---
title: "Hundred Flowers Campaign — Definition & Meaning"
description: "The Hundred Flowers Campaign was a 1956 initiative by the CCP inviting criticism of governance, later turning into the Anti-Rightist Campaign."
url: "https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/glossary/hundred-flowers-campaign"
---

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Model Diplomat Research Team · Last reviewed June 22, 2026

TL;DR

- The Hundred Flowers Campaign was a 1956–57 Chinese Communist Party initiative inviting open criticism of governance, soon reversed into the Anti-Rightist Campaign.
- What was the slogan associated with the Hundred Flowers Campaign?
- How did the Hundred Flowers Campaign lead to the Anti-Rightist Campaign?
- Was the Hundred Flowers Campaign a deliberate trap?
- How does the campaign connect to later events in Chinese history?

[Civil Service & Diplomatic Exams](https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/civil-services/glossary)Updated June 22, 2026

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In June 1957, Mao Zedong reversed the Hundred Flowers Campaign and launched the Anti-Rightist Campaign, under which roughly 550,000 critics were labelled "rightists" and purged.

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