The Shanghai worker-rebel who rose “like a helicopter” to party vice-chairman, youngest of the Gang of Four
The youngest of the Gang of Four: from a Shanghai mill's militia office he led the November 1966 rebel headquarters and the 1967 Shanghai Commune, was second-ranked CCP vice-chairman by 38, and was seized in the 6 October 1976 coup.
From Jilin, he fought in the Korean War and became a security cadre at a Shanghai cotton mill. In 1966 he led the worker-rebel “Workers’ General Headquarters”, the driving force of the “January Storm” that seized the Shanghai government in 1967, and ran the Shanghai Revolutionary Committee with Zhang Chunqiao and Yao Wenyuan. Picked by Mao as a successor of worker origin, he became party vice-chairman at the Tenth Congress in 1973, mocked as a “helicopter” for his rapid, inexperienced rise. Arrested with the Gang of Four in October 1976, he was sentenced to life in 1981 and died of liver disease in custody in 1992.
Also known as: Wang Hung-wen
Activities and affiliations
-
1953–
Political and party leadership
-
1966–1967
Social movements and organizing
-
1973–1976
Communist Party of ChinaVice-Chairman of the Central Committee, Politburo Standing Committee Member
Political and party leadership -
People’s Republic of China state institutionsVice-Chairman of the Shanghai Revolutionary CommitteeMain
Political and party leadership
Career Timeline
- 1953Joined the CCP
- 1966–1967Organized worker rebels in Shanghai
- 1967Organized the Shanghai People’s Commune
- 1967–1976Vice-chairman of the Shanghai Revolutionary Committee
- 1973Elevated to CCP vice-chairman and the Politburo Standing Committee
- 1973–1976Vice-Chairman of the Central Committee
- 1976Arrested as one of the Gang of Four
- 1981Sentenced to life imprisonment
Related historical events
The Shanghai Workers’ Headquarters and the seizure of power
On 6 November 1966, Wang Hongwen led several rebel groups in forming the Headquarters of the Revolutionary Revolt of Shanghai Workers, commonly called the Workers’ Headquarters. After Shanghai’s party and municipal authorities declared it illegal, the organization presented demands to the municipal Party committee and staged a three-day sit-in at Anting from 8 November. It rejected Beijing’s first telegram urging the protesters to return to work. Following negotiations with Zhang Chunqiao, the group gained official recognition and an agreement that its disputes would be handled through local conferences in Shanghai.
In January 1967, rebel factions under the Workers’ Headquarters took control of newspapers and broadcasting and demanded the dismissal of the municipal Party leadership and the termination of its administrative authority. Wang’s organization also faced factional conflict and division amid the power vacuum in Shanghai. On 19 January, rebel leaders proposed a people’s commune modeled on the Paris Commune; the Shanghai People’s Commune was formally established on 5 February. Mao then criticized its proclamation and its plan for direct elections, fearing that it would weaken the authority of the Party Central Committee. On 23 February the commune was reorganized as the Shanghai Revolutionary Committee, with Wang among its deputy directors. The Workers’ Headquarters and Wang helped overthrow the city’s party leadership, while the central leadership determined the new body’s form and limits.