Why did Mao Zedong turn against intellectuals after the Hundred Flowers Campaign?

The Hundred Flowers Campaign was initially launched by Mao Zedong in 1956 to encourage open criticism of the Chinese Communist Party, with the expectation that such discourse would demonstrate the superiority of Marxism-Leninism and foster intellectual support for the regime.12

However, when intellectuals began openly denouncing government policies and party members in the spring of 1957, the scale of criticism far exceeded party expectations. Whether Mao intended the campaign as a "trap" to identify dissenters or simply reacted to unanticipated anti-party sentiment remains a subject of historical debate.123

Following this surge in criticism, the party signaled that the discourse had crossed acceptable boundaries. By June 1957, Mao and the leadership initiated an anti-rightist campaign, labeling critics as counterrevolutionaries. This shift resulted in severe retribution, including the loss of jobs, imprisonment, and forced manual labor for many intellectuals. The campaign effectively silenced dissent and consolidated the party's authority, shifting the political climate toward a more radical, state-controlled approach to development.123