「九一三事件」為文化大革命的分水嶺，此後「文革」頹勢顯現，毛澤東壓力倍增，仍心存奮力一搏的念想，一方面倚賴周恩來挽救失控的國家秩序，一方面又指使江青等人延續「文革」的生命歷程。 周恩來1972年的糾左措施讓毛澤東深感不滿，「批判極左思潮」本質上是攻擊「文革」意識形態，自然使得心繫「文革」成敗的毛出手制止，轉趨支持激進的造反派。毛澤東投注畢生的政治資本於「文革」之中，自然不願見其破產，眼見老幹部不予認同及跟進，他決心培養可繼承衣缽的接班人，藉此鞏固文化大革命的理論和實踐。然而，政壇新人王洪文文化水準不高，欠缺治國能力又不堪造就，毛澤東之望之餘只好再次重用鄧小平，期許鄧在「永不翻案」的承諾下振興國計民生。此時，毛澤東試圖建立一個左、右兩方勢均力敵的局勢，共為維繫「文革」成果奮鬥。 唯毛澤東始終都未能幡然醒悟，恢復國民經濟與大搞階級鬥爭無法並行不悖，在肯定「文革」的前提之下，務實的老幹部與造反的新幹部難以「安定團結」，鄧小平1975年「全面整頓」的急速改革步伐，最終勢必要對「文革」進行斧底抽薪的矯治，毛不得不再度罷黜鄧小平。鑑於現實因素，毛澤東退而求其次，在左、右兩方中間擇定忠於自己的華國鋒接班，希望藉以守住「文革」成果。然而，長久以來造反派專橫跋扈、不得人心的處事態度，加上1976年爆發「天安門事件」，民怨沸騰，顯見「文革」大勢已去，華國鋒因而與老幹部攜手合作，在毛去世一個月內發動「十六政變」，迅速逮捕四人幫，宣告文化大革命的落幕。;The thesis aims to discuss the transfer of political power in Mainland China from 1971 to 1976. The incident of “13 September Incident” foresaw the failure of the Cultural Revolution. However, Mao Zedong struggled to maintain the final revolution directed by himself in his later years. He judged that the Cultural Revolution as one of the two major event in his life. For one thing, Mao tried to rely on Zhou Enlai to make turmoil under control; For another thing, Mao instigated Jiang Qing to raise various political campaigns. Although Zhou made effort to stabilize the political situation, Zhou’s conduct of “Criticize Ultra-Left Trend of Thought” wasn’t accepted by Mao. Mao deemed that Zhou’s conduct weakened the power of the Cultural Revolution. In order to keep the function of the Cultural Revolution, Mao attempted to cultivate Wang Hongwen as his successor. However, Wang lacked enough knowledge and ability to deal with the political affairs. Mao gradually got rather disappointed with Wang and made the decision to put Deng Xiaoping in an important position again. Mao hoped that Deng could practice his promise of “Never reverse the verdict” and cooperate with the left-wing such as the "Gang of Four". Mao tried to balance the power among the CPC’s internal factions. It is a pity that Mao didn’t realize the severe consequence brought by the Cultural Revolution. It is difficult to give consideration to class conflict and economic manufacture. The over-all rectification led by Deng virtually attacked the essence of the Cultural Revolution. The "Gang of Four" won’t tolerate Deng, Mao won’t either. Therefore, Deng was forced to give up his political position. According to the fact, Mao chose Hua Guofeng as his successor and believed Hua would follow what he thought and what he said. However, the incident of Tiananmen Square in 1976 revealed the people’s anger for the "Gang of Four" and boredom for the Cultural Revolution. Therefore, Hua united with experienced leaders such as Ye Jianying to arrest the "Gang of Four". The downfall of the "Gang of Four" also represented the end of the Cultural Revolution.
