Key players after Mao's death

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Hua Guofeng:

Mao Zedong's designated successor as the paramount leader of the Communist Party of China and the People's Republic of China. Upon Zhou Enlai's death in 1976, he succeeded his as Premier of the People's Republic of China. Months later, Mao died, and Hua succeeded Mao as the Chiarman of the Communist Party of China, to the surprise and dismay of Jiang Qing and the rest of the Gang of Four. He brought the Cultural Revolution to an end and ousted the Gang of Four from political power.

Hua's economic and political programmes involved the restoration of Soviet-style industrial planning and party control similar to that followed by China before the Great Leap Forward. Hua also attempted to introduce a mini cult of personality.

In February 1977 the Two Whatevers policy was announced. It refers to the statement that "We will resolutely uphold whatever policy decisions Chairman Mao made, and unswervingly follow whatever instructions Chairmen Mao gave". However, this policy proved unpopular externally with the general public who wanted an end to Mao era policies, and internally with other party leaders advocating market reform, such as Deng Xiaoping.

Hua's policies received relatively little support, and he was regarded as an unremarkable leader, lacking political support within the politburo.

But because of his insistence on continuing the Maoist line, he was himself outmaneuvered a few years later by...

Deng Xiaoping:

Veteran of the Long March, policy maker after the Great Leap Forward (which he criticized), purged during the Cultural Revolution, brought back into politics by Zhou Enlai in 1974. Purged again after Zhou's death but gradually re-emerged after Mao's death to oust Hua.

In JUly 1977, Deng Xiaoping was restored to his former posts. The power transition from Hua to Deng was confirmed in December 1978, at the third Plenum of the Central Committee of the 11th National Party Congress, a turning point in China's history.

Although Deng never held office as the head of state or the head of government, but served as the de facto leader of the People's Republic of China from 1978 to 1992 when he retired. He died in 1997.

The Gang of Four:

This was the name given to a leftist political faction composed of four Chinese communist party officials. They came to prominence during the Cultural Revolution (1966-76) and were subsequently charged with a series of treasonous crimes. The members consisted of Jiang Qing, Mao's last wife and the leading figure of the group, and her close associates Zhang Chunqiao, Yao Wenyuan and Wang Hongwen. The name was given to the group by Mao Zedong in what seemed like a warning to Jiang Qing during which Mao stated, "do not try to be a gang of four to accumulate power".

The Gang of Four effectively controlled the power organs of the Communist Party of China through the latter stages of the Cultural Revolution, although it remains unclear which major decisions were made through Mao Zedong and carried out by the Gang, and which were the result of the Gang's own planning.

The Gang of Four, together with disgraced Communist general Lin Biao, were labelled the two major "counter-revolutionary forces" of the Cultural Revolution and officially blamed for the worst excesses of the chaos that ensued during the ten years of turmoil. Their downfall in a coup d'etat on October 6th 1979, a month after Mao's death, brought about major celebrations on the streets of Beijing and marked the end of a turbulent political era in China. The removal of this group from China is sometimes considered to have marked the end of the Cultural Revolution.

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