Anti-Rightist Movement
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The Anti-Rightist Movement (反右派运动,Fǎn Yòupài Yùndòng) of the People's Republic of China in the 1950s and early 1960s consisted of a series of campaigns to purge alleged "rightists" within the Communist Party of China and abroad. The campaigns were instigated by the Chairman, Mao Zedong.
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[edit] Background
Going perhaps as far back as the Long March there had been resentment against "rightists" inside the CCP, for example Zhang Bojun[1].
[edit] Origins
The Anti-Rightist Movement was a reaction against the Hundred Flowers Campaign, which had promoted pluralism of expression and criticism of the government. It is not clear whether the Hundred Flowers Campaign was a deliberate tactic to smoke out "rightists," or whether Mao simply decided that it had gone too far.
[edit] First wave
The first wave of attacks began immediately following the end of the Hundred Flowers movement in July 1957. By the end of the year, 300,000 people had been labeled as rightists, including the writer Ding Ling. Future premier Zhu Rongji, then working in the State Planning Commission, was purged in 1958. Most of the accused were intellectuals. The penalties included informal criticism, "re-education through labour" and in some cases execution.
One main target was the independent legal system. Legal professionals were transferred to other jobs; judicial power was exercised instead by political cadres and the police.
[edit] Second wave
The second part of the campaign followed the Lushan Meeting of July 2 – Aug 16, 1959. The meeting condemned General Peng Dehuai, who had criticised the Great Leap Forward.
[edit] Historical Revisionism After Mao
In 1979 after Mao's death, many of the convictions of "rightism" were corrected. Many of those accused of "rightism" and who had been persecuted for that crime for 22 years were suddenly found never to have been labeled as "rightists." [2]
[edit] Censorship in China
Discussion of the Anti-Rightist Movement is currently subject to heavy censorship within China. In 2007, a ban was placed on the book The Past is not Like Smoke, by Zhang Yihe whose father was persecuted as a "rightist," due to its discussion of the Anti-Rightist Movement.
In its meeting at the beginning of the year, the Chinese communist Party's Central Propaganda Department listed the Anti-Rightist Movement as a topic to be restricted in media and book publications.
[edit] References
- ^ The International PEN Award For Independent Chinese Writing, EastSouthWestNorth, retrieved 2007-01-19.
- ^ Petition for redress to those wrongfully labeled rightists
- Petition for redress to those wrongfully labeled rightists Addressed to the CCP Central Committee, the NPC and the State Council Organizer: Surviving victims of the Anti-Rightist Campaign and their families Initiation Date: 11/13/2005 http://hrichina.org/public/PDFs/CRF.2.2007/CRF-2007-2_Petitioning.pdf
