The current leadership of the Chinese Communist Party views the Cultural Revolution of 1966-1976 as having been a period of total chaos that brought the People's Republic of China to the brink of political and economic ruin. While Mao Zedong is criticized for having begun the Cultural Revolution with his mistaken ideas about the danger of China turning "capitalist:" the major blame for the turmoil of those years is placed on a group of extreme radicals labeled the Gang of Four.
The Gang of Four consisted of Jiang Qing, Mao's wife, who began playing a key role in China's cultural affairs during the early 1960s; Zhang Chunqiao, a veteran party leader in Shanghai; Yao Wenyuan, a literary critic and ideologue; and Wang Hongwen, a factory worker catapulted into national prominence by his leadership of rebel workers during the Cultural Revolution. By the late 1960s, these four individuals were among the most powerful leaders in China. Drawn together by common political interests and a shared belief that the Communist Party should be relentless in ridding China of suspected "capitalist roaders:" they worked together to keep the Cultural Revolution on a radical course. One of their arch enemies was Deng Xiaoping, who emerged as China's paramount leader in 1978, after the members of the Gang of Four were arrested.