Jiang Qing's rise in power during the later years of the Cultural Revolution saw her become an idealist who wished to form her own, new vision of what Maoism meant. Mainly, this was cultural, through the arts. Jiang Qing wasn't interested in production, quotas, and collectivization like the rest of the CCP (or any communist) was, she was interested in changing the way the peasantry lived life by having them become educated in the arts.

Before the CR began to manifest, Jiang Qing had made several attempts at entering the political foray as the wife of Mao. Since Mao was married at the time he was introduced to her (1939), she was taken in as a "housewife" that would refrain from politics. But her refraining from politics would not last very long. She started her career as an actress, and after marrying Mao, transitioned to his personal secretary throughout the 1940s, and then was appointed as head of the Film Section of the CCP Propaganda Department in the 1950s. Quite a large jump from housewife to head of governing department in a short time. She became more and more ambitious; in the 1960s she sided with Lin Biao as the political battleground lines were being drawn.

Jiang Qing's motives during the CR were purely cultural, making her a good partner when the Gang of Four formed. She was hardly considered a serious contender for power by most other CCP members. In fact, nearly all her legitimacy and strength came solely from the fact that she was Mao's fourth wife. But she did have a lasting impact on CR culture. First, she focused on two things: the depiction of women in propaganda, and the reformation of Beijing Opera into "model operas (yangbanxi 样板戏)." Depictions of women during this period changed noticeably in three major respects: they were depicted more masculine, more involved, and more independent. Some posters even went so far as to encourage young women to stay unmarried (or break marriages), refuse to have children, or pursue grander goals in life. While most younger people would expect this anyway, despite the CCP takeover, women still struggled to achieve equal opportunities across China.

The "model operas" were meant to encourage Chinese peasants to engage more freely in the arts, while also patronizing the working class. Mao had complained (perhaps rightfully so) that despite decades of communist role, most operas still clung to feudal themes dominated by figures like emperors, generals, chancellors, the literati and beauties. In order to fix this, Jiang Qing sought to recreate/create new stories; rather than focusing on the model concubine/emperor, they would focus on the model worker, or peasant, or foot soldier in the field. In Jiang Qing's eyes, this meant not only a hardworking, communist-committed proletarian, but also one who could read and write, play instruments, and dance, while taking that knowledge and teaching it to their colleagues on the farm or in the factory. In 1966, Jiang and Lin Biao started the Forum on Literature and Art for the Armed Forces, a platform meant to espouse these practices to the every day soldier. These sentiments contributed to the art scene as well.

Jiang's power peaked in 1974 when she was allowed to choose her own village as a model for emulation (this was a common practice, Mao had his own too, Dazhai). Jiang chose Xiaojinzhuang, a little village outside of Tianjin. She planned on having the peasantry focus on writing and opera-singing rather than hard production targets. Female villagers were forced to wear the Jiang Qing Fu (dress) which was mostly designer and very impractical for everyday work. Almost immediately after Mao's death in 1976, Jiang was arrested and sentenced to death by Hua Guofeng, Mao's handpicked successor. Although the sentence was commuted to life in prison, Jiang never recovered from the all-time high her life reached in the mid-70s. She died of suicide in 1991.