Editing Cultural Revolution (section)

===Death of Zhou Enlai===
On 8 January 1976, Zhou Enlai died of bladder cancer. On 15 January, Deng delivered Zhou's eulogy in a funeral attended by all of China's most senior leaders with the notable absence of Mao, who had grown increasingly critical of Zhou.<ref name=Teiwes>{{cite journal |first1=Frederick |last1=Teiwes |first2=Warren |last2=Sun |title=The First Tiananmen Incident Revisited: Elite Politics and Crisis Management at the End of the Maoist Era |journal=[[Pacific Affairs]] |year=2004 |volume=77 |issue=2 |pages=211–235 |jstor=40022499}}</ref>{{rp|217–218}}<ref name=Spence>{{cite book |last=Spence |first=Jonathan |author-link=Jonathan Spence |title=The Search for Modern China |publisher=W. W. Norton |year=1999 |isbn=0-393-97351-4}}</ref>{{rp|610}} After Zhou's death, Mao selected the relatively unknown [[Hua Guofeng]] instead of a member of the Gang of Four or Deng to become Premier.<ref>{{Cite book |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=tprrCQAAQBAJ |page=490}} |page=490 |title=The Life/Death Rhythms of Capitalist Regimes – Debt Before Dishonour: Timetable of World Dominance 1400–2100 |last1=Slatyer |first1=Will |year=2015 |publisher=Partridge |isbn=978-1482829617}}</ref>

The Gang of Four grew apprehensive that spontaneous, large-scale popular support for Zhou could turn the political tide against them. They acted through the media to impose restrictions on public displays of mourning for Zhou. Years of resentment over the CR, the public persecution of Deng—seen as Zhou's ally—and the prohibition against public mourning led to a rise in popular discontent against Mao and the Gang of Four. Official attempts to enforce the mourning restrictions included removing public memorials and tearing down posters commemorating Zhou's achievements. On 25 March 1976, Shanghai's ''[[Wen Hui Bao]]'' published an article calling Zhou "the [[capitalist roader]] inside the Party [who] wanted to help the unrepentant capitalist roader [Deng] regain his power." These propaganda efforts at smearing Zhou's image, however, only strengthened public attachment to Zhou's memory.<ref name=Teiwes/>{{rp|213–214}}