Jiang Qin (died 219), style name Gongyi (公奕), was a military general serving under the warlord Sun Quan during the late Han Dynasty period of Chinese history. In Luo Guanzhong's historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Jiang Qin was a pirate at the time he joined Sun Quan's predecessor, Sun Ce. He participated in Sun Ce's conquests in Jiangdong and was greatly trusted by his lord. Jiang Qin also held many titles, including "Army Guard of the Right". After Lü Meng's invasion of Jing Province, Jiang Qin died of natural causes.

Jiang Qin was from Shouchun in Jiujiang Commandery. He was an attendant under Sun Ce when the latter departed Yuan Shu. When Sun Ce sailed east, Jiang Qin was appointed Senior Major (別部司馬) and given a military command. He accompanied Sun Ce on the latter's conquests in Jiangdong. After that he followed Sun Ce to conquer Yuzhang. Later, he was transferred to be Colonel of Geyang (葛陽尉) and then to govern three counties in turn. During his tenure, he vanquished some gangsters in his domain and was made Colonel of the West (西部尉). When the bandits Lü He and Qin Lang stirred up five prefectures in rebellion, Jiang Qin led troops to fight them, and captured the two rebels. As a result of his success, Jiang Qin was relocated and promoted as General of the Household Who Attacks Yue (討越中郎將). He was also given Jingqu and Zhaoyang as his fiefs.

Jiang Qing (pinyin: Jiāng Qīng; Wade–Giles: Chiang Ch'ing; IPA: [tɕjɑ́ŋ tɕʰíŋ]; 20 March 1914 – 14 May 1991) was the pseudonym that was used by Chinese leader Mao Zedong's last wife and major Communist Party of China power figure. She went by the stage name Lan Ping (Chinese: 蓝苹) during her acting career, and was known by various other names during her life. She married Mao in Yan'an in November 1938, and is sometimes referred to as Madame Mao in Western literature, serving as Communist China's first first lady. Jiang Qing was most well known for playing a major role in the Cultural Revolution (1966–76) and for forming the radical political alliance known as the "Gang of Four". She was named the "Great Flag-carrier of the Proletarian Culture" (无产阶级文艺伟大旗手/無產階級文藝偉大旗手).

Jiang Qing served as Mao's personal secretary in the 1940s and was head of the Film Section of the CPC Propaganda Department in the 1950s. In the early 1960s, she made a bid for power during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), which resulted in widespread chaos within the communist party. In 1966 she was appointed deputy director of the Central Cultural Revolution Group and claimed real power over Chinese politics for the first time. She became one of the masterminds of the Cultural Revolution, and along with three others, held absolute control over all of the national institutions.

The Gang of Four (simplified Chinese: 四人帮; traditional Chinese: 四人幫; pinyin: Sìrén bàng) was the name given to a political faction composed of four Chinese Communist Party officials. They came to prominence during the Cultural Revolution (1966–76) and were subsequently charged with a series of treasonous crimes. The members consisted of Mao Zedong's last wife Jiang Qing, the leading figure of the group, and her close associates Zhang Chunqiao, Yao Wenyuan, and Wang Hongwen.

The Gang of Four effectively controlled the power organs of the Communist Party of China through the latter stages of the Cultural Revolution, although it remains unclear which major decisions were made through Mao Zedong and carried out by the Gang, and which were the result of the Gang of Four's own planning.

The Gang of Four, together with disgraced Communist general Lin Biao, were labeled the two major "counter-revolutionary forces" of the Cultural Revolution and officially blamed by the Chinese government for the worst excesses of the societal chaos that ensued during the ten years of turmoil. Their downfall in a coup d'état on October 6, 1976, a mere month after Mao's death, brought about major celebrations on the streets of Beijing and marked the end of a turbulent political era in China.