Hundred Flowers

American  

noun

1. the 1957 political campaign in the People's Republic of China to encourage greater freedom of intellectual expression, initiated by Mao Zedong under the slogan “Let a hundred flowers bloom, let a hundred schools of thought contend.”

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Etymology

Origin of Hundred Flowers

Translation of Chinese bǎihuā ( qíf àng ) literally, (let bloom) a hundred flowers

Example Sentences

Commercial success did eventually catch up with Feinstein, via his late-career experiments with scanography, as he termed it, which led to the publication of seven coffee-table books beginning with One Hundred Flowers in 2000.

From The Guardian • May 5, 2019

As a student, he took part in the Hundred Flowers campaign in which Mao encouraged citizens to air grievances with the party.

From Washington Post • Apr. 27, 2016

One night she prepares an elaborate banquet in the Hundred Flowers Pavilion for an evening the emperor has promised will be intimate.

From New York Times • Aug. 21, 2014

When Mao launched his Hundred Flowers campaign, encouraging intellectuals and professionals to offer constructive criticism of the party, he created a political crisis by unleashing much deeper resentment than he had counted on.

From Time Magazine Archive

"Birthday of a Hundred Flowers" falls upon the fifteenth of the second spring-moon.

From Some Chinese Ghosts by Hearn, Lafcadio