Jiang Qing was involved with the Ministry of Culture in the 1950s. She emerged as a serious political figure when she criticized party leaders such as
Liu Shaoqi, who favoured the introduction of piecework, greater wage differentials and measures that sought to undermine collective farms and factories. She became a member of the
Politburo in
1969. She was appointed as the deputy director of the
Cultural Revolution in
1966 and formed the
Gang of Four with
Zhang Chunqiao, Yao Wenyuan and
Wang Hongwen. From that point on, she was one of the most powerful figures in China during Mao's last years and became a controversial figure.
During this period Mao Zedong galvanized students and young workers as his Red Guards to attack what he termed as revisionists in the party. Mao told them the revolution was in danger and that they must do all they could to stop the emergence of a privileged class in China. He argued this is what had happened in the Soviet Union under Nikita Khrushchev.
Jiang Qing incited radical youths organized as
Red Guards against other senior political leaders and government officials, including Liu Shaoqi, the
President of the PRC at that 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.
The initial storm of the Cultural Revolution came to an end when
Liu Shaoqi was forced from all his posts on
October 13, 1968. Lin Biao now became Mao's designated successor. Chairman Mao now gave his support to the
Gang of Four: Jiang Qing,
Wang Hongwen, Yao Wenyuan and
Zhang Chunqiao. These four radicals occupied powerful positions in the Politburo after the Tenth Party Congress of 1973.
Jiang Qing also directed operas and ballets with communist and revolutionary content as part of an effort to transform China's culture. The
Eight model plays were allegedly created under her guidance. Critics say her influence on art was too restrictive. She replaced nearly all earlier works of art with revolutionary Maoist works.
According to
Jung Chang's and
Jon Halliday's biography of Mao Zedong, Jiang Qing's favorite hobbies included photography, playing cards, and watching foreign movies, especially
Gone with the Wind. It also revealed that Mao's physician,
Li Zhisui, had diagnosed her as a
hypochondriac.
Jiang Qing first collaborated with then 2nd-in-charge
Lin Biao, but after Lin's death in
1971, she turned against him publicly in the
Criticize Lin, Criticize Confucius Campaign. She also spearheaded the campaign against Deng Xiaoping in the mid '70s (later saying that this was inspired by Mao). The Chinese public became intensely discontented at this time and chose to blame Jiang, a more accessible and easier target than Mao.
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