History Forum / General / British History / September 2007

Here's a little Requisite Culture 101 lesson for taf -- and other members of
the Great Poguenoscenti.

DSH

Lux et Veritas et Libertas

Deus Vult
----------------------------------------------------

Let a thousand flowers bloom

Meaning

Encourage many ideas from many sources.

Origin

Let a thousand flowers bloom is a common misquotation of Chairman Mao
Zedong's "Let a hundred flowers bloom; let a hundred schools of thought
contend". This slogan was used during the period of approximately six weeks
in the summer of 1957 when the Chinese intelligentsia were invited to
criticize the political system then obtaining in Communist China.

It is sometimes suggested that the initiative was a deliberate attempt to
flush out dissidents by encouraging them to show themselves as critical of
the regime. Whether or not it was a deliberate trap isn't clear but it is
the case that many of those who put forward views that were unwelcome to Mao
were executed.

<http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/226950.html>
---------------------------------------------------------

Indeed...

Precisely.

Let a thousand flowers bloom...

And smoke out those dissidents.  <g>

DSH

Lux et Veritas et Libertas

"Douglas Richardson" <royalancestry@msn.com> wrote in message
news:1190226585.592264.167160@n39g2000hsh.googlegroups.com...