[8] Later in 1946, it was arranged for Wang to be transferred to Yan'an, where she initially worked as a translator in the Foreign Affairs Department of the CCP Central Committee and then in land reform in the Jin-Sui (Shanxi-Suiyuan) liberated areas.

[11] In 1948, Wang moved with the Military Commission of the Central Committee to Xibaipo in Hebei Province and became an editor and translator on Neibu cankao, a digest of news stories from around the world intended for the eyes of designated personnel only.

Wang was transferred to the General Office of the Central Committee and worked as her husband's private secretary for nearly twenty years, until she was imprisoned in 1967 at the start of the Cultural Revolution.

[17] In 1963, she joined a work team investigating corruption in the countryside, a mounting problem after the Great Leap Forward, Mao's catastrophic development programme of 1958–61, which led to widespread famine.

In 1963, she participated in a work team in Funing County, Hebei Province, aiming to implement the Four Cleans Campaign, an anti-corruption initiative.

[21] Wang's report was highly praised by Mao Zedong and became an official Party document, widely disseminated and used as a model for similar campaigns nationwide.

[22] The techniques she described involved intense “all-out mass mobilization” and public criticism sessions, which created a climate of fear and suspicion.

In mid-1966, when Red Guards erupted into prominence — and Liu and other leaders tried to fathom what Mao had in mind — Wang headed a work team to restore order among the students at Tsinghua University.

Wang was accused of being a "spy for the imperialist services" (a reference to American intelligence) and, according to Jiang Qing, "Sukarno's whore" for wearing a pearl necklace and evening gown to meet the Indonesian president.

[26] She initially managed to deflect their accusations, but by spring, she faced a more severe struggle session attended by half a million people.

[27] In April 1967, at Jiang's instigation, the Red Guards forced Wang to put on a tight-fitting qipao dress she had worn at a banquet in Indonesia, with silk stockings, high heels and a mocking necklace made out of ping-pong balls, as proof of her bourgeoise, counterrevolutionary attitude.

[31] Wang then dedicated herself to rehabilitating Liu Shaoqi's reputation and engaging in philanthropy, founding Project Happiness to assist mothers living in poverty.

[32] Wang Guangmei's experience reflects the brutal and chaotic nature of the Cultural Revolution, as well as the complex interplay of personal and political conflicts within the Chinese Communist Party.

Her eldest daughter Liu Ting graduated from Boston University and Harvard Business School, and is chairman and president of the Asia Link Group, consultants in corporate finance.