Cultural Revolution Group

The (Central) Cultural Revolution Group (CRG or CCRG; Chinese: 中央文革小组; pinyin: Zhōngyāng Wéngé Xiǎozǔ) was formed in May 1966 as a replacement organisation to the Central Committee Secretariat and the "Five Man Group", and was initially directly responsible to the Standing Committee of the Politburo. It consisted mainly of radical supporters of Mao, including Chen Boda, the Chairman's wife Jiang Qing, Kang Sheng, Yao Wenyuan, Zhang Chunqiao, Wang Li and Xie Fuzhi. The CRG played a central role in the Cultural Revolution's first few years, and for a period of time the group replaced the Politburo Standing Committee (PSC) as the de facto top power organ of China. Its members were also involved in many of the major events of the Cultural Revolution.

In January 1965, at a meeting of the Politburo, Mao Zedong called on the leaders of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to implement a "Cultural Revolution" in China. (The Oxford English Dictionary traces the English-language phrase "cultural revolution" (defined as "a sudden change in the culture of a people or society") as far back as 1929.) The meeting established a body known as the "Five Man Group" (chaired by Peng Zhen, the fifth-ranking member of the Politburo), with the aim of overseeing the beginnings of the Cultural Revolution. Of the members of the group, only Kang Sheng was a supporter of Mao. However, the group remained relatively inactive until the spring of 1966, when it censored the writings of Yao Wenyuan and of other radicals for making an academic debate on the play Hai Rui Dismissed from Office into a political one (a move which Mao had started encouraging).

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