[Deathwatch] Yao Wenyuan, "Gang of Four" member, 74

[Deathwatch Central <cdw@slick.org>]

Yao Wenyuan, 74, was last of China's Gang of 4
By Joe McDonald
Associated Press
January 7, 2006
 
BEIJING -- Yao Wenyuan, the final surviving member of the Gang of Four
that terrorized China during the violent 1966-76 Cultural Revolution by
persecuting thousands, has died, the government said Friday. He was 74.


Yao's death on Dec. 23 was blamed on diabetes, the official Xinhua News
Agency reported. It didn't say where he died or explain the delay in
reporting his death.

The Gang of Four, reportedly given its name by then-Chinese leader Mao
Zedong, directed the purge of moderate party officials and
intellectuals during the Cultural Revolution. Yao was the group's
propagandist, later dubbed the killer with a pen by state media.

Led by Mao's wife, Jiang Qing, the Gang of Four and its allies
inflicted physical and emotional damage that still reverberates in
Chinese society, despite loosened social controls and economic reforms
that have raised living standards.
Nearly every Chinese city dweller who was alive at the time can tell of
a relative or friend who was beaten, harassed or driven to suicide,
often by tormenters who took advantage of the unrest to avenge grudges.


The violence pitted neighbor against neighbor, wrecked the economy and
forced intellectuals to work in the countryside.

A month after Mao's death in 1976, the Gang of Four members were
arrested, marking the end of the Cultural Revolution.

Yao, a Shanghai journalist, was convicted of trying to gain power by
persecuting officials and members of the public and spent 20 years in
prison before his release in 1996.


Many thanks to Deathwatch Central for posting this obituary