The 100 Flowers Movement: LO: To examine the causes and consequences of the 100 flowers campaign LO: To make a judgement on why Mao introduced the campaign Let a hundred flowers blossom, let a hundred schools of thought contend. February 1956 Let a hundred flowers blossom, let a hundred schools of thought contend. February 1956 Let a hundred flowers blossom, let a hundred schools of thought contend Taken from 3 rd Century BC Chinese philosophy 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. 1. Feedback on your notes What was the 100 flowers campaign? Why did Mao launch it? (Different opinions?) (from 8 mins)(start until 6:11) The 100 Flowers Campaign 1957 The actions of the party What Mao wrote/said Potential reasons Mao launched the campaign Actions of the public Make a copy of the diagram below add notes to it as we watch the clips As we go through the next lot of PPT slides, complete your diagram 'Democracy Walls'... The Constitution is no more than toilet paper. 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. PERSECUTING MAO'S CRITICS Beatings and 'Struggle Sessions' often took place publicly 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 hours... we basically worked non- stop... In summer... we had to get up at 2.00 am. We had at most three hours sleep. In not protecting citizens rights, today s government is worse than the feudal dynasties or Chiang Kai- shek. Punishments... FORCED LABOUR CAMPS - THE LAOGAI Youre 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 The other provinces did the same. So our problems were solved. Executions Emperor Qin buried alive only 460 scholars; we have buried 46,000 scholars. But haven t we killed counter- revolutionary intellectuals? 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 1 ST FIVE YEAR PLAN [ ] 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 COLLECTIVISATIO N Peasants resentful at increasing control of CCP over their lives. 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. PROFESSIO NS UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS JOURNALISTS WRITERS ARTISTS DOCTORS TEACHERS? 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. 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. 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... In Yanan 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 . 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 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 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 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? Stalin, the hardline leader of Russia and the Communist world, died in 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. 'Democracy Walls'... The Constitution is no more than toilet paper. 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. PERSECUTING MAO'S CRITICS Beatings and 'Struggle Sessions' often took place publicly 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 hours... we basically worked non- stop... In summer... we had to get up at 2.00 am. We had at most three hours sleep. In not protecting citizens rights, today s government is worse than the feudal dynasties or Chiang Kai- shek. Punishments... FORCED LABOUR CAMPS - THE LAOGAI Youre 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 The other provinces did the same. So our problems were solved. Executions Emperor Qin buried alive only 460 scholars; we have buried 46,000 scholars. But haven t we killed counter- revolutionary intellectuals? Different views on 100 flowers AuthorPerspectiveEvidence that might be used to support this interpretation Short Quote Chang and Halliday excuse to victimise them Spence Short Different views on 100 flowers AuthorPerspectiveEvidence that might be used to support this interpretation Short Quote Chang and Halliday Mao had devised this as a plan a trick to tempt people to speak out and victimized after. TRICK. Asked people to come forward but soon changed campaign into an Anti-Rightist campaign. 500,000 people persecuted after 100 Flowers excuse to victimise them the more they run amock, the more quickly they will show themselves -> 100 flowers put in place to bring out the rightists. Spence Due to confusion over how to develop party relations BLUNDER Mao wanted to get intellectuals on-side. After Hungarian-uprising didnt want to be in same position. De-stalinisation in Russia not a plot by Mao to reveal the hidden rightists Short An attempt to bridge the gap between the party and the people dismisses the idea of a trap BLUNDER Mao underestimated the amount of criticism he would receive Subjected his party officials to criticism Maos speech published wider than any other speech. People didnt want to speak out at first, so he had to persuade them. Made not 1 but 2 misjudgments, underestimated the volume and bitterness of criticism and the partys ability to withstand them Use your notes & textbook to answer the following questions: 1.What is your own assessment of his motives? 2.Explain why Mao showed such suspicion of educated people. 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. Chinas intelligentsia [brightest minds artists, writers, journalists, etc] were decimated which set back Chinas 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. How far could a historian make use of source A and B to investigate Maos motives for launching the 100 Flowers campaign? 1.Source analysis 2.Historical Content 3.Source Evaluation Source A By giving scientists and engineers the freedom to express their ideas, Mao sought to prevent the party bureaucrats from interfering with technical decisions. He wanted intellectuals to expose and attack corruption and bureaucracy. He also wanted peasants, students and workers to speak out and even demonstrate to prevent government bureaucrats from running roughshod over their rights. US Scholar Lee Feigon Source B By asking for a verdict on the partys record so far he expected a ringing endorsement of his own policy, thus strengthening his hand vis--vis his colleagues. Immersing the party in the masses was thus a means both of proving correctness of Maos ideas regarding the party-masses relationship, and of utilising his main power base. Indeed the evidence suggests that Leninist strategies were becoming unpopular in the country. The summer of 1956 saw a wave of strikes and student unrest as popular expectations were not met by the party. Shaun Breslin in his book Mao 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: Maothe unknown story , P. 435 It is only by using discussion, criticism and reasoning that we can really foster correct ideas, overcome wrong ideas and really settle issues . Homework Plan an answer to the AO2 source question on your sheet Remember the 3 strands to focus on: 1.Analysis and interpretation of the sources 2.Application of contextual knowledge 3.Source evaluation (NOP etc) Due: 13/01