Boluan Fanzheng

Boluan Fanzheng was a political campaign launched after Mao Zedong’s death to correct Cultural Revolution-era injustices, restore institutions, and reestablish order in China.

Cultural Revolution: A mass political movement in China from 1966 to 1976 that disrupted institutions and led to widespread persecution. The campaign defined itself against this decade of upheaval and sought to repair its damage.
Political rehabilitation in China: The reversal of political judgments and restoration of standing for people previously condemned by the Chinese Communist Party. Reversing wrongful verdicts was a direct means of correcting Cultural Revolution-era injustices.
Death of Mao Zedong: Mao Zedong died on September 9, 1976, ending his personal leadership of China. His death triggered a succession crisis and made reassessment of the Cultural Revolution politically possible.
Maoism: A political ideology derived from Mao Zedong’s writings and revolutionary practice. The campaign rejected key Cultural Revolution policies while retaining the Communist Party’s political monopoly.
Reform and Opening Up: China’s program of market-oriented economic reform and expanded foreign engagement that began in 1978. Political rehabilitation and restored institutions helped clear the way for this broader policy turn.
Hu Yaobang: A Chinese Communist Party leader who promoted the rehabilitation of people persecuted during earlier political campaigns. As a senior official, he became a leading force behind the campaign’s reviews and reversals.
Hua Guofeng: A Chinese Communist Party leader who succeeded Mao as party chairman and head of government. Hua initially supported the campaign while seeking to preserve Mao’s standing and his own authority.
Democracy Wall movement: A Chinese political movement from 1978 to 1979 that used wall posters to demand political openness and criticize official rule. Its calls for broader freedoms exceeded the campaign’s limited program of institutional and historical correction.
Chinese economic reform: The transformation of China’s economy from central planning toward market mechanisms, beginning in the late 1970s. The campaign restored expertise and stability that supported subsequent economic changes.
Mao Zedong: A Chinese Communist revolutionary and political leader who headed the People’s Republic of China from 1949 until his death in 1976. His death in 1976 opened the political space for the campaign’s reassessment of his era.

Linked from 4 pages