Remaining member of Mao’s Gang of Four dies

YAO Wenyuan, the final surviving member of the Gang of Four that terrorised China during the violent 1966-76 Cultural Revolution, has died aged 74, the government announced yesterday.

Yao, who was the group’s propagandist, later dubbed “the killer with a pen” by state media, died of diabetes on December 23, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.

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.

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 economic reforms that have raised living standards and loosened social controls.

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 tormentors who took advantage of the unrest to avenge grudges.