Hundred Flowers campaign

Hundred Flowers campaign (1956–7) A campaign whose title was taken from the ancient phrase ‘Let a hundred flowers bloom, let a hundred schools of thought contend’, in an attempt to encourage intellectual criticism of party and state. Trusting that most intellectuals had been successfully converted to Communism, the ruling Chinese Communist Party under Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai ostensibly wanted to strengthen the state through constructive criticism. After a timid start, a barrage of criticism was unleashed in May 1957, as not only intellectuals, but also students and other groups criticized the party hierarchy and the state. This triggered a quick government clamp-down on its critics, many of whom were sent to gaol. The campaign thus anticipated an effective party purge by inducing those who were critical to the party to disclose themselves.