Thought Reform and the Anti Campaigns

Question 1

When was the Thought Reform Campaign introduced?

Answer 1

1951

Question 2

Who was targeted in the Thought Reform?

Answer 2

Intellectuals e.g. professors, teachers and writers

Question 3

Why was Thought Reform initiated?

Answer 3

To amend the bourgeois attitudes of the intellectuals

Question 4

What humiliation means was used in Thought Reform?

Answer 4

1. Gave public declarations of their ideological shortcomings while self-criticising, and assisting others to criticise them
2. Write their own autobiography outlining admission to all bourgeoisie habits
3. ‘Struggle sessions’ entailing reporting and judgement of their progress
4. Not sufficiently remoulded meant being sent to hard labour in the countryside

Question 5

Why did Mao argue there was a need for Thought Reform?

Answer 5

“There are two ways of killing people: one is with a gun and one is with a pen”

Question 6

When was the Three Antis Campaign launched?

Answer 6

1951

Question 7

Is the Three antis Wufan or Sanfan?

Answer 7

Sanfan?

Question 8

Who did Sanfan target?

Answer 8

Corrupt party cadres

Unreliable government officials

Question 9

What were the Three Antis?

Answer 9

Corruption
Waste
Bureaucratism

Question 10

What did Mao say in relation to his policies around reactionaries?

Answer 10

“We certainly have no benevolent policies towards the reactionaries”

Question 11

What did Mao say about Sanfan?

Answer 11

“we need to have a good clean up… while following the policy of educating and remoulding”

Question 12

When was Wufan launched?

Answer 12

1952

Question 13

Is the Five Antis Wufan or Sanfan?

Answer 13

Wufan

Question 14

Who did Wufan target?

Answer 14

Mostly businessmen and industrialists

Question 15

What were the 5 antis?

Answer 15

tax evasion
fraud
cheating from government contracts
theft of government property
bribery

Question 16

What happened to many factories between 1952 and 1953?

Answer 16

They became joint state-private ventures

Question 17

How many businesses were investigated during wufan?

Answer 17

450,000

Question 18

What did Jack Gray say was the real aim of Wufan?

Answer 18

“an opportunity to pulverise China’s capitalists”

Question 19

Why is it believed by Terrill that Wufan was unnecessary?

Answer 19

“Many capitalists simply turned red when the heat went on”

Question 20

What were the two common punishments of all of Sanfan Wufan and the Thought Reform?

Answer 20

• struggle sessions

- public denunciations

Question 21

What did a struggle session consist of? What came after it?

Answer 21

being brought in front of a mass meeting of workers and party activists and being made to confess to crimes

A punishment was then decided which could be purges, hard labour, execution, public denunciation or the imposition of large fines

Question 22

Why was a public denunciation or even a struggle session so harrowing for the accused?

Answer 22

The value of loss of face

Question 23

What did Zhou Qingli say about the severity of loss of face?

Answer 23

“so many wealthy people committed suicide at this time. They could not stand the thought of a public trial”

Question 24

What were ‘Speak Frankness’ meetings?

Answer 24

People confessed their sorrows at the wrongs they have committed and begged forgiveness