The Anti-Rightist Movement (simplified Chinese: 反右运动; traditional Chinese: 反右運動; pinyin: Fǎn Yòu Yùndòng) in the People's Republic of China, which lasted from roughly 1957 to 1959, consisted of a series of campaigns to purge alleged "rightists" within the Communist Party of China (CPC) and abroad. The definition of rightists was not always consistent, sometimes including critics to the left of the government, but officially referred to those intellectuals who appeared to favor capitalism and were against collectivization. The campaigns were instigated by Chairman Mao Zedong and saw the political persecution of an estimated 550,000 people.