Wang Hongwen

Wang Hongwen (6 December 1935 – 3 August 1992) was a Chinese labour activist and politician who was the youngest member of the "Gang of Four". He rose to prominence during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), after organizing the Shanghai People's Commune, to become one of the foremost members of national leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

At the pinnacle of his power he was the second Vice Chairman of the CCP, and ranked third in the Communist Party's hierarchy. Following Mao's death in 1976, Wang was deposed in an intra-party coup, arrested and charged with "counterrevolutionary activity", then sentenced to life imprisonment in 1981.

Early life
Wang was born in a village in the outskirts of Changchun, Jilin province. In 1950 he joined the army and, in 1951, he took part in the Korean War as a messenger in the communication department and by playing the horn. He joined the Chinese Communist Party in 1953. After the war, he was sent to Shanghai to work in Shanghai No. 17 Cotton Textile Mill as a machine operator and in 1960 he moved to the factory security department for militia work, where he later was placed in charge as a security cadre for all militia work on the factory.

Political career
On June 12, 1966, he opposed the factory authorities by posting a Big-character poster where he, and other signatories, accused them of practicing revisionism. Despite at first being admonished for this, he got the blessing of the Cultural Revolution work team dispatched to the factory. This first work team was replaced by a team sent by the Shanghai Provincial Committee which did not support Wang Hongwen's attack.

In October he put up a second poster attacking this work team and founded a rebel group named "Warriors Sworn to the Death to Carry Through with the Cultural Revolution to the End." Then, he went with fifteen of his followers to Beijing and in his return won the admiration of other rebels of Shanghai. This catapulted him as the leader of the Shanghai Workers Revolutionary Rebel General Headquarters that was founded in November.

Later, through this position he met Zhang Chunqiao and became involved in a Red Guards group. He organized the Shanghai Commune in January 1967, and was catapulted to national prominence as a daring rebel leader.

Rise to power
At the 9th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, Wang was elected a member of the Central Committee. Following the Lin Biao incident, Wang was put in charge of the investigation into the case in the Shanghai area, reporting directly to Mao. At the 10th National Congress of the CCP in 1973, Wang, at the age of 38, was elevated to second ranking CCP vice chairman, and the third-ranking member of the Politburo Standing Committee (PSC), just behind Chairman Mao Zedong and Premier Zhou Enlai. Wang was one of the youngest members of the PSC in the post-revolution Communist Party, having joined the body aged 37. He was the same age as some PSC members who took office even after the turn of the century, such as Luo Gan (served on the PSC between 2002 and 2007), who was also born in 1935. All signs pointed to Wang being trained as Mao's successor. However, Wang Hongwen was being sidelined by Mao Zedong in 1974 after Mao criticised Wang for the gang of four. Instead, Hua Guofeng, a more moderate figure, was chosen to succeed Zhou instead. Between 1974 and early 1976, Mao transferred much power to Deng Xiaoping, giving Deng the power to run daily affairs of the party, the State Council and the military, and Wang Hongwen complained about this move.

Downfall and death
Wang was an important player during and after the death of Mao, and served as the masters of ceremonies for his funeral service on national radio on 18 September 1976. After the death of Mao Zedong, Wang Hongwen became the second highest ranking official in the CPC, only behind Hua Guofeng. On October 6, 1976, Hua Guofeng and Ye Jianying pretended to hold a meeting in Zhongnanhai's Huairen Hall to discuss the fifth volume of Mao Zedong's Selected Works, and informed the members of the Gang of Four to come and discuss. When Wang arrived, his personal guards were asked to stay outside the courtyard, and when several agents from the Central Security Bureau restrained him in the corridor, he shouted, "I'm here for the meeting, what are you doing?" while punching and kicking the agents. Wang came to the hall with his arms restrained, and Hua began to read out the "decision" of the CCP Central Committee to him, but unexpectedly during the reading Wang broke away from the agents and shouted and lunged at Ye Jianying, who was present, but was subdued again before he could reach him. According to historian Immanuel C.Y. Hsü, the coup was not completely bloodless – Wang killed two of the agents trying to capture him, and was wounded himself before being subdued. He was tried and sentenced to life imprisonment in 1981. He died of liver cancer in a Beijing hospital on 3 August 1992, at the age of 56.