Fengqiao experience first emerged in the Fenqiao District of
Zhuji,
Zhejiang as a way to mobilize the masses to address social conflicts at the grassroots level without needing the involvement of higher legal institutions. In 1963, as part of the
Socialist Education Movement launched by
Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party Mao Zedong, the
Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee published a document titled
Experiences in Struggling Against the Enemy During the Socialist Education Movement in Fengqiao District, Zhuji County (), summarizing the methods used in the Fenqiao District.
Xie Fuzhi, the minister of public security, made specific mention of the methods used in Fenqiao in the annual session of the
National People's Congress in 1963. On 20 November 1963, Mao wrote an instruction to Xie, writing "The example of Zhuji raised here is a good one — various regions should follow this example, expanding the work through pilot programs." On 20 November, he spoke with deputy minister of public security
Wang Dongxing, where he called on to educate and mobilize the masses based on the example in Zhuji. While the
Ministry of Public Security released materials about the methods, the ''
People's Daily never mentioned the Fenqiao experience until 21 December 1977, when it published an article titled Raising High the Red Flag of Fengqiao Erected by Mao Zedong, Relying on the Masses to Strengthen Dictatorship'' (), which stated: in 2013, Xi Jinping, now the
general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, became the first
paramount leader since Mao to mention the Fenqiao experience by issuing "important instructions on the development of the ‘Fengqiao experience’" to mark the 50th anniversary of Mao's written instructions. At the political report for the
20th Party National Congress in October 2022, Xi referred to the Fenqiao experience as a vital part of "social governance". In November 2023, Xi attended a conference on the Fenqiao experience, and also hosted representatives from local authorities that apply the Fengqiao experience in daily administration. In the conference,
Secretary of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission Chen Wenqing said China "must achieve that ‘small things do not leave the village, big things do not leave the town, and conflicts do not turn over’". == Content ==