Intellectuals that criticized the communist government in china during the hundred flowers movement were?
protected under constitutional rights guaranteeing freedom of speech in china
often promoted to higher positions at universities and within the government
largely ignored by peasants and the government who did not agree with the criticism
thrown in jail, fired from their jobs, or forced into labor positions

thrown in jail, fired from their jobs, or forced into labor positions

The Hundred Flowers Campaign, also termed the Hundred Flowers Movement, [ (simplified Chinese: ; traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: B?ihu? y?nd?ng) was a period in 1956 in the People's Republic of China during which the Communist Party of China (CPC) encouraged its citizens to openly express their opinions of the communist regime. Differing views and solutions to national policy were encouraged based on the famous expression by Communist Party Chairman Mao Zedong: "The policy of letting a hundred flowers bloom and a hundred schools of thought contend is designed to promote the flourishing of the arts and the progress of science". After this brief period of liberalization, Mao abruptly changed course. The crackdown continued through 1957 as an Anti-Rightist Campaign against those who were critical of the regime and its ideology. Those targeted were publicly criticized and condemned to prison labor camps. Mao remarked at the time that he had "enticed the snakes out of their caves." The first part of the phrase is often remembered in the West as "let a hundred flowers bloom". It is used to refer to an orchestrated campaign to flush out dissidents by encouraging them to show themselves as critical of the regime, and then subsequently imprison them. This view is supported by authors Clive James and Jung Chang, who posit that the campaign was, from the start, a ruse intended to expose rightists and counter-revolutionaries, and that Mao Zedong persecuted those whose views were different from the party's.

Southern secession is the event or issue that historians can gain insight from this excerpt.