The Life of Wu Xun attained its unique status in Chinese movie history because of the lengthy political criticism campaign that was enacted against it. On May 20, 1951, after the editorial ''Ought to Emphasize the Discussion on 'The Life of Wu Xun'
was published in the People's Daily'', there emerged the very first large-scale excoriation of a film in the history of the People's Republic of China. Shortly after its release the film was personally denounced by
Mao Zedong. In the ''People's Daily'' Mao attacked Wu Xun as a liberal whose literacy programs implied that revolution was not necessary. A group of politicians, led by
Kang Sheng and Mao's wife
Jiang Qing, leveled charges against the film in order to discredit what they called "liberal" tendencies. As a result, the production staff of the film, and even the historical figure of
Wu Xun, suffered from extensive accusations. This campaign of criticism began a period when CCP politics severely interfered with the Chinese film industry. The reputation of the film was not completely restored until nearly forty years later, in 1986. ==References==