Jiang Qing | |
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江青 | |
Jiang Qing in 1976
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Spouse of the Paramount leader of China | |
In office 1 October 1949 – 9 September 1976 |
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Succeeded by | Han Zhijun |
Spouse of the President of China | |
In office 27 September 1954 – 27 April 1959 |
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Succeeded by | Wang Guangmei |
Personal details | |
Born |
Lǐ Shūméng March 19, 1914 Zhucheng, Shandong, China |
Died | May 14, 1991 Beijing, China |
(aged 77)
Nationality | Chinese |
Political party | Communist Party of China |
Spouse(s) | Pei Minglun (m.1931) Tang Na (m.1936) Mao Zedong (m.1938, wid.1976) |
Relations |
Yu Qiwei (partner) Zhang Min (partner) Li Na (daughter) |
Criminal Penalty | Death by execution, later commuted to life imprisonment |
Jiang Qing | |||||||||||
Chinese | 江青 | ||||||||||
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Transcriptions | |
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Standard Mandarin | |
Hanyu Pinyin | Jiāng Qīng |
Wade–Giles | Chiang1 Ch'ing1 |
IPA | [tɕjáŋ tɕʰíŋ] |
Jiang Qing (Chinese: 江青; Wade–Giles: Chiang Ch'ing, also known as Madame Mao; March 19, 1914 – May 14, 1991) was a Chinese actress and a major political figure during the Cultural Revolution (1966–76). 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 (蓝苹) during her acting career, and was known by many other names. She married Mao in Yan'an in November 1938 and served as the inaugural "First Lady" of the People's Republic of China. Jiang Qing 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 Qing 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. She 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 unique brand of Communist ideology as well as Mao's cult of personality. At the height of the Cultural Revolution, Jiang Qing 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.