Hundred Flowers campaign

The Hundred Flowers period refers to a brief interlude in Chinese history from 1956 to 1957 during which the Communist Party of China authorities permitted or encouraged a variety of views and solutions. Subsequently an ideological crackdown re-imposed Maoist orthodoxy in public expression.

The name Hundred Flowers originates from a poem:

百花齊放，百家爭鳴 "Let a hundred flowers bloom: let a hundred schools of thought contend."

See also: History of the People's Republic of China