on the will of the Party and the people and exceptional circumstances. It was the result of the long-term struggle of the whole Party, the army and the people of all ethnic groups in the country. The collapse of “The Gang of Four” indicates the end of “The Cultural Revolution” and the realization of the will of the Party and the people. The Party,the state and China’s socialist cause were saved from danger, creating the premise for realizing a great historical turning point.