Wikipedia:
Excerpts:
Jiang Qing (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 (1966–76). 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 (藍蘋) during
her acting career (which ended in 1938), 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".
~ Political persecution of enemies ~
Jiang Qing incited radical youths organized as Red Guards
against other senior political leaders and government officials, including Liu
Shaoqi, the President at the time, and Deng Xiaoping, the Deputy Premier.
Internally divided into factions both to the "left" and
"right" of Jiang Qing and Mao, not all Red Guards were friendly to
Jiang Qing.
Jiang's rivalry with, and personal dislike of, Zhou Enlai
led Jiang to hurt Zhou where he was most vulnerable. In 1968 Jiang Qing had
Zhou's adopted son (Sun Yang) and daughter (Sun Weishi) tortured and murdered
by Maoist Red Guards. Sun Yang was murdered in the basement of Renmin
University. After Sun Weishi died following seven months of torture in a secret
prison (at Jiang's direction), Jiang made sure that Sun's body was cremated and
disposed of so that no autopsy could be performed, and so that Sun's family
could not have her ashes.
In 1968 Jiang forced Zhou to sign an arrest warrant for his
own brother. In 1973 and 1974, Jiang directed the "Criticize Lin, Criticize
Confucius" campaign against premier Zhou because Zhou was viewed as one of
Jiang's primary political opponents.
When Philippines president Ferdinand Marcos and his wife Imelda
visited China in 1974, Jiang Qing was said to be "extremely jealous"
of the latter's flashy clothing, hair, and makeup.
In 1975, Jiang initiated a campaign named "Criticizing
Song Jiang, Evaluating the Water Margin", which encouraged the use of Zhou
as an example of a political loser. After Zhou Enlai died in 1976, Jiang
initiated the "Five Nos" campaign in order to discourage and prohibit
any public mourning for Zhou.
Jiang Qing was deposed and arrested following the death of
Mao on Sep. 9, 1976. She died in prison in 1991.
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EXCERPT: On July 28, 1966, Jiang Qing, Mao’s wife and a key
figure of the Central Cultural Revolution Group, conveyed Mao’s instruction
regarding mass violence at a students’ rally: “If good people beat bad people,
it serves them right; if bad people beat good people, the good people achieve
glory; if good people beat good people, it is a misunderstanding; without
beatings, you do not get acquainted and then no longer need to beat them.”. In
other words, Mao thought the government “should turn a blind eye to violence as
an inevitable by-product” of the Red Guard mobilization (Walder, 2009: 149). [Song
Yongyi, Chronology of Mass Killings during the Chinese Cultural Revolution
(1966-1976), 25 August, 2011]
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EXCERPT: Indeed, if Mr. Terrill's rendering of Jiang Qing is
correct, much of the Cultural Revolution - one of the great disasters of modern
Chinese history - can be explained by her willful, vindictive personality and
tempestuous relationship with Mao. For her, the Cultural Revolution, during
which millions of Chinese were persecuted, had no ''deep meaning'' but was only
a chance for revenge on the people she felt had wronged her, dating back to the
1930's. [Fox Butterfield, Lust, Revenge And Revolution,” Book Review: The White-Boned
Demon: A Biography of Madame Mao Zedong. By Ross Terrill. The New York Times, Mar.
4, 1984]
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[235-10/23/21]
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