Theoretician of the Gang of Four who organized the Shanghai People's Commune and championed all-round dictatorship over the bourgeoisie
At his 1980 trial, Zhang remained silent and refused to speak until his family was permitted to visit him years later.
A core theoretician of China's Cultural Revolution and member of the Gang of Four. He joined the Chinese Communist Party in 1938 and rose as editor of Shanghai's Jiefang Daily. His 1958 article 'Destroy the Ideology of Bourgeois Right' caught Mao Zedong's attention; as a member of the Central Cultural Revolution Group, he organized the Shanghai People's Commune in 1967, overthrowing the existing municipal government. As vice premier in 1975, he authored 'On Exercising All-Round Dictatorship Over the Bourgeoisie,' formalizing the class-struggle line of the socialist transition, and remained faithful to his Maoist convictions through arrest and imprisonment until his release in 1998.
Career Timeline
- 1938Joined the Chinese Communist Party
- 1949–1966Editor, Jiefang Daily (Shanghai)
- 1966–1969Member, Central Cultural Revolution Group
- 1967–1976Chairman, Shanghai Revolutionary Committee (mayor)
- 1969–1973Politburo → 1973–1976: Standing Committee
- 1975–1976Vice Premier; Director, PLA General Political Dept.
- 1976Arrested with the Gang of Four
- 1984–1998Death sentence → life → 18 years → medical release