125 Facts About Jiang Qing

Jiang Qing, known as Madame Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary, actress, and political figure.

Jiang Qing was the fourth wife of Mao Zedong, the Chairman of the Communist Party and Paramount leader of China.

Jiang Qing wielded considerable influence over state affairs, particularly in culture and the arts.

Jiang Qing was known by various names throughout her life.

Jiang Qing adopted the name Li Yunhe during primary school.

Jiang Qing told her biographer Roxane Witke that she liked the name because "Yunhe," meaning "crane in the cloud," sounded beautiful.

However, Jiang Qing did not favour this name due to its association with her scandals in Shanghai.

Jiang Qing was known as Madame Mao, as the wife and widow of Mao Zedong.

Jiang Qing was born in Zhucheng, Shandong, in March 1914.

Jiang Qing deliberately kept her exact birth date private to avoid receiving any gifts.

Jiang Qing's father was Li Dewen, a carpenter, and her mother, whose name is unknown, was Li's subsidiary wife, or concubine.

Jiang Qing's father had his own carpentry and cabinet making workshop.

Jiang Qing's parents were married after her father initially found his first wife unable to conceive.

Jiang Qing's mother found work as a domestic servant that often blurred the lines with prostitution, and her husband separated from her.

Jiang Qing eventually moved with her mother to her grandparents' home in Jinan.

Jiang Qing's mother, having fallen ill, eventually abandoned hope of obtaining further financial support from her husband.

Jiang Qing proposed taking a job rolling cigarettes, but the family disapproved.

Jiang Qing's striking looks drew attention, but she remained sensitive about her poor upbringing.

Jiang Qing returned to Jinan in May 1931 and married Pei Minglun, the wealthy son of a businessman, and soon divorced.

Jiang Qing became a member of the Seaside Drama Society, performing in plays such as Lay Down Your Whip, harnessing the influence of theatre to resist Japanese aggression.

In September 1934, Jiang Qing was arrested and jailed for her political activities in Shanghai.

Jiang Qing then traveled to Beijing where she reunited with Yu Qiwei who had just been released following his prison sentence, and the two began living together again.

Jiang Qing returned to Shanghai in March 1935, and entered Diantong Film Company.

Jiang Qing became famous when featuring in Ibsen's play A Doll's House as Nora.

Jiang Qing later became an actress in Goddess of Freedom and Scenes of City Life, during which she fell in love with Tang Na, her colleague at Diantong.

However, Jiang Qing lied to Tang, claiming her mother was ill, and returned to Tianjin to see Yu Qiwei.

When Tang discovered the truth, he attempted suicide in Jinan but later reconciled with Jiang Qing and returned with her to Shanghai in July 1935.

In Shanghai, Jiang Qing joined Lianhua Film Company, where she acted in Blood on Wolf Mountain and Lianhua Symphony.

Jiang Qing's widely publicised affair with Tang Na tarnished her reputation, making it difficult for her to continue her acting career in Shanghai.

The Lu Xun Academy of Arts was newly founded in Yan'an on 10 April 1938, and Jiang Qing became a drama department instructor, teaching and performing in college plays and operas.

The conditions in Yan'an were harsh, but Jiang Qing was able to make it there and persist.

Jiang Qing was striking in appearance and had several talents; she could sing opera, write well, and her calligraphy was particularly impressive, especially in regular script.

Jiang Qing was adept at tailoring and made her own clothes beautifully.

Nevertheless, on 28 November 1938, Jiang Qing married Mao Zedong with the eventual approval of the Politburo, but with three restrictions as follows:.

Jiang Qing primarily took on the role of a homemaker, attending to Mao's daily needs.

Jiang Qing served as the deputy director of the Film Guidance Committee, overseeing the evaluation of film projects from 1949 to 1951.

In 1951, Jiang Qing was given a minor position of Film Bureau Chief.

Jiang Qing's opinion was not taken seriously by the communist leadership due to the minor political influence of her office and the movie was distributed in major cities like Beijing and Shanghai.

Later that year, Jiang Qing critiqued and objected to the distribution of the movie The Life of Wu Xun for glorifying the wealthy landed class while dismissing the peasantry.

Jiang Qing asked the editor of People's Daily to republish the new literary interpretation of the classic novel Dream of Red Mansions by two young scholars at Shandong University.

Jiang Qing was a member of the Ministry of Culture's steering committee for film production.

Jiang Qing was in poor health for much of the 1950s, leading her to step back from her official duties.

Jiang Qing visited Moscow again in 1952, staying until the autumn of 1953.

In 1957, Jiang Qing recovered from cervical cancer, though she believed she was still unwell, contrary to her doctors' assessment of her good health.

People close to Mao Zedong claimed that after the 1950s, Jiang Qing was rarely seen by his side, and their emotional relationship had essentially ended, leaving her feeling frustrated for a time.

Jiang Qing capitalised on this shift, becoming more outspoken, which led Mao to view her as "politically sensitive" and start to trust her.

In 1963, Jiang Qing enlisted A Jia to help modernise Beijing Opera with revolutionary socialist themes.

Jiang Qing later instructed the Beijing Municipal Opera Company to create Shajiabang, depicting the struggle between the Kuomintang and Communists during the Second Sino-Japanese War, and tasked the Shanghai Beijing Opera Company with producing Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy.

Jiang Qing formed a productive collaboration with Yu Huiyong, to push the yangbanxi projects.

From 1962 onwards, Jiang Qing began appearing publicly as Mao's wife and later gave frequent speeches in the cultural and propaganda sectors, criticizing and condemning various figures.

Jiang Qing organised a campaign to criticise the play Hai Rui Dismissed from Office, which marked the beginning of the Cultural Revolution.

In February 1966, Jiang Qing hosted a forum with PLA officers.

Over April through June 1966, Jiang Qing presided over the All-Army Artistic Creation Conference in Beijing.

Jiang Qing approved of 7 as consistent with Mao Zedong Thought and criticised the other films.

In 1967, at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution, Jiang Qing declared eight works of performance art to be the new models for proletarian literature and art.

In October 1966, Yu was released after Jiang Qing requested a meeting with Yu to stage the production of two operas in Beijing.

Jiang Qing seated Yu next to her, as a display of Yu's importance in the making of yangbanxi, during the showing of Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy.

In 1974, Jiang Qing directed the Ministry of Culture to design a new dress for Chinese women, inspired by elements of women's clothing from the Song dynasty.

Mockingly dubbed the "Nun's Robe," Jiang Qing intended for female cadres to lead the way in wearing it, with the eventual goal of making it a nationwide standard.

Jiang Qing argued this is what had happened in the Soviet Union under Khrushchev.

Jiang Qing took part in most important Party and government activities.

Jiang Qing took advantage of the Cultural Revolution to wreak vengeance on her personal enemies, including people who had slighted her during her acting career in the 1930s.

Jiang Qing was supported by a radical coterie, dubbed, by Mao himself, the Gang of Four.

Jiang Qing became a prominent member of the Central Cultural Revolution Group and a major player in Chinese politics from 1966 to 1976.

However, upon seeing Wang on television wearing a necklace, Jiang Qing criticised her for displaying "bourgeois style" in a talk with Red Guards.

Jiang Qing proposed moving with his wife and children to Yan'an or his hometown in Hunan to take up farming, hoping to bring the Cultural Revolution to an early conclusion and minimise the damage to the country.

On 6 January 1967, Red Guards at Tsinghua University, with Jiang Qing's backing, lured Wang to the campus under the pretext of her daughter being in a car accident.

Jiang Qing demanded Chen move out of Zhongnanhai, and this further strained his relationship with her.

Meanwhile, Jiang Qing's stature continued to rise, though she was still not a member of the Central Committee during the 11th Plenary Session of the 8th Central Committee.

At the 9th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party in April 1969, Jiang Qing was admitted to the Politburo after Mao Zedong shifted his stance, likely to balance the power of the Lin Biao faction.

In 1968, Jiang Qing had Zhou's adopted son and daughter tortured and murdered by Red Guards.

In 1968, Jiang Qing forced Zhou to sign an arrest warrant for his own brother.

In 1973 and 1974, Jiang Qing directed the "Criticise Lin, Criticise Confucius" campaign against premier Zhou because Zhou was viewed as one of Jiang Qing's primary political opponents.

In 1975, Jiang Qing initiated a campaign named "Criticizing Song Jiang Qing, Evaluating the Water Margin", which encouraged the use of Zhou as an example of a political loser.

When traditional landscape and bird-and-flower paintings re-emerged in the early 1970s, Jiang Qing criticised these traditional forms as "black paintings", which in fact targeted Zhou Enlai.

Jiang Qing first collaborated with then second-in-charge Lin Biao, but after Lin Biao's death in 1971, she turned against him publicly in the Criticise Lin, Criticise Confucius Campaign.

In 1972, Jiang Qing enlisted American journalist Roxane Witke to write her autobiography.

Many Chinese instinctively believe that it was Jiang Qing who ordered the removal of the wreaths dedicated to Zhou Enlai from Tiananmen Square.

Jiang Qing was often referred to obliquely as "that woman" or "three drops of water," a reference to part of the Chinese character for her name.

On 5 September 1976, Jiang Qing was informed of the critical illness of Mao Zedong and soon returned to Beijing.

Jiang Qing needed to confront two other factions within the party, Hua Guofeng who had received a note from Mao saying, "With you in charge, I am at ease," and Deng Xiaoping who was being attacked by Jiang.

Jiang Qing approached Hua secretly, proposing to expel Deng in the Politburo meeting before Mao's death, but she did not succeed.

Jiang Qing sent a large wreath of chrysanthemums and greenery, as his student and comrade, rather than his widow.

Jiang Qing went to Baoding to rally the 38th Army, preparing to replace Hua as a party chief.

Xu Shiyou warned a north expedition from Guangzhou, if Jiang Qing had not been arrested in Beijing.

Jiang Qing was tried with the other three members of the Gang of Four and six associates.

Jiang Qing was accused of persecuting artists during the Cultural Revolution, and authorising the burgling of the homes of writers and performers in Shanghai to destroy material related to Jiang's early career that could harm her reputation.

Xinhua News Agency reported that Jiang Qing initially sought to recruit her own lawyers but rejected those recommended by the special team after interviews.

Jiang Qing argued to the special prosecution teams that Mao should be held accountable for her actions.

Jiang Qing did not deny the accusations, and insisted that she had been protecting Mao and following his instructions.

Jiang Qing sought to challenge Hua Guofeng's authority within the Party, with an appalling yet unverifiable claim,.

Jiang Qing was assigned the highest level of criminal liability among the defendants as a "ringleader" of a counterrevolutionary group.

Wu Xiuquan recounted in his memoir that the court room erupted into applause as the verdict was read and Jiang Qing was dragged out of the court room by two female guards while shouting revolutionary slogans.

Jiang Qing was treated well, unlike how she treated her enemies during the Cultural Revolution.

In 1984, Jiang Qing was granted medical parole and relocated to a discreet residence arranged by the authorities.

In December 1988, on the occasion of Mao Zedong's 95th birth anniversary, Jiang Qing requested approval to hold a family gathering, but her petition was denied.

Jiang Qing was later sent back to Qincheng Prison in 1989 when her medical parole concluded.

Jiang Qing believed that Deng Xiaoping should be held responsible for the student movement, as he tolerated Western ideologies.

Jiang Qing condemned the subsequent massacre that followed the protests, emphasising that Mao Zedong had never ordered the army to massacre crowds.

Jiang Qing refused, asserting that losing her voice was unacceptable.

On 15 March 1991, Jiang Qing was transferred to the Beijing Police Hospital from her residence at Jiuxianqiao due to a high fever.

Jiang Qing was then moved to a ward within the hospital compound, which included a bedroom, bathroom, and living room.

Jiang Qing's ashes were entrusted to Li Na, who kept them at her home.

However, after the 16th National Congress of the CCP, Jiang Qing Zemin suggested to Li Na that Zhucheng might not be a secure burial site.

In March 2002, Jiang Qing's ashes were interred at the Futian Cemetery in Beijing's Western Hills scenic area.

Jiang Qing was never a widely admired figure throughout her life.

Jiang Qing is often viewed as a figure of naked ambition, with many perceiving her as a typical power-hungry wife of an emperor, seeking to secure power for herself through questionable means.

Jiang Qing is seen as embodying the ruthless, unpredictable, and dangerous nature of life at the top.

Jiang Qing's televised trials and her defiance in court have softened hatred towards her among the younger generations, who became sceptical of China's Communist system.

Jiang Qing herself became the primary target of ridicule, portrayed as an empress scheming to succeed Mao and as a prostitute, with references to her past as a Shanghai actress used to question her moral integrity.

The indictment held the Gang responsible for the violence of the Cultural Revolution, accusing Jiang Qing of using political purges for personal vendettas and fostering large-scale chaos.

Biographical literature on Jiang Qing has emerged as a tool to critique and reinterpret official Chinese historiography.

Jiang Qing's grave remained undisclosed to the public until early 2009.

Frustrated Maoist supporters questioned why publicly honouring Chiang Kai-shek was permitted while commemorating Jiang Qing was not, rhetorically asking if the Republic of China had somehow reclaimed the mainland.

Yu, acting as the pawn of Jiang Qing, was able to manifest Jiang Qing's orders into technical details that can be followed by the performers.

Jiang Qing first recommended that the lyrics be written in Mandarin, which was in line with the Chinese government policy that mandated the use of Mandarin as the language of instruction in schools nationwide.

Jiang Qing criticised spy thrillers for making the antagonists seem too intriguing.

Jiang Qing was known to be blunt in directing the yangbanxi, but Yu was able to serve as the mediator between Jiang Qing and the performers.

Du Mingxin, one of Jiang Qing's composers, recalled Jiang Qing dismissed his music in the ballet The Red Detachment of Women as "erotic ballad that used to be performed in the 1930s Shanghai nightclubs".

Jiang Qing expressed frustration that she did not study the works of Marx, Lenin, or his own writings.

Jiang Qing had a daughter with Mao Zedong, which was Li Na.

Jiang Qing's hobbies included photography, playing cards, and holding screenings of classic Hollywood films, especially those featuring Greta Garbo, one of her favorite actresses, even as they were banned for the average Chinese citizen as a symbol of bourgeois decadence.

Jiang Qing's calligraphy was so similar to Mao's that some of her works were even displayed as Mao Zedong's manuscripts.

Jiang Qing became one of the photographers with the most works featured in each exhibition.

In terms of lighting techniques, Jiang Qing favoured backlighting and side-backlighting.