Jiang Qing or Chiang Ch'ing, 1914-91, Chinese Communist political leader, wife of Mao Zedong. Born Li Yun-ho, she changed her name to Lan Ping in 1938 when beginning an acting career, joining the Communist party the same year. In 1939, she married Mao Zedong and thereafter remained in the background of Chinese Communist affairs until the outbreak of the Cultural Revolution (1966-76). Appointed deputy director (1966) of the Cultural Revolution, she incited radical youths against senior party and government officials, and replaced nearly all earlier works of art with revolutionary Maoist works. A member of the politburo (1969-76), she was one of the most powerful political figures during Mao's last years. For her role in the Cultural Revolution she was arrested (Oct., 1976) by Hua Guofeng, Mao's successor, and sentenced to die (later commuted to life imprisonment).

or Chiang Ch'ing orig. Li Jinhai

(born 1914?, Zhucheng, Shandong, China—died May 14, 1991, Beijing) Third wife of Mao Zedong and member of the radical Gang of Four. Jiang married Mao in the 1930s but entered politics only in the 1960s. As first deputy head of the Cultural Revolution, Jiang acquired far-reaching powers over China's cultural life and oversaw the total suppression of a wide variety of traditional cultural activities. Arrested after Mao's death and accused of fomenting the widespread civil unrest that characterized the Cultural Revolution, she refused to confess guilt and received a suspended death sentence that was commuted to life imprisonment. Her death was reported as a suicide.

Learn more about Jiang Qing with a free trial on Britannica.com.