ABSTRACT
On 6 October 1976 the year’s traumatic events reached their climax in the ‘smashing of the gang of four’. This chapter discusses the political and general history of China since that time and correlate it with developments in policy towards the performing arts. It provides a background against which to describe and analyse the various types and categories of performing arts found in China today. The chapter tests whether the hypothesis holds true in the changing conditions in China since the autumn of 1976; that is, has China remained a society integrated enough that developments in the general political and social arena are virtually always reflected in that of the performing arts? In concrete terms ‘the smashing of the gang of four’ meant the arrest, on the orders of Hua Guofeng, of four of China’s most prominent radical leaders; Jiang Qing, who was the widow of Mao Zedong, Yao Wenyuan, Zhang Chunqiao and Wang Hong-wen.
