1956+Hundred+Flowers+Campaign

Hundred Flowers Campaign 1957 >> Differing Opinions on the Hundred Flowers Campaign
 * Mao invites criticism:
 * freedom of expression to those who might wish to comment constructively on how well Communist China was achieving its aim of turning the nation into a proletarian state
 * Hundred Flowers campaign was replaced by an anti rightist movement; those who had been foremost in responding to the campaign were now forced to retract their statements
 * Zhou Enlai was obliged to make a humiliating self-criticism in front of the party gathering (Mao showing that nobody no matter how prominent his position was beyond investigation and criticism)
 * Lee Feigon: Mao was genuinely seeking criticism
 * Mao was genuine in his original appeal but was not tolerant
 * Jonathan Spence argues that the campaign was a result of contradictory thinking among the CCP leaders; muddle inconclusive movement from the conflicting attitudes within the CCP leadership
 * Jung Chang argues that Mao's reversed policy was proof that the campaign was a trick
 * A deliberate a manoeuvre by Mao to bring his critics into the open so they could be easily exposed, identified and removed.