Gang of Four

American  

noun

1. a group of four radical members of the Chinese Communist Party who were leaders of the Cultural Revolution and who were purged and imprisoned after the death of Mao Zedong: Jiang Qing (widow of Mao), Wang Hongwen, Yao Wenyuan, and Zhang Chunqiao.

---

Gang of Four British  

noun

1. a radical faction within the Chinese Communist Party that emerged as a political force in the spring of 1976 and was suppressed later that year. Its members, Zhang Chunqiao, Wang Hongwen, Yao Wenyuan, and Jiang Qing, were tried and imprisoned (1981)

---

Gang of Four Cultural  

1. Four Chinese political leaders of the twentieth century who were closely associated with Mao Zedong (one of the four was his wife). They were denounced when moderates came to power in China in 1976 and were convicted in 1981 of committing crimes, such as torture, during the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution.

---

Etymology

Origin of Gang of Four

Translation of Chinese sìrén bāng

Example Sentences

“Sly” kicks off with Stallone, now 77, lamenting how life whizzes by, followed by a montage set to Gang of Four’s sizzling “To Hell with Poverty.”

From New York Times

He was also part of the city’s renowned Gang of Four, a group of racially diverse organizers that included Larry Gossett, Roberto Maestas and Bernie Whitebear.

From Seattle Times

In her evidence, Ms Letby, originally of Hereford, told the jury a number of senior doctors - referred to as "the gang of four" by the prosecution - had apportioned "blame" on to her "to cover up failings at the hospital".

From BBC

She has previously told her trial that a "gang of four" doctors apportioned "blame" on to her "to cover up failings at the hospital".

From BBC

Then there’s Gang of Four, whose bleakness, inspired by the ravages of capitalism, is quite different from goth’s, and who offset it with a grim resoluteness.

From Los Angeles Times