Wang Hongwen (December 1935 – 3 August 1992; also spelled as Wang Hung-wen) was a Chinese politician who was the youngest member of the Gang of Four. He rose to prominence during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), after organizing the Shanghai People's Commune, to become one of the foremost members of national leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

At the pinnacle of his power he was the second Vice Chairman of the CCP, and ranked third in the Communist Party's hierarchy. Following Mao's death in 1976, Wang was deposed in an intra-party coup, arrested and charged with "counterrevolutionary activity", then sentenced to life imprisonment in 1981.

Early life

Wang was born to a poor family of farmers in Kaiyuan village, part of the Luyuan district of Changchun, Jilin province. He was the eldest of five children to Wang Guosheng and Wang Yangshi. Wang never enrolled in school and briefly worked as a pig herder in his early teens. When Wang arrived, his personal guards were asked to stay outside the courtyard, and when several agents from the Central Security Bureau restrained him in the corridor, he shouted, "I'm here for the meeting, what are you doing?" while punching and kicking the agents. Wang came to the hall with his arms restrained, and Hua began to read out the "decision" of the CCP Central Committee to him, but unexpectedly during the reading Wang broke away from the agents and shouted and lunged at Ye Jianying, who was present, but was subdued again before he could reach him. According to historian Immanuel C.Y. Hsü, Wang killed two of the agents trying to capture him, and was wounded himself before being subdued. In 1981, he was tried and sentenced to life imprisonment at Qincheng Prison.

References

  • Wang Hongwen Archive at the Marxist Internet Archive.