Wang Hongwen

wang hongwenWang Hongwen (1935-1992) was a former soldier, Red Guard and the youngest member of the Gang of Four. Wang was born in Jilin province in far north-eastern China. As a teenager he enlisted in the People’s Liberation Army and fought in the Korean War, before being put in charge of security at a Shanghai factory. During 1966 Wang was instrumental in recruiting and organising Red Guards in Shanghai. In January 1967 Wang and his followers formed the People’s Commune, which demanded the removal of CCP leadership in Shanghai and their replacement with Red Guards. With his comparative youth, good looks and working class origins, Wang was soon the figurehead of the Cultural Revolution and one of the most powerful men in Shanghai. Determined to exploit Wang’s appeal, Mao summoned him to Beijing and catapulted him into the Politburo. By the autumn of 1973 the former security guard was the third-highest ranked party leader behind Mao and Hua Guofeng. For a time it seemed that Wang was being groomed as a successor to Mao himself, however this plan was short-circuited by the older generation of the party. In September 1976 Wang served as the announcer at Mao Zedong’s funeral, however he was arrested, tried and denounced in party propaganda soon after.


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