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Anti-Right Deviation Struggle

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Not to be confused with Anti-Rightist Campaign.

The Anti-Right Deviation Struggle (simplified Chinese: 反右倾斗争; traditional Chinese: 反右傾鬥爭), also known as the Anti-Right Deviation Campaign (simplified Chinese: 反右倾运动; traditional Chinese: 反右傾運動), was a political campaign launched by Mao Zedong in 1959 after the Lushan Conference, aiming at purging the "right-deviationists" or "right-opportunists" within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).[1][2][3][4] The struggle started with the purge of Marshal Peng Dehuai, then Minister of National Defense, who expressed disagreement with Mao over the radical policies of Great Leap Forward.[5][6][7] In total, over 3 million CCP members were purged or penalized during the campaign.[8] In the early 1980s, the purge of Peng Dehuai was categorized as "entirely wrong" by CCP during the Boluan Fanzheng period.[3][9]

History

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In 1957, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) under Mao Zedong launched the Anti-Rightist Campaign in mainland China, mainly targeting critics and intellectuals outside the CCP.[10][11] According to official published data, more than 550,000 people were persecuted during this campaign.[10][11]

In 1958, Mao launched the Great Leap Forward as well as the people's commune, but soon met criticisms within the CCP, notably from Marshal Peng Dehuai and his supporters.[12] During the Lushan Conference in July 1959, Peng submitted a letter of opinion to Mao, expressing concerns and disagreement over the radical policies of the Great Leap Forward.[5][6] As a result, Peng and his supporters including Huang Kecheng, Zhang Wentian and Zhou Xiaozhou were labelled as "anti-Party clique" and were subsequently purged.[5][6][7] Peng was persecuted to death later during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976).[6]

Immediately after the Lushan Conference, Mao launched the Anti-Right Deviation Struggle at the Eighth Plenary Session of the Eighth CCP Central Committee in August 1959.[1][2] Mao insisted that "Right opportunism is the main danger right now."[13] According to him, the Lushan Conference revealed the existence of a large group of "rightists" who were vulnerable to Western influence.[13] As a result, more than 3 million CCP members were labelled as "right-deviationists" or "right-opportunists", and were subsequently purged or penalized.[8]

Aftermath

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See also: Boluan Fanzheng and Chinese economic reforms

The Great Leap Forward contributed to the Great Chinese Famine (1959–1961), which caused the deaths of tens of millions of people in mainland China.[14][15] In the official Resolution on Certain Questions in the History of Our Party since the Founding of the People's Republic of China passed in 1981, the CCP called the purge of the so-called anti-Party group of Peng Dehuai and others as "entirely wrong" and cut short the process of the rectification of "Left" errors.[3][9] The 1981 Resolution also states that "It was mainly due to the errors of the Great Leap Forward and of the struggle against 'Right opportunism' together with a succession of natural calamities and the perfidious scrapping of contracts by the Soviet Government that our economy encountered serious difficulties between 1959 and 1961, which caused serious losses to our country and people."[3][9]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "An Illustrated History of the Communist Party of China". China Internet Information Center. Archived from the original on 2024-06-16. Retrieved 2024-12-28.
  2. ^ a b "中国共产党大事记·1959年" [Major events of the Chinese Communist Party (1959)]. People's Net. Archived from the original on 2024-08-08. Retrieved 2024-12-28.
  3. ^ a b c d "Resolution on Certain Questions in the History of Our Party since the Founding of the People's Republic of China". Wilson Center. Archived from the original on 2024-12-25. Retrieved 2024-12-28.
  4. ^ "Comment On The Report On Liaoning Province Carrying Out CPC Central Committee's Directive To Oppose Right-Deviation". Marxists Internet Archive. August 12, 1959. Retrieved 2024-12-28.
  5. ^ a b c Teiwes, Frederick C. (1986). Longpu, Zheng; Domes, Jurgen (eds.). "Peng Dehuai and Mao Zedong". The Australian Journal of Chinese Affairs (16): 81–98. doi:10.2307/2158776. ISSN 0156-7365.
  6. ^ a b c d "Peng Dehuai". People's Daily. Archived from the original on 2023-12-09. Retrieved 2024-12-28.
  7. ^ a b Kohlenberg, Paul Joscha (January 2017). "The Use of "Comrade" as a Political Instrument in the Chinese Communist Party, from Mao to Xi". The China Journal. 77: 72–92. doi:10.1086/688519. ISSN 1324-9347.
  8. ^ a b Wu, Shihong; Gao, Qi (2017-08-09). "邓小平与共和国重大历史事件（17）" [Deng Xiaoping and the major historical events of the People's Republic of China (17)]. People's Net. Guangan Daily. Archived from the original on 2024-06-06. Retrieved 2024-12-28.
  9. ^ a b c "关于建国以来党的若干历史问题的决议". The Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 22 October 2019. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  10. ^ a b King, Gilbert. "The Silence that Preceded China's Great Leap into Famine". Smithsonian. Archived from the original on 2019-10-14. Retrieved 2019-11-28.
  11. ^ a b Vidal, Christine (2016). "The 1957-1958 Anti-Rightist Campaign in China: History and Memory (1978-2014)". Hal-SHS. Archived from the original on 2019-11-28. Retrieved 2019-11-28.
  12. ^ Li, Rui (1999-09-27). "No Dissent". TIME. Archived from the original on 2024-12-28. Retrieved 2024-12-28.
  13. ^ a b Zhang, Yang (June 1, 2023). "Strategic Vigilance: Mao's "Anti-Peaceful Evolution" Strategy and China's Policy toward the United States, 1959–1976". Journal of Cold War Studies. 25 (2): 93–111.
  14. ^ Li, Wei; Yang, Tao (August 2005). "The Great Leap Forward: Anatomy of a Central Planning Disaster". Journal of Political Economy. 113 (4): 840–877. doi:10.1086/430804. ISSN 0022-3808.
  15. ^ Meng, Xin; Qian, Nancy; Yared, Pierre (2015-10-01). "The Institutional Causes of China's Great Famine, 1959–1961". The Review of Economic Studies. 82 (4): 1568–1611. doi:10.1093/restud/rdv016. ISSN 0034-6527.
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