Editing Jiang Qing (section)

=== Protests ===
{{See also|1976 Tiananmen incident|Nanjing incident (1976)}}
By the mid-1970s, Jiang spearheaded the campaign against [[Deng Xiaoping]].<ref name=":19">{{Cite web |last=Demick |first=Barbara |date=2020-12-18 |title=Uncovering the Cultural Revolution's Awful Truths |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/01/chinas-rebel-historians/617265/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230118182300/https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/01/chinas-rebel-historians/617265/ |archive-date=18 January 2023 |access-date=2023-01-18 |website=The Atlantic}}</ref> Yet, the Chinese public became intensely discontented at politics and chose to blame Jiang, a more accessible and easier target than Mao.<ref name=":19" />

In January 1976, official news announced the death of Zhou Enlai. Zhou was highly respected in Chinese society, second only to Mao Zedong in influence. However, no official commemorative activities were organised following his death. On 5 March and 25 March, ''[[Wenhui Daily]]'' published two reports criticising [[Deng Xiaoping]], indirectly accusing Zhou Enlai of being the "biggest capitalist roader" who had supported and protected Deng. Starting on 21 March, students at [[Nanjing University]] began questioning and condemning ''Wenhui Daily'' and the criticisms of Zhou in Shanghai. On 29 March, the students escalated their protests by writing large slogans on trains departing from Nanjing, spreading their message nationwide. On 30 March, members of the [[All-China Federation of Trade Unions]], including Cao Zhijie, posted signed wall posters in Beijing. These posters transformed the veiled political dissent into open protest, marking the beginning of the Tiananmen protests in Beijing.<ref>{{Cite web |title=文革無法消滅異議！四五民主運動直接衝擊毛澤東政權 |url=https://insidechina.rti.org.tw/news/view/id/2147102 |access-date=2024-11-29 |website=Radio Taiwan International |language=zh-Hant |archive-date=29 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230629152920/https://insidechina.rti.org.tw/news/view/id/2147102 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Many Chinese instinctively believe that it was Jiang Qing who ordered the removal of the wreaths dedicated to Zhou Enlai from Tiananmen Square. In response, slogans appeared, such as "Down with the [[Empress Dowager Cixi|Empress Dowager]], down with [[Indira Gandhi]]." Another individual placed a wreath in honour of Mao's revered second wife, [[Yang Kaihui]], who had been executed by Chiang Kai-shek in 1930. Jiang Qing was often referred to obliquely as "that woman" or "three drops of water," a reference to part of the Chinese character for her name.<ref name=":21">{{Cite web |last=Butterfield |first=Fox |date=1976-08-01 |title=The intriguing matter of Mao's successor |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/08/01/archives/the-intriguing-matter-of-maos-successor-sometimes-the-struggle-in.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=29 November 2024 |archive-date=13 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220813145331/https://www.nytimes.com/1976/08/01/archives/the-intriguing-matter-of-maos-successor-sometimes-the-struggle-in.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The protests eventually evolved into a riot, with cars ignited by angry protesters and militia intervention.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last= |date=2016-05-22 |orig-date=1976-04-06 |title=Militia Steps in at End of a Day of Demonstrations in Peking |url=https://cn.nytimes.com/china/20160522/c22beijingriots-1976/zh-hant/ |access-date=2024-11-29 |website=The New York Times |language=zh |agency=Reuters |archive-date=29 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201029024241/https://cn.nytimes.com/china/20160522/c22beijingriots-1976/zh-hant/ |url-status=live }}</ref>