Jiang+Qing

JIANG QUING - __Basic Information__ o **Current City:** Deceased, died May 14, 1991 by committing suicide while in jail for crimes committed during the Cultural Revolution o **Hometown:** Zhuchend, Shandong, China o **Sex:** Female o **Birthday:** March 1914 o **Political Views:** Avid supporter of Communism Anti traditional Chinese Culture o **Religious Views:** None, the government contro​ls everything o **Bio:** I was born in March of 1914 to a poor family with an alcoholic father and a prostitute for a mother. During this time period, China was in turmoil without a powerful centralized government since the Manchu-Qing dynasty had recently fallen. The China I grew up in forbade woman from entering into politics however it left our gender the possibility to become involved in the cultural explosion that was soon to happen. From early on I learned to hate the traditional Chinese society in which men wielded absolute power over their wives and families. Meanwhile, my country was at a standstill as the Western world was making advances in numerous industries. Many Chinese believed that our tradition had failed to keep pace with the West because our culture itself was inadequate. I quickly learned to become independent from my mother and father and instead found a new home in the theater. In 1929, at the age of 15, I joined the provincial Experimental Arts Academy and a year later married my first husband Fei, a merchant. However, the married life proved to be too constricting for my young age so I divorced Fei and joined the Communist party. Through the group I met Yu Qiwei, who I later married until he was arrested for radical activity. During this point in my life, I needed a change badly so I moved to Beijing; however, at China’s capital I was arrested for 8 months for leftist party work. After being released from jail, I returned to Shanghai where my acting career took off. I started as Nora in the play The Doll House through with I met and married my third husband, Tang Na. During my marriage to the famed critic, we were always under criticism from the public. Not being able to handle the pressure at my young age, I left him and moved to Yenan in 1937. By 1938, I was pregnant with Mao Zedong’s daughter. With Mao, I was the perfect wife, always supporting him and playing hostess to his numerous political guests. After my husband’s plan, the Great Leap forward, failed, I blamed the break down on the fact that China’s youth could no longer relate to the revolution we had fought for. The reason for their lack of support was that people still practiced traditional culture such in opera, theater, music, and film, and pre-revolution values were reappearing. I convinced my husband to launch a war against traditional culture, later known as the Cultural Revolution, in which I took revenge against all my old enemies. The second revolution came to an end at the same time my husband fell ill. Somebody was going to have to succeed him and I naturally felt I was the best option. My allies Zhang Chunqiao, Yao Wenyuan, Wang Hongwen and I formed the Gang of 4, a group dedicated to holding onto communist power. However, China did not support us or having a woman in power. Deng Xiaoping came into power instead and arrested my gang on charges of crimes committed during the second revolution. I refused to admit any guilty, simply saying that “I was Mao's dog; I bit whom he said to bite." I was sentenced to a life in prison until on May 14, 1991 I took my own life. o **Favorite Quotations:** "//There cannot be peaceful coexistence in the ideological realm. Peaceful coexistence corrupts.//" - Jiang Qing "I was Mao's dog; I bit whom he said to bite."- Jiang Qing

- __Relationships__ o **Mother:** A concubine who at the age of 30 was forced into prostitution to support her family o **Father:** Li Te-wen, a 60 year old man who was an alcoholic who beat his wife and later deserted his family o **Daughters:** Li Na, Helped raise Mao's 6 other children o **Sons:** None o **Brothers:** None o **Sisters:** None

- __Likes and Interest__ o **Activities:** Deputy head of the Cultural Revolution Suppressing a wide variety of traditional Chinese Culture Leaded of the Gang of 4 Staring in theater plays supporting Leftist ideas o **Interests:** Politics Studying powerful women such as Empress Lu, Empress Wu of the great Tang era, and Empress Dowager Cixi Theater Manipulating her husband to fight against traditional Chinese culture o **Music:** Revolutionary pieces that crushed traditional Chinese culture The Fame by Lady Gaga, who revolutionized music o **Books:** Mao Zedong's Little Red Book //Red Star over China by// Edgar Snow Western culture pieces o **Movies:** Henrik Ibsen's adaption of The Doll's House Leftist supporting films she stared in o **Television:** Shows that Jiang rewrote to provide examples for revolutionaries to follow Lost which changed TV in the 21st century

- __Education and Work__ o **High School:**Jiang enrolled in school briefly in her home town but was looked down upon for her poverty and family background causing her to fight with other students and resist teachers. At 10 she was expelled. o **College/University:** Experimental Arts Academy for Theater o **Employer:** Worked for the Communist Party

__Photos__ ** (15 photos; 5 in each album) ALBUM 1: ALBUM 2: ALBUM 3:

__Groups__** Click here to find a group to join! ** GROUP 4: ** World History Group **- EXPLANATION:** When I was born, China was in turmoil. The government was extremely unstable and Chinese culture was quickly changing due to Western influences. There were excellent opportunities for young people to advance and excel in the areas of politics and culture. I devoted myself to theater and later rooted out all of the negatives of traditional Chinese culture and rewrote it so that plays and pieces spread revolutionary ideas. Meanwhile, my future husband took control of China's government. The world history group reflects upon the changes me and my husband made in China and how China affected the world. **GROUP 5:** Womens Empowerment **- EXPLANATION:** Growing up, there was no room for women in the male run world of politics. However, I still had a few powerful empresses to look up too but their reputations were often slandered by the Chinese media. The trick I learned about for when dealing with power is to sit quietly behind a powerful man and influence his decisions by using your charm, beauty and brains. This is exactly what I did with my husband Mao during the Cultural Revolution. By joining the women’s empowerment group I am able to network with fellow powerful women and spread my ideas. . **GROUP 6:** The Communist Forum - **EXPLANATION:** During my late teens I joined the Communist party, something that was widely popular for young people at the time. After joining, I was able to move up within the organization by using my charm to win over powerful men. At one point, I even spent 8 months in jail for being suspected of leftist activities (fighting against the current nationalist government). When Mao came into power, I originally let him do his own work during the Great Leap Forward but I stepped into help him during the Cultural Revolution. When Mao finally died, I attempted to become his successor, however my plan failed. No matter what, I will always support the ideas of the Communist. **GROUP 7:** Mao Zedong **- EXPLANATION:** My fourth husband was Mao Zedong and together we had a daughter. Over the 30 years we spent together we both greatly influenced each other's ideas, morals and philosophy. Our biggest project together was the Cultural Revolution which was a project to help create a revolutionary spirit in China's younger generations by creating a new cultural. In order to accomplish our goals, we enlisted The Red Army which acted as the muscle behind our idea. What became the major issue was that I took the revolution too far and used it as a way to punish the people who had scorned me in the past. By joining this group, I will be able to see how good or how evil of a man the rest of the world thought my husband was. **GROUP 8:** Sg_Arts **- EXPLANATION:** The main focus of this group is to promote and support the arts. The arts have always been an important part of my life and I believe that the arts serve as the heart and blood of any nation. The arts can also be used as a tool to influence the population. Whatever the arts say is what the people believe. So after the Great Leap Forward had failed, the nation had lost its faith in the government. I took the opportunity of doubtfulness to manipulate the population though a propaganda campaign of the arts. No matter how you use or support the arts, the important thing to remember is to keep creativity alive! **GROUP 9:** Divorcees **- EXPLANATION:** Throughout my life, I was married 4 times; my first three marriages all ending in divorce. My first marriage happened when I was just 16 years old to a merchant; however, the married life ended up being too constricting for me and we divorced. From here, I married a young Communist party official until he was arrested and then after him I married a famed critic. The third marriage of mine was always under heavy criticism. Until I met Mao, I was a lonely girl looking for love and attention, something lacking from my childhood, from numerous men. I just wish I had a support group like the divorcees to lean on. **GROUP 10:** Teen-Outcasts **- EXPLANATION:** When I was younger, I attempted to go to school. At the local school though, I was seen as an outcast due to my family background and the economic level of my family. This made it hard for me to relate to my peers and caused me to grow up much faster making me much more independent. Being an outcast is also what drove me to the theater. The theater was the place where I could escape and pretend to be anyone I want. This group is for any teen who feels trapped by society. I definitely experienced this at the hands of the Chinese government and discrimination against women during this time period.
 * GROUP 1:** East West Theater
 * - EXPLANATION:** When I was a young woman, my life was devoted to the theater in the same way that this group is devoted to the East West Theater of Shanghai. I learned my training in the Experimental Arts Academy. Both theaters would find audition calls for their young performers and cut deals between actors, directors, and technical folks. EWT is dedicated to providing quality Western, Chinese, and mixed theater which is similar to my own goal of trying to change Chinese theater from promoting traditional values to promoting revolutionary ideas. If I was a young star now a days I would join the East West Theater.
 * GROUP 2:** Being an Only
 * - EXPLANATION:** This group forms a support system for all sorts of people who grew up without any siblings. I was my parents' only child, a daughter when they wanted a son. Growing up I missed out on the bonds siblings have with eachother which effected the way I interacted with other children my age. Being an only child did not push me closer towards my parents, instead my lack forced me to be more responsible. When I had my own child, she was also a only child however she had some distant step siblings. This group is an organization me and my daughter could join to gain some support that we both lacked in our childhood.
 * GROUP 3:** Help the Need
 * - EXPLANATION:** Help the Need is a group that I hold dearly to my heart. I was born into a struggling poor family where neither of my parents had the proper tools to earn our family an income. Sometimes we were in such a bad position that my mother had to resort to prostitution just to get us food to eat for dinner that night. Help the Need is dedicated to supporting families in those positions. The group tries to educate poor children who have talent but need financial aid, assist po​or patients in their medical needs and uplift poor families by providing them a way of permanent income. My life could have been very different if my own mother had support like this so I plan on spreading the group as wide as possible.

__Quizzes__ **Click here to find a quiz to take!** - **RESULTS:** Serious - **EXPLANATION:** During my life, I married three times before settling down with my last husband for over 40 years. I was able to find success in my last marriage to Mao Zedong because I finally discovered the type of man I liked; a man who is powerful, influential, attentive to my wishes and serious. Prior to my marriage with Mao, I originally married a merchant named Fei but at the time I was very young and found marriage to confining so I divorced him. After joining the communist party, I found myself attracted to my first man of power Yu Qiwei however he was later arrested so we divorced. Over the next few years, I devoted myself to theater where I met my third husband, Tang Na, an influential film critic. We had a public divorce that ended badly. Luckily, I found the man of my dreams in Mao. Taking this quiz helped point my in the right direction and pointed out the qualities that I most admired in a man. - **RESULTS:** Standard - **EXPLANATION:** Being born into a poor family has held me back from my true potential my entire life. My parents were unwed and my father's alcoholism stole away any money the family ever had which led my mother into prostitution. Eventually, my mother took me to live with my grandparents. Living with them, I was finally able to enroll in school however my family background and lack of money left the rest of the students to look down upon me. My childhood left me with the ambition to raise my status in society by earning more money. One way I managed this was by marrying influential men. The most important reason I took this quiz was to predict my future and see how successful I will be. - **RESULTS:** The boss! - **EXPLANATION:** Being a woman in China during this time period, meant that we had little power or say in the government however Chinese culture was always open to us. I used this to my advantage and immersed myself in the arts. I was greatly involved in theater so I enrolled in the Experimental Arts Academy which landed me my most famous role of Nora in The Doll House. However, my passion to act did not take me very far so I took this quiz in order to find out my next career move. The result I received was to be the boss however due to my gender it is impossible to be the face of any organization. Therefore, I accomplished my goal of being in a position of leadership by manipulating my husband to do some of my biding, such as fighting traditional culture through the Cultural Revolution. - **RESULTS:** 99 to 100 years old - **EXPLANATION:** In 1921, I did what the young people of my time period were doing and joined the Communist party. Through the group, I campaigned against the current Nationalist government. During one trip to Beijing, I was arrested for being a suspected leftist and thrown into jail for eight months. The experience left a lifelong impact on me that I should take life seriously because I never know what consequences my actions will have. Keeping this lesson in mind, I took a back seat in the Communist party affairs by just assisting my husband until the Cultural Revolution. During this period in history, I tried to wipe out old cultural because I believe it was holding China back. It was not until my husband was close to death that I made me final attempt for power by using the Gang of 4 to plant myself as Mao's successor. In the end, my plans did not work and while the quiz predicted I would live to the age of 99, I committed suicide at the age of 77. - **RESULTS:** 2 kids - **EXPLANATION:** Growing up I was an only child so I felt the need to have a big family. Also, the lack of parental involvement in my life caused me to learn how to be an adult at an early age which in the long run made me a very independent woman. This independence has stayed with me my entire life and almost over ridden the maternal instinct a woman has. However, I knew the importance a child serves in keeping a marriage together so while I was married to Mao I had a daughter. I also took on the responsibility of helping to raise his six other kids from previous marriages. My role in the Communist party kept me busy and subsequently uninvolved in the children's lives. Also, I viewed Mao's other children as a threat to my own status. The quiz helped me to predict the number of kids I would need in my life to make me happy, however in the end I only had one child.
 * QUIZ 1:** What's your PERFECT man?
 * QUIZ 2:** Will you be rich when older?
 * QUIZ 3:** What career will you have?
 * QUIZ 4:** When will you die?
 * QUIZ 5:** How many kids will you have?