Jiang Qing (March 1914 (1914-03) – 14 May 1991 (1991-05-15); also spelled as Chiang Ching), born Li Yunhe, and briefly known by her stage name Lan Ping in the 1930s Shanghai, was a Chinese revolutionary, actress, and political figure. The fourth wife of Mao Zedong, she played a major role in the Cultural Revolution and led the Gang of Four.
Born into a declining family with an abusive father and a mother who worked as a domestic servant and sometime prostitute, Jiang joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1933. She pursued an acting career in Shanghai before going to Yan'an, where she married Mao in 1938. In the 1940s, she worked as Mao's personal secretary, and during the 1950s, she headed the Film Section of the Publicity Department.
Jiang wielded considerable influence during the Cultural Revolution. In 1969, she secured a seat on the Politburo. Following Mao's death, she was arrested and blamed for the upheavals of the Cultural Revolution. Initially sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve in a televised trial, Jiang's sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in 1983. Released for medical treatment in the early 1990s, she committed suicide in May 1991.