To defuse an expected popular outpouring of sentiment at Zhou's death, the Chinese Communist Party limited the period of public mourning.

[citation needed] On April 4, 1976, on the eve of China's annual Qingming Festival, in which Chinese traditionally pay homage to their deceased ancestors, thousands gathered around the Monument to the People's Heroes in Tiananmen Square to commemorate the life and death of Zhou Enlai by laying wreaths, banners, poems, placards, and flowers at the foot of the Monument.

[3] The most obvious purpose of this memorial was to eulogize Zhou, but Jiang Qing, Zhang Chunqiao, and Yao Wenyuan were also attacked for their alleged evil actions against the Premier.

[5][page needed] On the night of April 4, the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party held a meeting to discuss the situation in Tiananmen Square.

Attempts to suppress the mourners led to a violent riot, in which police cars were set on fire and a crowd of over 100,000 people forced its way into several government buildings surrounding the square.

[5][page needed] In response, the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party made the decision to forcibly clear Tiananmen Square of mourners.

[citation needed] Possibly because of his close association with Zhou, Deng Xiaoping was formally stripped of all positions "inside and outside the Party" on April 7.

[9] Poetry created during the incident was later published in four unofficial editions by students from Beijing's Number Two Foreign Language Institute, a school with close ties to Deng Xiaoping.