What were Maos motives in launching the Hundred Flowers Campaign 1957 PDF

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What were Mao’s motives in launching the ’Hundred Flowers Campaign’ in 1957?

Section 1 During a time in which Mao and his party had been strongly against the intellectuals, he suddenly changed direction. He launched the ‘Hundred Flowers Campaign’ in which he aimed to encourage criticism from the intellectuals but also the workers. After a while into the campaign, criticism was flowing freely and Mao was starting to experience resistance from his party, in which some were against the campaign. Mao made a sudden turn and the people who had been giving out criticism were severely punished. Therefore, the research question which will be analysed in this essay is as follows: What were Mao’s motives in launching the ‘Hundred Flowers Campaign’ in 1957?

To do this the two main sources will be identified and analysed according to their origin, purpose and content. Furthermore, three different perspectives will be applied to the research question and analysed. These perspectives will consider whether the campaign was the result of: a deliberate trick, a genuine move or confusion. The first of these sources is a book written in 2005 by Jung Chang and Jon Halliday1 in which they argue that the campaign was a deliberate trick by Mao. The second source is a book written in 2002 by Lee Feigon2 which presents the opposite argument, that the campaign was a genuine move. These two sources have been chosen as they are good representatives of different perspectives. One of the writers of Mao: The Unknown Story, Chang, was born in China and was briefly part of the Red Guard under Mao.3 The origin of this source is of great value as the author and her memories are primary sources of the events. This is also negative, as her memories of the event might be clouded and might cause bias. Her co-author, Halliday, is, however, an historian, which is positive because he provides the source with the expertise and the unbiased views of an historian. The authors’ purpose in writing this was to provide the reader with an accurate description of Mao’s motives which is valuable as they effectively explain everything to the reader. The authors’ purpose can also be seen as a limitation due to that they might have angled the information, so that it would fit into their theory. The contents of the source are detailed which is valuable for the understanding of the campaign. The contents of the book are negatively angled, however, which is a limitation, because it gives the reader only one perspective of the events. The second source which is Mao: A Reinterpretation, is written by historian Feigon. The origin of this work is good as it comes from a professional within this area. However, this also means that Feigon will have had to use other sources than himself when he wrote the book and the source is therefore not a primary source, as it was based upon other sources. It must also be taken into consideration that it is difficult to obtain genuine and correct sources in China, as it is troublesome to gain access to the archives. Feigon’s motives in writing the book would have been to defend Mao and provide readers with another point of view, which is valuable as it does provide a perspective on the matter that is rarely found. However, as in the other source, Feigon aims to convince the reader of his own theory and therefore does not take different aspects into consideration in his analysis. This source was written long after the campaign actually took place, by an author who was not present at the time and therefore provides the benefit of hindsight to its contents. The content mainly takes up matters which sets Mao in a good light, which limits the source as it means that any additional information may have been left out. The better of these two sources may then be considered to be the first, as it provides better insight and is a primary source. Section 2 One of the interpretations of Mao’s motives for launching the ‘Hundred Flowers Campaign’ is that it was a deliberate trick. On the 27 of February 1957, Mao held a speech to the Supreme Council, called “On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People”4 in which he invited criticism of the Communist Party. He criticized the way in which Stalin conducted 1 Jung Chang and John Halliday, Mao The Unknown Story, (New York: Vintage, 2007), preface 2 Lee Feigon, Mao: A Reinterpretation, (Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 2002), preface 3 Jung Chang and John Halliday, Mao The Unknown Story, (New York: Vintage, 2007), preface

purges in Soviet and it seemed as if he intended for such things to be a matter of the past in China. He encouraged the people to let “a hundred flowers bloom”5 and made it seem as if he was genuinely seeking criticism. However, this was all a trick. It is likely that Mao acted as he did so as to receive knowledge about which members were secretly critical of the party, to make them dissuade their rebellious thoughts and to use this information to victimise them.6 Mao seemed to believe in a process of “unity-criticism-unity”.7 He claimed that “(t)his democratic method of resolving contradictions among the people was epitomized in 1942 in the formula ‘unity, criticism, unity’ [...] In our experience this is the correct method of resolving contradictions among the people.”8 Mao had also noticed a dissatisfaction rate of peasants concerning collectivization which stood at 2 to 5 percent and that there were other things in the country which the people were displeased about, such as that 40 percent of children in China did not attend school. It seemed as if Mao was now doing the people a favour.9 Although Mao held several speeches in 1956 which encouraged criticism and negated repression, the people were unsure of the legitimacy of their leader’s words. A previous campaign in which counterrevolutionaries were eliminated had recently been held and was still fresh in the minds of the citizens.10 Still, after Mao continuing to insist and other party members supporting his campaign, the criticism starting flowing in the spring of 1957.11 However, as criticism was still only allowed in certain forms, such as in small seminars among the people, Mao made sure that his plan was under control.12 Even so, criticism soon began to spiral out of control. It was made obvious through the publication of an amended version of Mao’s speech; “On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People” that the campaign was drawing to a close.13 Mao had targeted the intellectuals, as he foresaw that they were the ones most likely to come up with criticism, and he had been right.14 The campaign was now overtaken by the anti-rightist campaign. The citizens who had been critical of the party and Mao, now suffered severe retributions. They were branded as anti-rightists and lost their jobs, were forced to do manual labour and many were even sent to prison.15 Mao’s plan had succeeded, it seemed to everyone as if he had tricked his people, but was it really so? Some historians argue that the campaign was not a trick, but instead actually just a genuine move gone terribly wrong. Another interpretation of the ‘Hundred Flowers’ is that what happened in combination with the campaign was not Mao’s intention, as he had launched the campaign with the best intentions and that it had been a genuine move. Mao had seen how economic problems plagued Stalin’s Russia and was keen not to let the same happen in China. He believed that 4 Marxist Internet Archive, On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People, (accessed 18 January 2017). 5 Jung Chang and Jon Halliday, Mao The Unknown Story, (London: Vintage, 2007), 508. 6 Ibid, 508. 7 Jonathan Spence, Mao, (London: Phoenix, 2000), 144. 8 Mao Zedong, Mao’s Little Red Book, 473 9 Ibid, 144. 10 Andrew G. Walder, China Under Mao: a revolution derailed, (London: Harvard University Press, 2015), 137. 11 The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Hundred Flowers Campaign”, Encyclopaedia Britannica, accessed November 4th 2016 , https://global.britannica.com/event/Hundred-Flowers-Campaign 12 Ibid, 509. 13 The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Hundred Flowers Campaign”, Encyclopaedia Britannica, accessed November 4th 2016 , https://global.britannica.com/event/Hundred-Flowers-Campaign 14 Jung Chang and Jon Halliday, Mao The Unknown Story, (London: Vintage, 2007), 508. 15 The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Hundred Flowers Campaign”, Encyclopaedia Britannica, accessed November 4th 2016 , https://global.britannica.com/event/Hundred-Flowers-Campaign

through letting scientists and engineers express their ideas, the interference of party bureaucrats in technical decisions would be eliminated and effectiveness would be raised.16 Mao’s encouragement of criticism was based on his hope that the people would ensure that the bureaucrats did not exceed their rights.17 When the criticism started pouring in, it started with a decisiveness which caught the party and Mao off guard. The party leadership had agreed with Mao’s thinking that some form of rectification campaign was becoming necessary, but most were not advocating that regular citizens would be allowed to criticize party officials. Nevertheless, Mao persisted, claiming that if they permitted free airing of opinions and thoughts, they would all benefit in the form of a greater social and political harmony in their country.18 However, many party members grew steadily more worried of what the campaign was causing. Mao soon felt that the resistance of government officials was growing too strong and he felt he had little choice but to halt the campaign.19 In the altered version of his speech published in mid-June, Mao distinguished “fragrant flowers” from “poisonous weeds” and said that the anti-rightist campaign was to “cut off the heads of the poisonous weeds”. It was obvious that the “poisonous weeds” were those who had previously been criticizing socialism and the party.20 It can therefore be seen as if Mao had genuinely wanted the campaign to proceed and for it to succeed, but was hindered by his party officials and others who were against the campaign. It can also have been so, that Mao could not cope with the pressure of the campaign, and that it ended abruptly as it did, due to confusion. Some historians are of the belief that Mao had not intended to trick the people of China with his ‘Hundred Flowers’ campaign, but instead that the campaign did not unfold as he had anticipated it to, and that what happened was merely a result of confusion. As stated above, Mao had felt certain that the best way of acquiring a social and political harmony was to give his citizens more freedom to voice their opinions.21 But already from the start he met harsh resistance from within his own party, few seemed to believe that the ‘Hundred Flowers’ would amount to anything positive for the party or the country.22 Mao held speeches that encouraged the people’s criticism and claimed that the party held “no monopoly on the truth” and even that disparagement of Marxism would be tolerated.23 Some of the highest-ranked officials in the party refused to present themselves at his speeches and many officials walked out in a rage.24 But when the strong waves of criticism began to flow in25, it is possible that Mao realized there had been more contradictions than he expected, and with members of his own party against him, confusion and doubt concerning the campaign erupted in his mind, leading to the abrupt and harsh end of the ‘Hundred Flowers’. So, all three of the different perspectives on Mao’s motives for the ‘Hundred Flowers’ are seemingly plausible. However, with respect to how the campaign ended, it seems unlikely that it was a genuine move made by Mao. Also, it seems improbable that the campaign was a 16 Lee Feigon, Mao: a reinterpretation, (Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 2002), 112. 17 Ibid, 112. 18 Andrew G. Walder, China Under Mao: a revolution derailed, (London: Harvard University Press, 2015), 138 19 Lee Feigon, Mao: a reinterpretation, (Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 2002), 112. 20 Ibid, 116-117. 21 Andrew G. Walder, China Under Mao: a revolution derailed, (London: Harvard University Press, 2015), 138 22 Ibid, 138. 23 Lee Feigon, Mao: a reinterpretation, (Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 2002), 114-115. 24 Ibid, 115. 25 The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Hundred Flowers Campaign”, Encyclopaedia Britannica, (accessed November 4th 2016), https://global.britannica.com/event/Hundred-Flowers-Campaign

result of confusion, as Mao was the supreme leader of China, and had he genuinely wanted to continue the campaign, he would have done so. When Mao first launched the campaign, his officials and the people were disbelieving, it did not seem true to Mao’s character to invite criticism. It is likely that the people’s first reaction had been the correct one. In conclusion, it can therefore be said that what seems the most feasible is that Mao was attempting to trick his people into revealing their inner criticism, in order to be able to, as he said, “cut the heads off the poisonous weeds”26. Section 3 The undertaking of this investigation has given opportunities for the use of different types of research methods and has led to the facing of challenges generally presented to historians. The use of primary sources in this investigation is mainly reliant upon the book of Chang and Halliday, as the first is a primary source in herself. Through the use of this source, I came to realize the difficulties in gaining historical knowledge which is unbiased and accurate. The issue with primary sources is that although they may provide us with a closer insight into historical events, it is challenging to determine whether the source is objective enough to provide an historian with an unbiased scrutiny of an event. However, without primary sources, historians will have to settle for secondary sources, which may be a limitation of their work, as without primary sources, the historian can only provide an overview of events, instead of the closer insight provided by primary sources. There has been a huge amount of research conducted on Mao and Communist China, which has led to an amazing breadth of information available, something which is both a challenge and an aid to historians. As there is such a large selection of sources to choose from, I came to wonder to what extent a historian can give an objective account of history. It is so, that some facts appeal to us more than others and historians may unconsciously be more inclined to opting for information which suits what they are trying to convey. The challenge therefore lies in the matter of deciding which source best account for that time period. In my own investigation I chose sources which provided different perspectives on the ‘Hundred Flowers’ campaign to ensure that an unbiased analyzation was made. Finally, as stated previously, research concerning Mao and China can be challenging for historians due to the difficulty of acquiring genuine and honest sources of for example statistics, as the archives on such information are not open to the public.

26 Lee Feigon, Mao: a reinterpretation, (Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 2002), 116-117.

Bibliography: Books: Chang, Jung and Jon Halliday, Mao The Unknown Story, London: Vintage, 2007. Feigon, Lee, Mao: A Reinterpretation, Chicago, Ivan R. Dee, 2002. Spence, Jonathan D., The Search for Modern China, New York: Norton, 1990. Spence, Jonathan D., Mao, London: Phoenix, 2000. Walder, G. Andrew, China under Mao: A revolution derailed, London: Harvard University Press, 2015. Tse-Tung, Mao, Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung

Online sources: Tse-tung, Mao., “On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People”, Marxist Internet Archive, https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/selected-works/volume5/mswv5_58.htm, (accessed January 22th 2017).

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Hundred Flowers Campaign”, Encyclopaedia Britannica, https://global.britannica.com/event/Hundred-Flowers-Campaign, (accessed November 4th 2016)....