百花齊放

a hundred flowers bloom (idiom); let the arts have free expression

hundred / numerous / all kinds of

surname Hua

flower / blossom / CL:朵[duo3],支[zhi1],束[shu4],把[ba3],盆[pen2],簇[cu4] / fancy pattern / florid / to spend (money, time) / (coll.) lecherous / lustful

old variant of 花[hua1]

variant of 花[hua1] / flower / blossom / also pr. [wei3]

(name of states and dynasties at several different periods) / surname Qi

neat / even / level with / identical / simultaneous / all together / to even sth out

broadside / simultaneous fired cannonade

to put / to place / to release / to free / to let go / to let out / to set off (fireworks)

a hundred flowers bloom, a hundred schools of thought contend (idiom); refers to the classical philosophic schools of the Warring States period 475-221 BC, but adopted for Mao's campaign of 1956