2013 Hundred Flowers Campaign

Why did Mao invite criticism of the Communists in 1957?

Title:

Start:

Why might a leader or ruler ask those of lesser status to criticise them

openly?

Attack and hurt the rightists elements to protect the results of Socialism!

‘Let a hundred flowers blossom, let a hundred

schools of thought contend’

An Ancient Chinese Philosopher – the expression comes from a traditional poem.

It means ‘to allow free expression and criticism’. Mao used this expression

when, in 1956, he invited Chinese people to assess the performance of the

Communist Party, and to offer it advice.

Mao on Tour:Context:

Throughout the 1950’s, Mao travelled China extensively. He was welcomed by rapturous crowds and supportive

slogans

Convinced that he was in touch with the people, he decided that the time was right to allow greater freedom of

expression within China.

In particular, he saw an opportunity to allow those who might make constructive criticisms to do so, hoping to draw on the ideas of

experts and intellectuals.

This policy, sometimes referred to as ‘the Double-Hundred

Policy’, or the “Hundred Flowers Campaign” was

launched personally by Mao in 1957.

PEACE

CHINA INDEPENDENT OF FOREIGN CONTROL

WARLORDS AND BANDITRY SUPPRESSED LAND

REFORMS

FIRST FIVE YEAR PLAN – A SUCCESS

1950 MARRIAGE LAW + WOMENS’ REFORMS

END TO PROSTITUTION + OPIUM TRADE

THE 1ST FIVE YEAR PLAN [1953-57] led to . . .

City populations rose by 40 million – due to peasants moving into cities.

Severe overcrowding

Food shortages – much food was sent abroad to buy weapons and machines

Housing Problems

COLLECTIVISATION 1955 +

Peasants resentful at increasing control of CCP over their lives.

‘It is only by using discussion, criticism and reasoning that we can

really foster correct ideas, overcome wrong ideas and really settle issues’.

Thought Reform Movement

Thought Reform• Aim: to reform the thinking of Chinese people into

accepting Mao's thoughts and ideology• 1951-52- Zhou En Lai announces the Thought

Reform Movement • Done through a series of methods:

o Struggle sessionso Propagandao  self-criticism

Intellectuals who studied overseas were forced to admit that they were "implementers of the imperialist cultural invasion"

o  Revolutionary Colleges

Origins of the thought reform of the intellectuals

• Mao was suspicious of the "intellectuals" - those with higher education such as scientists, engineers, doctors, statisticians and geologists as they came from "bourgeois" families who could afford universities or foreign education.

• Their exposure to education gave Mao reason to fear the intellectuals as "implementers of the imperialistic cultural invasion"

• Mao also wanted to "throw away the vulgar perspectives of individualism and liberalism, and the cultural thought of European-American reactionary bourgeoisie"

• Mao also feared the intellectuals as they understood and valued freedom more than the proletariat.

• This can be evidenced by Hu Feng, a writer who criticised the lack of freedom in creativity and art.

Intellectuals• "Intellectuals are often ignorant and have little or

experience in practical matters"                                                -Mao• Mao was suspicious of intellectuals in China- often had

university degrees, came from bourgeoisie families• e.g. scientists, engineers, doctors, writers• These people were, however, indispensable to China's

growing economy- possessed necessary skills.• Nevertheless, they were seen as a threat to the Communist

regimeo educated in atmosphere of open debate and

academic freedomo more likely to speak out against Mao and the Party-

counter-revolutionary• Subjected to:

o courses in "revolutionary colleges"o self-criticism sessions

Course of the thought reform of the the intellectuals

• Tens of thousands of intellectuals forced to go to courses at revolutionary colleges where they learnt the teachings of Mao, Marx and Lenin

• Writers forced to study Mao's speech "Talk at Yanan Forum on Literature and Arts," a possible precursor to the Little Red Book

• Intellectuals were made to make self criticisms and confessions• Science and engineering was changed to the Soviet route• The thought reform process was highly efficient - "at about two

months from the date of the arrest...ready for a beginning to the recognition of his 'crimes'." - Robert Jay Lifton

How did the thought reform of the intellectuals contribute to Mao's

consolidation of power?• This contributed to Mao's consolidation of power as it

brainwashed the thoughts of "counter-revolutionaries" and reduced potential opposition from the intellectuals

• It minimised the influence of any remaining foreign influence in the form of the intellectual's ideas from foreign education

Pictures of Propaganda

The Course of the Campaign-The party was soon met with an unexpected torrent of

criticisms from from the press and intellectuals, many people criticized the frequent human rights abuses committed by the party, there were even reports of widespread strikes and attacks on party members.

-By June 1957 Mao's tone had changed and he was ready to abandon the campaign, in early July he ordered a full scale attack on the intellectual 'rightists', as many as 500,000 intellectuals were sent to labour camps or re-education as a result of this.

Pictures of Persecution

Thought Reform and the Hundred Flowers Campaign

What points are being made here by the cartoonist about Mao’s Hundred Flowers campaign?

The Hundred Flowers Campaign• The CCP is in full control of China - all counter

revolutionaries had been eliminated• Targets of the 1st Five Year Plan were achieved, but

with great cost of the peopleo Mao wanted to speed up the process of economic

change but was facing opposition of the politburoo People had started to become resentful at the

increasing control of the CCP •  Mao feared that the greatest danger facing the CCP

was the growing 'bureaucratism' o Envisaged the Hundred Flowers Campaign as a

way where officials would be subjected to criticism from outside the party forcing officials to mend their ways

Minutes of the Central Committee Conference on April 25, 1956:

• Mao said: “The Party needs public feedback, disciplinary measures that prevent change should be eliminated. In the arts, let a hundred flowers bloom, in the sciences, let a hundred schools contend. This should be the direction we take.”

Hundred Flowers Campaign (1957)

• Mao indicated his supposed willingness to consider different opinions about how China should be governed

• Given the freedom to express themselves, the Chinese began opposing the Communist Party and questioning its leadership

Mao’s Speech on the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People February 27,1957:

• “Literally the two slogans let a hundred flowers blossom and let a hundred schools of thought contend have no class character; the proletariat can turn them to account, and so can the bourgeoisie of others. Different classes and social groups each have their own views on what are fragrant flowers and what are poisonous weeds.

• Then, from the point of view of the masses, what should be the criteria today for distinguishing fragrant flowers from poisonous weeds? In their political activities, how should our people judge whether a person’s words and deeds are right or wrong? On the basis of the principles of our Constitution, the will of the overwhelming majority of our people and the common political positions which have been proclaimed on various occasions by our political parties, we considers that, broadly speaking, the criteria should be as follows….”

Mao’s Speech Continued• “1. Words and deeds should help united, and not

divide, the people of all our nationalities.”• “2. They should be beneficial, and not harmful, to

socialist transformation and socialist construction.”• “3. They should help to consolidates, and not

undermine or weaken, the people’s democratic dictatorship.”

• “4. They should help to strengthen, and not shake off or weaken, the leadership of the Communist Party.”

Let a Hundred Flowers Bloom Backfires

• Communist faith in moral perfectibility• Re-education Camps• Arts – Social Realism• Mao invites intellectuals to “let a hundred

flowers bloom”• Anti-Rightest Campaign

– 500,000 disappear into labor camps

Political Cartoon on Hundred Flowers

• Cartoon published in January 1957, from China Reconstructs- A Chinese Government Publication, illustrating how some party members took unofficial action against Mao’s intentions.

• The people like many flowers. The old-fashioned Party man thinks they need only one…the one he likes.

Mao’s Reasons for the Hundred Flowers Campaign

Mao's motives •  Historians  have generally been divided into two

schools of thought:o The Hundred flowers was a trap set by Mao to

highlight the anti communist elements amongst the intellectuals

o  The campaign was launched for the good of China and it was a serious error of judgement 

‘Intellectuals are beginning to . . . change their mood from cautious to

open . . . One day punishment will come down on their heads . . . We want to let them speak out. You must stiffen your scalps and let them attack! . . . Let all those ox devils and snake demons . . .

curse us for a few months. I am casting a long line to bait big fish ’

‘How can we catch the snakes if we don’t let them out of their lairs? We wanted

those sons-of-turtles [bastards] to wriggle out and sing and fart . . . That way we can

catch them.’

Jung Chang: ‘Mao–the unknown story’, 2005.

P. 435

Mao's motives"Let a hundred flowers blossom and a hundred schools of thought contend is the policy of promoting progress" - Mao, Feb 1957

"In recent days ... democratic parties and institutions of higher education have shown themselves to be to be the most determined and most rabid... They will then end up burying themselves" - Mao, May 1957

• Mao's intentions evolved throughout the campaign• By unleashing the campaign Mao would have

settled his fear of bureaucratic behaviour emerging party officials >> tried to do it before with the Yan'an Ratification and the "Three Antis Campaign" 

Historian's viewpoints"Few guessed that Mao was setting a trap that he was inviting people to speak out so he could use what they said as an excuse to victimise them" - Chang and Halliday

• C & H suggested that Mao's main intention was to trick the people and concocted a devious plan to pick out threatening intellectuals

• Spence on the other hand suggests that Mao simply wanted the best for his people

"... not a plot by Mao to reveal the hidden rightists in his country... At its centre was an argument about the pace and type of development that was best for China." - Spence

What was the Hundred Flowers Campaign?

Totalitarian power is peril!

In not protecting citizens’ rights, today’s government is worse than the feudal

dynasties or Chiang Kai-shek.

The Constitution is no more than toilet paper

Why is it necessary to have “leadership” in the arts? Who led Shakespeare, Tolstoy, Beethoven,

Moliere?’

I have indeed heard about peasants . . . Dying from having just grass roots to eat, in areas so rich in produce that they are known as the

land of fish and rice. But the newspapers say nothing about any of

this . . .

Mao allowed critics to post their views at certain locations on walls or in small meeting rooms [known as ‘seminars’]. In this way their views could be easily controlled and not reach the masses – posters could be removed, meeting rooms only admitted small numbers.

Mao’s Abandonment of the Hundred Flowers Campaign

May 1957 Evaluation-Rectification Campaign

• Shift in strategy and policy• Mao declared that the anti-Communists were like

“du cao” or poisonous grass that needed to be weeded out

• “Poison grass needs to be weeded out. People on the right party must be ‘fixed.’ Battle plans must involve despising the enemy, war tactics must focus on the enemy. Failure to do so will result in grave mistakes. This must be done bit, by bit, kill off the enemy one by one.”

Who are ‘Intellectuals’?

These are the ‘educated’ classes, especially those who have been to university.

WHY PERSECUTE THEM?They valued freedom of speech.These were the people most likely to speak out against Communist rule, to criticise Mao.

PROFESSIONS

UNIVERSITY

PROFESSORS

JOURNALISTS

WRITERS

ARTISTS

DO

CTO

RSTE

AC

HER

S?

Nuclear scientists and technicians escaped the worst persecution of the Hundred Flowers campaign, because they were important to achieving Mao’s ambition to make China into a great military power, to rival America.

‘In Yenan was Chairman Mao, who had two dishes plus soup for every meal, having a hard time? Were the peasants, who had nothing to eat but bitter vegetables, enjoying the good life? Everyone was told that Chairman Mao was leading a hard and simple life. That son of a bitch! A million shames on him! ... Our pens can never defeat Mao Zedong's Party guards and his imperial army. When he wants to kill you, he doesn't have to do it himself. He can mobilise your wife and children to denounce you and then kill you with their own hands! Is this a rational society? This is class struggle, Mao Zedong style!’

(Benton and Hunter p. 101).

Once critics of Mao revealed themselves, Mao retaliated and isolated them. Many were subjected to ‘Struggle’ sessions, where they had to listen to many hours of accusations and, ultimately, apologise for their supposed past ‘faults’ or ‘crimes’.

A university professor being barracked by his students.

“Let a Hundred Flowers Blossom, Let a Hundred Schools of Though Contend”

Task:

Mao announced the ‘Hundred Flowers Campaign’ in a speech delivered at the main meeting of the PRC government.

The speech was entitled:

“On the correct handling of contradictions amongst the people”

In it, Mao aimed to address some of the protests that had happened as a

result of the difficult conditions created by the first Five Year Plan.

Speech Analysis:

1. Using your copy of the ‘Hundred Flowers’s speech, summarise the main message being communicated in each paragraph

2. For each paragraph, identify the one key term you think best represents the paragraph, explaining why it does in brief.

“We do not approve of disturbances, because

contradictions among the people can be resolved through the

method of "unity -- criticism -- unity", while disturbances are

bound to cause some losses and are not conducive to the advance of socialism. We believe that the

masses of the people support socialism”

Main message:

Opposition to our way of thinking will not help the people, who support our methods

Disagreement is fine (contradictions), but disturbances (disruptions) are

not.

Mao’s U-TurnContext:

Once Mao had launched the campaign, members of the

Communist Party began to gradually point out mistakes that had been

made

Based on this information, leading figures in government, education and

the arts were censured, often via public humiliation.

However, Party members did not stop there. As they grew less suspicious of the campaign, they began to criticise

Mao himself

It was at this point that Mao drastically changed

direction.

He abandoned the Hundred Flowers

Campaign, replacing it with a crackdown on

those who had spoken out.

In effect, Mao had encouraged his opposition to show who they were, then repressed them as a result.

Anti-Rightist Campaign of Mao

Anti-Rightist Campaign (1957 & 59)

• This was initially tolerated and even encouraged. However, after a few months, Mao's government reversed its policy

• They persecuted those who criticized, and were alleged to have criticized, the Party

• This was called The Anti-Rightist Campaign

Raise revolutionary violence, oppose slackers, resolutely eliminate all revolutionary

Mao’s attacks on intellectuals broadened into a general campaign of repression, known as the ‘Anti-Rightist’ campaign. Anybody who expressed even the slightest opposition to Mao stood the risk of being reported, victimised and forced to take part in ‘Struggle Sessions’.

Jung Chang: ‘Mao – the unknown story’ 2005. P439

Deportees were just dumped in places like the far north of Manchuria, known as ‘the

Great Northern Wilderness’, and had to rig up a shelter ‘in a hurry, using wheat stems to make a roof’ in a temperature of -38C.

Even with a fire, ‘it was still a dozen or so degrees below zero . . .’

‘The grass and beaten earth huts we lived in had wind coming in on all sides . . . There

were hardly any vegetables or meat . . . We got up . . . Just after 4 at dawn, and did not stop until 7 or 8 in the evening . . . In these 15-16 hours . . . We basically worked non-

stop . . . In summer . . . We had to get up at 2.00 am . We had at most three hours’ sleep.

" Tie you a rope, " is a Chinese expression commonly used when someone is arrested by the government.

A view of Laiyang Heavy Machinery Plant

Camp life was harsh, spartan and brutal.

Artists, who had been sent to a forced labour camp, having to work on propaganda paintings on the side of a building wall.

A botany student from the city is sent to a distant arid farming region to work the land, as punishment for criticising Mao. She was instructed to ‘learn from the peasant’.

‘You’re here to redeem your crime! Don’t dare to make trouble, or look for ways to be lazy!’ Deportees had to work on less than subsistence-level rations. Many died from malnutrition, illness, cold, overwork and in accidents doing unfamiliar jobs like felling trees.

Mao talking to colleagues, revealed that one province, Hunan, had ‘denounced 100,000, arrested 10,000, and killed 1000. The other provinces did the same. So our problems were solved.’ [There are 23 provinces in China].

“Emperor Qin buried alive only 460

scholars; we have buried 46,000 scholars.

But haven’t we killed counter-revolutionary

intellectuals?”

“Emperor Qin buried alive only 460

scholars; we have buried 46,000 scholars.

But haven’t we killed counter-revolutionary

intellectuals?”

Results and Effects of Thought Reform, Hundred

Flowers Campaign, and Anti-Rightest Campaign

Results of the Anti-Rightist Campaign

• 700,000 intellectuals were thrown out of their positions and professions

• In every factory, 5% of the workers had to be denounced as “rightists”

• All were sent to the countryside for reform – many died of malnutrition, illness, cold, overwork, and accidents doing unfamiliar jobs

• Some were executed or committed suicide

1. Mao silenced potential opponents.

2. He instilled fear amongst the educated classes who were now less willing to stand against Mao.

3. Mao prepared the ground for introducing the Great Leap reforms – communes, ‘backyard furnaces’ and an extreme form of communist society

4. China’s intelligentsia [brightest minds – artists, writers, journalists, etc] were decimated which set back China’s cultural development.

5. Many students had their education interrupted due to the death of so many teachers - some 5 million children had their schooling terminated

6. Some 4 million people may have lost their lives in the ‘Anti-Rightist campaigns which started after the Hundred Flowers.

Stalin, the hardline leader of Russia and the Communist world, died in 1953.

He was followed by the more moderate Khruschev.

Khruschev eased the repression but this led to demands for more freedom and in Hungary led to revolts.

Russia sent in tanks to crush the rebellions

If Mao introduced similar moderate reforms what would happen in China?

What would happen to Mao?

‘The basic problem with some Eastern European countries is that they did not eliminate all those counter-revolutionaries . . . Now they are eating their own bitter fruit . . . Eastern Europe just did not kill on a grand scale. We must kill. And we say it’s good to kill.’

Looking Back on the Hundred Flowers & Anti-Rightist Campaigns

• Two Opinions on the Hundred Flowers Campaign:– From the start, it was a sneaky way to discover who truly

opposed Mao– Mao intended to weaken those within his party who

opposed him by having them bicker between themselves, but it backfired when people criticized him more than he intended

Consequences• Party unity was strengthened

• Mao's position as leader of the CCP was at its peak

• Atmosphere of fear was created

• Intellectuals were silenced o 500,000 intellectuals were killed with another

100,000 put into re education camps/ lao gai's o Stasis on China's cultural development

• Used it as a foreground for the 'Great Leap Foward'

How it strengthened Mao's hold on power

- The Hundred Flowers Campaign and the anti-rightist campaign into which it evolved served to silence the criticisms of the Communist regime by creating fear within the Chinese public and the intellectual community.

-It also served to strengthen party unity under Mao against outside influence, in effect Mao was unchallengeable.

-A popular saying of the time was 'after the anti-rightist campaign no one opens their mouth.'

The End