Jiang Qing

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Jiang Qing
江青
Jiang in 1976
Spouse of the Paramount leader of China
In office 1 October 1949 – 9 September 1976
Leader	Mao Zedong (party chairman)
Succeeded by	Han Zhijun
Spouse of the President of China
In office 27 September 1954 – 27 April 1959
President	Mao Zedong
Succeeded by	Wang Guangmei
Personal details
Born	Li Shumeng (1914-03-19)19 March 1914 Zhucheng, Shandong, Republic of China
Died	14 May 1991(1991-05-14) (aged 77) Beijing, People's Republic of China
Cause of death	Suicide by hanging
Resting place	Beijing Futian Cemetery
Political party	Chinese Communist Party
Spouses	Pei Minglun ​ (m. 1931)​ Yu Qiwei ​ (m. 1932)​ Tang Na ​ (m. 1936)​ Mao Zedong ​ ​ (m. 1938; died 1976)​
Children	Li Na
Criminal penalty	Death sentence with reprieve, later commuted to life imprisonment
Signature

Jiang Qing^{[note 1]} (19 March 1914 – 14 May 1991), also known as Madame Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary, actress, and major political figure during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976). She was the fourth wife of Mao Zedong, the Chairman of the Communist Party and Paramount leader of China. She used the stage name Lan Ping (藍蘋) during her acting career (which ended in 1938), and was known by many other names. Jiang was best known for playing a major role in the Cultural Revolution and for forming the radical political alliance known as the Gang of Four.

Jiang married Mao in Yan'an in November 1938 and served as the inaugural "First Lady" of the People's Republic of China. She served as Mao's personal secretary in the 1940s and was head of the Film Section of the Communist Party's Propaganda Department in the 1950s. Jiang served as an important emissary for Mao in the early stages of the Cultural Revolution. In 1966, she was appointed deputy director of the Central Cultural Revolution Group. She collaborated with Lin Biao to advance Mao's view of Communist ideology as well as Mao's cult of personality. At the height of the Cultural Revolution, Jiang held significant influence in the affairs of state, particularly in the realm of culture and the arts, and was idolized in propaganda posters as the "Great Flagbearer of the Proletarian Revolution". In 1969, Jiang gained a seat on the Politburo. Before Mao's death, the Gang of Four controlled many of China's political institutions, including the media and propaganda. However, Jiang, deriving most of her political legitimacy from Mao, often found herself at odds with other top leaders.

Mao's death in 1976 dealt a significant blow to Jiang's political fortunes. She was arrested in October 1976 by Hua Guofeng and his allies, and was subsequently condemned by party authorities. Since then, Jiang has been officially branded as having been part of the "Lin Biao and Jiang Qing Counter-Revolutionary Cliques"^[1] (林彪江青反革命集团), to which most of the blame for the damage and devastation caused by the Cultural Revolution was assigned. Though she was initially sentenced to death, her sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in 1983. After being released for medical treatment, Jiang committed suicide in May 1991.^[2][3]

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