In the early morning of September 9, 1976, Mao Zedong died at the age of 83.

After Mao's death, Hua Guofeng, Wang Hongwen, Jiang Qing, Zhang Chunqiao, and others served as members of his funeral committee. Beginning September 11, the Central Committee held a six-day visitation period for Mao Zedong in the Great Hall of the People. On the afternoon of September 18, a memorial service for Mao was held in Tian'anmen Square. Wang Hongwen presided over the service, and Hua Guofeng delivered a eulogy. Hundreds of thousands of people from Beijing and all over the country participated in the memorial service.

Mao Zedong's body was later preserved and placed in the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall in Tian'anmen Square, Beijing, for people to visit and pay homage to.

Due to the successive deaths of three important leaders (Mao Zedong, Zhu De, and Zhou Enlai), there was a power vacuum within the central government; the political situation suddenly became extremely complicated, prompting all parties in the Beijing centers of power to speed up their plans and actions.

References: Wikipedia; Roderick MacFarquhar and Michael Schoenhals, "Mao's Last Revolution"; Yang Jisheng, "Political Struggles During the Age of Reform in China"