|
The Cultural Revolution came to an end
with the death of Mao Zedong in 1976. The responsibility for the decade
of chaos was officially placed on the Gang of Four (Jiang Qing and three of
her supporters), who were arrested and imprisoned. The Communist Party now turned to the task of repairing
its image and encouraging economic growth. Hua Guofeng was made the
chair of the Communist Party as Mao’s successor, but it soon became clear
that real power lay with the vice-chair Deng Xiaoping, well-known for his
pragmatic approach toward politics. In December of 1978, at the
historical Third Plenum of the Eleventh Party Central Committee, Deng
announced that China would embark on the program of the "Four
Modernizations" with the aim of becoming a powerful socialist nation in
the forefront of the world. Deng's policies set in motion an economic
boom that continues to transform the face of Chinese society. In the post-Mao era, the increase in
wealth and the availability of new consumer goods is reflected in the variety
of contemporary advertising.
|
Four Modernizations Era
|
