Struggle session

Struggle sessions were a form of public humiliation and torture used by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) at various times in the Mao era, particularly during the years immediately before and after the establishment of the People's Republic of China (PRC) and during the Cultural Revolution. The aim of struggle sessions was to shape public opinion, as well as to humiliate, persecute, or execute political rivals and those deemed class enemies.
In general, the victim of a struggle session was forced to admit various crimes before a crowd of people who would verbally and physically abuse the victim until they confessed. Struggle sessions were often held at the workplace of the accused, but they were sometimes conducted in sports stadiums where large crowds would gather if the target was well-known.
History.
Etymology.
According to Lin Yutang, the expression comes from "pīpàn" (, 'to criticize and judge') and "dòuzhēng" (, 'to fight and contest'), so the whole expression conveys the message of "inciting the spirit of judgment and fighting." Instead of saying the full phrase "pīpàn dòuzhēng", it was shortened to "pīdòu" ().
The term refers to class struggle; the session is held, ostensibly, to benefit the target, by eliminating all traces of counterrevolutionary, reactionary thinking.
Origins and Speak Bitterness sessions.
Struggle sessions developed from similar ideas of criticism and self-criticism in the Soviet Union from the 1920s. Chinese communists resisted this at first, as struggle sessions conflicted with the Chinese concept of 'saving face'. However, these sessions became commonplace at Chinese Communist Party (CCP) meetings during the 1930s due to public popularity.
Struggle campaigns emerged in China as a tactic to secure the allegiance of the Chinese people during the land reform (, "tǔdì gǎigé") campaign. That campaign sought to mobilize the masses through intensive propaganda followed by Speak Bitterness sessions (, "sùkǔ", 'give utterance to grief') in which peasants were encouraged to accuse land owners.
Development and disuse.
The strongest accusations in the Speak Bitterness sessions were incorporated into scripted and stage-managed public mass accusation meetings (, "kòngsù dàhuì"). Cadres then cemented the peasants’ loyalty by inducing them to actively participate in violent acts against landowners. Later struggle sessions were adapted to use outside the CCP as a means of consolidating its control of areas under its jurisdiction.
Struggle sessions were disowned in China after 1978, when the reformers led by Deng Xiaoping took power. Starting from the "Boluan Fanzheng" period, Deng prohibited struggle sessions and other kinds of Mao-era violent political campaigns.
Purpose.
Frederick T. C. Yu identified three categories of mass campaigns employed by the CCP in the years before and after the establishment of the People's Republic of China (PRC):
The process of struggle sessions served multiple purposes. First, it demonstrated to the masses that the party was determined to subdue any opposition (generally labeled “class enemies”), by violence if necessary. Second, potential rivals were crushed. Third, those who attacked the targeted foes became complicit in the violence and hence invested in the state. All three served to consolidate the party's control, which was deemed necessary because party members constituted a small minority of China's population.
Both accusation meetings and mass trials were largely propaganda tools to accomplish the party's aims. Klaus Mühlhahn, professor of China Studies at Freie Universität Berlin, wrote:
Julia C. Strauss observed that public tribunals were "but the visible dénouement of a show that had been many weeks in preparation".
Accounts.
Margaret Chu, writing retrospectively for the Cardinal Mindszenty Foundation's "Mindszenty Report" in November 1998, said:
Anne F. Thurston, in "Enemies of the People", gave a description of an infamous struggle session for the professor You Xiaoli: