Dictionary

Gang of Four en · PROPN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

Calque from Chinese 四人幫／四人帮 (sìrénbāng).

Meanings

1. (China, historical) A radical political faction composed of four Communist Party of China officials (Jiang Qing, Zhang Chunqiao, Yao Wenyuan, Wang Hongwen) that came to prominence during the Chinese Cultural Revolution.
   • Chinese and Japanese scholars attending a symposium on the problems facing the Peiping regime Dec. 17 reached the conclusion that the trial of the "gang of four" and six other defendants in Peiping is actually a trial of Mao Tse-tung and his thought. 1980 December 21, “Along with 'gang of four' Mao's thought goes on trial in Peiping”, in Free China Weekly, volume XXI, number 50, Taipei, →ISSN, page 1:
   • Once control of the media was wrested from Mao's most strident defenders, the abusive language Chiang Ch'ing had used against her enemies over the years was hurled back at her. The verbal weapons borrowed from Lu Hsun backfired. "Ruthlessly beat the dog in the water," her enemies repeated as they vowed to fight the Gang of Four to the finish. Their claims to have been the standard-bearers of the much-exploited Lu Hsun were mocked. 1977, Roxane Witke, Comrade Chiang Chʻing, Little, Brown and Company, →ISBN, page 472:
2. (broadly) Any influential (political) group having four members.
3. (broadly) Any influential (political) group having four members. ▸ Synonym of Big Four (“four largest corporations of Big Tech”).
4. An English post-punk band formed in 1976.

Forms

Relateds

Gang of Six · Gang of Eight

Synonyms

Big Four

Translations (21)

th แก๊งออฟโฟร์ (radical political faction) · pt Camarilha dos Quatro (radical political faction) · nl Bende van Vier (radical political faction) · km បនទាំងបួន (radical political faction) · fr bande des Quatre (radical political faction) · pl banda czworga (radical political faction) · ja 四人組 (radical political faction) · es Banda de los cuatro (radical political faction) · fi neljän kopla (radical political faction) · ru Ба́нда четырёх (radical political faction) · da Firebanden (radical political faction) · ar عِصَابَة الْأَرْبَعَة (radical political faction) · hu négyek bandája (radical political faction) · de Viererbande (radical political faction) · sv de fyras gäng (radical political faction) · pt Bando dos Quatro (radical political faction) · vi Bè lũ bốn tên (radical political faction) · cmn 四人幫 /四人帮 (radical political faction) · el συμμορία των τεσσάρων (radical political faction) · no firerbanden (radical political faction) · tr Dörtlü Çete (radical political faction)