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Saturday, January 07, 2006

Last member of the Gang of Four, Yao Wenyan ( 姚文元), died

According to Wikipedia, Yao Wenyan ( 姚文元), the last living member of the Gang of Four died from diabetes on 23, 2005, at age 74. The Gang of Four were the top leaders of the left-wing faction of the Communist Party of China. That faction was crushed by the emerging right-wing faction under the control of Deng Xiaoping ( 邓小平).

From Answers.com:
“In 1981, the four deposed leaders were subjected to a show trial and convicted of anti-party activities. During the trial, Jiang Qing ( 江青) in particular was extremely defiant, to the point of being hysterical. Zhang Chunqiao ( 张春桥) refused to admit any wrong as well. (Moise Modern China: A History 2nd Edition) Yao Wenyan, and Wang Hongwen (王洪文 ) expressed repentance and confessed their crimes. Jiang Qing and Zhang Chunqiao received death sentences that were later commuted to life imprisonment, while Yao Wenyuan and Wang Hongwen were given twenty years imprisonment. While their imprisonment was not harsh, they were all released later. Jiang Qing would later commit suicide.”

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