The Anti-Rightist Campaign purged hundreds of thousands of Chinese intellectuals and critics, consolidating one-party CCP rule under Mao Zedong.
Key Facts
- Duration
- 1957 to roughly 1959
- Official victims (minimum)
- 550,000 people
- Estimated actual victims
- 1 to 2 million or higher people
- Launched by
- Chairman Mao Zedong
- Key figures
- Deng Xiaoping and Peng Zhen
- Rehabilitation
- Most victims rehabilitated after 1959
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Following the Hundred Flowers Campaign, in which Chinese citizens were encouraged to express opinions freely, the Chinese Communist Party leadership under Mao Zedong grew alarmed at the volume of criticism directed at the party and the state. Intellectuals, dissenters, and even some left-leaning critics were identified as threats to CCP authority.
Launched in 1957 and lasting until roughly 1959, the Anti-Rightist Campaign systematically identified and purged alleged 'Rightists' — officially defined as those favoring capitalism or opposing one-party rule and state collectivization. Deng Xiaoping and Peng Zhen played key organizational roles. At least 550,000 people were subjected to political persecution, with some estimates reaching two million or more.
The campaign severely curtailed political pluralism in China, effectively transforming the country into a de facto one-party state and silencing intellectual dissent for years. Most victims were eventually rehabilitated after 1959, and Deng Xiaoping later acknowledged that mistakes had been made during the campaign.