ABSTRACT
Beginning with the Chinese Communist Revolution in 1949 until the death of its leader, Mao Zedong in 1976, it was virtually impossible to establish any group, let alone a political organization, that was not controlled or permitted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). There was, however, a small number of intellectuals, mostly literary figures, who criticized such Party policies which they regarded as repressive. Although they expressed themselves in their personal communications and subtly in their public writings, Mao publicly denounced them and the Party launched campaigns against them as well as against their ideas, silencing virtually all views that did not conform with Mao’s ideology and policies. Thus, during the Mao era (1949–76), except for a few brief periods when Mao allowed public criticism and relaxation of political controls, as during the Hundred Flowers period of 1956 and the first half of 1957, and a brief period in the early 1960s, anyone who criticized the Party or its policies was silenced and a number were imprisoned.
