🏭 Needing the intellectuals
China's First Five-Year Plan needed scientists, engineers and teachers. Many were unhappy after Thought Reform and might work better if they felt trusted.
Change Under Mao, 1949-63 » The Hundred Flowers Campaign
What you'll learn this session
Study time: 30 minutes
Edexcel spec: Paper 2 Section B, Breadth study B4, Key topic 3
- Why Mao invited criticism of the Communist Party in 1956-57
- What people said once they were allowed to speak
- How the Anti-Rightist Campaign followed
- Why historians disagree about Mao's motives
By 1956 the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), led by Mao Zedong, had been in power for seven years. It had already used campaigns to control China's thinkers and officials. Then, for a short time, Mao seemed to change direction and ask people to speak freely. This lesson explains what happened and why it ended so badly for those who took him at his word.
Key terms:
- Intellectuals: educated people such as teachers, university lecturers, writers, scientists and students.
- Hundred Flowers Campaign: the period (1956-57) when Mao invited intellectuals to give their opinions and criticise the Party. The name comes from the slogan "Let a hundred flowers bloom, let a hundred schools of thought contend".
- Rectification: a campaign to "put right" the Party's faults, such as arrogance and bureaucracy (too much rule-following and red tape).
- Rightist: the label given to people accused of opposing the Party or communism.
- Anti-Rightist Campaign: the campaign from June 1957 that punished people labelled as rightists.
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Unlock This CourseWhy did Mao invite criticism?
In May 1956 Mao and other leaders spoke in favour of letting "a hundred flowers bloom". Historians point to several reasons.
🌎 Events abroad
In February 1956 the Soviet leader Khrushchev attacked Stalin in a secret speech. In October 1956 an uprising broke out in Hungary against communist rule. Mao worried that Party officials who ignored the people could cause the same trouble in China.
📝 Fixing the Party
Many Party officials were bossy, careless and cut off from ordinary people. Mao wanted outsiders to point out these faults so that the Party could put them right.
💪 Confidence
The Party had won the civil war, redistributed land and brought business under control. Mao believed it was strong enough to hear criticism and stay in charge.
What happened in 1957?
At first few people dared to speak, as Thought Reform had taught them to be careful. In February 1957 Mao gave a speech saying that disagreements among the people could be talked through openly. On 1 May 1957 the Party began a rectification campaign and asked non-Party members to help. This time people believed it was safe.
From mid-May the criticism poured out. At universities, including Beijing University, students put up wall posters and held meetings. Critics said that:
- Party members were arrogant, enjoyed special privileges and looked down on ordinary people.
- The Party had too much control over universities, newspapers and science, and this stopped people from thinking freely.
- China copied the Soviet Union too closely.
- Some Party leaders had made mistakes in earlier campaigns.
A few critics went further and said that the CCP should not hold all the power. That was exactly what the Party would not accept.
The Anti-Rightist Campaign
By late May and early June 1957 Mao and the Party leaders had decided that the criticism had gone too far. On 8 June the Party newspaper, People's Daily, published an editorial attacking the "rightists", and the Anti-Rightist Campaign began. Deng Xiaoping, a senior Party leader, helped to run it.
People who had spoken out were now called rightists. Many were criticised at meetings, lost their jobs and were sent to work in the countryside or in labour camps. Official figures later gave about 550,000 people labelled as rightists. Some were not freed until the late 1970s.
The effects were serious:
- Silence. Intellectuals learned that speaking honestly was dangerous, so most kept quiet.
- Loss of talent. Many teachers, scientists and writers lost their careers.
- More power for Mao. With critics silenced, it was harder for anyone to question his plans.
Was it a trap?
Historians disagree about Mao's motives.
- A trap from the start. Some argue that Mao wanted opponents to reveal themselves so that he could remove them. Mao himself later talked about drawing out the "snakes".
- A real wish for criticism. Others argue that Mao really wanted criticism of Party faults, but was shocked by how much there was and by attacks on the Party's right to rule, and so he turned on the critics.
Either way, the Party's control over thought grew stronger. Change: intellectuals lost their voice and people became afraid to question the Party. Continuity: the CCP's one-party rule stayed untouched, as it had after Thought Reform. The campaign shows how much depended on Mao's own leadership, and the criticism of copying the Soviet Union shows how Soviet influence was being questioned.
Common mistakes
- Saying Mao allowed free speech for years. The open criticism lasted only a few weeks, from May to early June 1957.
- Mixing up the two campaigns. The Hundred Flowers Campaign invited criticism; the Anti-Rightist Campaign punished it.
- Giving only one cause in an "Explain two causes" question. One cause alone can never score more than half marks.
Exam-style question
Explain two causes of the Anti-Rightist Campaign of 1957. [8 marks]
Model answer
One cause was the scale and sharpness of the criticism. After the rectification campaign began on 1 May 1957, students at universities such as Beijing University put up posters attacking Party privilege, and some critics said the CCP should not hold all the power. Mao had wanted criticism to help the Party, not to question its right to rule. When Mao and the Party leaders decided by early June that this had gone too far, the Party attacked the critics, and the People's Daily editorial of 8 June started the campaign.
A second cause was fear of unrest, caused by events abroad. In October 1956 a Hungarian uprising had challenged communist rule, and Mao worried that open attacks on Party officials could lead to the same thing in China. Punishing the critics as rightists was a way to stop opposition before it grew, and it led to about 550,000 people being given that label.
What lifts this to the top level: each cause has precise facts and shows how it led to the campaign.
Exam tip
For each cause, write one sentence naming it, one with a date or fact, and one starting "This led to the campaign because..." to show the link.
Recap
- The Hundred Flowers Campaign (1956-57) invited intellectuals to criticise the Party.
- Mao's reasons included needing the intellectuals, events in the USSR and Hungary, and wanting to fix Party faults.
- From May 1957 the criticism went further than Mao expected.
- The Anti-Rightist Campaign began in June 1957; about 550,000 people were labelled rightists.
- Historians debate whether it was a trap or a genuine invitation that went wrong.