Hundred Flowers Campaign
Mao Zedong invited open criticism of the Party with the slogan "Let a hundred flowers bloom," but swiftly reversed course, using the expressed criticisms to identify and purge intellectuals in the subsequent Anti-Rightist Campaign.
Origins of the Campaign
At the Twentieth Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1956, Khrushchev's denunciation of Stalin, followed by unrest in Poland and Hungary, prompted CCP leadership to re-examine the Party's governing approach. Mao Zedong subsequently invited open criticism of the Party under the slogans "Let a hundred flowers bloom, let a hundred schools of thought contend." Initially, intellectuals were reluctant to speak out; the campaign lay dormant through late 1956. On 27 February 1957, Mao delivered the speech "On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People," explicitly distinguishing "fragrant flowers" from "poisonous weeds" and encouraging more vigorous criticism. In the months that followed, a torrent of complaints emerged, targeting cadre privilege, Party dogmatism, and the Soviet model.
The Crackdown
In June 1957, the campaign abruptly reversed. Mao declared that the "poisonous weeds" had exposed themselves; the expressed criticisms were now used as evidence of "rightist" thinking. The Anti-Rightist Campaign began: an estimated 300,000–550,000 people were labelled "rightists" and subjected to public criticism, dismissal, imprisonment, or exile to labour camps. Prominent victims included writer Ding Ling, poet Ai Qing, and Chu Anping, editor-in-chief of Guangming Daily, whose criticism of "Party-all-under-heaven" (党天下) became one of the campaign's most-cited targets.
Historical Debate
Whether the Hundred Flowers Campaign was a deliberate trap — designed to lure critics into the open — or a genuine initiative that Mao panicked and reversed remains debated. Historian Roderick MacFarquhar argued Mao was genuinely surprised by the scale of criticism. Others, citing the swiftness of the crackdown, the quota-based rightist designation targets assigned at every level, and Mao's secret internal speech "Things Are Beginning to Change" (事情正在起变化, 15 May 1957) — circulated within the Party while public criticism was still under way — contend that the reversal was premeditated. Either way, the campaign destroyed the intellectual class's trust in the Party for a generation.
Narrative Comparison
| Source | Narrative |
|---|---|
| PRC Official Narrative | The Hundred Flowers Campaign represented a concrete expression of the Chinese Communist Party's commitment to the Marxist-Leninist mass line, demonstrating the Party's openness in soliciting broad opinion to improve governance. Mao Zedong's speech "On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People" scientifically distinguished "contradictions among the people" from "contradictions between the people and the enemy," providing a theoretical framework for handling differing opinions during the period of socialist construction. The campaign encouraged constructive criticism to improve Party and state work as a proactive initiative to reform the Party's working style. When a small number of individuals took the opportunity to spread reactionary views denying Party leadership and attacking the socialist system, the timely rectification and Anti-Rightist Campaign was a necessary correction in defence of the socialist cause, fully reflecting the Party's clear-headed judgement of the domestic class struggle situation. |
| Western Academic Assessment | Western scholarship has debated the nature of the Hundred Flowers Campaign for decades, with the central question being whether it was a deliberate trap or a panicked reversal after criticism exceeded Mao's expectations. MacFarquhar, in his 1974 study, leaned toward the view that Mao was genuinely surprised by the depth and breadth of the criticism. However, Mao's secret internal speech "Things Are Beginning to Change" (事情正在起变化), circulated within the Party on 15 May 1957 while the public "blooming and contending" was still under way, clearly shows that he had already begun preparing the reversal — constituting the central documentary evidence for the "trap" interpretation. Whatever the original intent, the consequences are beyond dispute: an estimated 300,000–550,000 intellectuals, democratic party members, and party-state cadres were labelled "rightists" and spent years or decades in labour camps and farms; the intellectual class's trust in the CCP was fundamentally destroyed, and in the years that followed no one dared openly criticise Party policy, objectively clearing the way for the unchallenged radicalism of the Great Leap Forward. (MacFarquhar, 1974; Teiwes, 1986) |
Key Milestones
- Lu Dingyi's Speech "Let a Hundred Flowers Bloom" Formally Announces the Campaign
Lu Dingyi, head of the CCP Central Propaganda Department, delivered the speech "Let a Hundred Flowers Bloom, Let a Hundred Schools of Thought Contend" at Zhongnanhai in Beijing, formally announcing to the academic and cultural world the policy Mao had put forward within the Party in April. The speech declared that the Party encouraged intellectual pluralism and welcomed open discussion. This was the official invitation to the intellectual community and the public starting point of the Hundred Flowers Campaign.
- Mao's Speech "On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People" Opens Active Phase
Mao Zedong delivered "On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People" at the Supreme State Conference, explicitly encouraging intellectuals to criticise the Party and transforming the Hundred Flowers Campaign from a slogan into an organised solicitation of open comment. The speech distinguished "fragrant flowers" (constructive criticism) from "poisonous weeds" (anti-socialist speech) — a framework that would months later be applied in reverse to classify critics' political standing.
- Peak of Criticism: Intellectuals Openly Challenge Party Privilege and Bureaucratism
Between April and May 1957, criticism reached its peak. Intellectuals, students, and representatives of democratic parties publicly criticised inner-party privilege, bureaucratism, one-party rule, and the Soviet model through newspapers, symposiums, and wall posters. Some criticisms directly challenged the core mode of Party governance, far exceeding the officially envisaged scope of "constructive criticism." Chu Anping's "Party-all-under-heaven" article in Guangming Daily became one of the most representative voices of dissent.
- Mao Circulates Secret Speech "Things Are Beginning to Change," Signalling Reversal Within the Party
While the public "blooming and contending" was still under way, Mao Zedong secretly circulated within the Party the speech "Things Are Beginning to Change," explicitly stating that "rightists" were exposing themselves and signalling to cadres to prepare for a counter-strike. This document was circulated within the Party nearly a month before the public end of the campaign, and constitutes the central documentary evidence for the scholarly "trap" interpretation — demonstrating that Mao was privately preparing the reversal while publicly encouraging criticism.
- People's Daily "Why Is This?" Editorial Formally Launches Anti-Rightist Campaign
The People's Daily published the editorial "Why Is This?", denouncing critics as attempting to overthrow Party leadership and formally launching the "Anti-Rightist Campaign." The Hundred Flowers Campaign thus abruptly reversed, shifting from the encouragement of criticism to mass political purging. In the following months, work units across the country began identifying "rightists" at every level; intellectuals, journalists, universities, and democratic parties bore the brunt.
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