The Struggles Against the "Three Evils" and "Five Evils"
These were the movements conducted between late 1951 and October 1952 against corruption, waste and bureaucracy (the "three evils") among staff of Party and government departments and against bribery, tax evasion, theft of state property, cheating on government contracts and stealing economic information (the "five evils") among private industrialists and business people.
In December 1951, the Party Central Committee issued two documents: the Decision on Streamlining Administration, Increasing Production and Practicing Economy, in Opposition to Corruption, Waste and Bureaucracy, and the Directive on Launching a Vigorous Attack Against Corruption. This was the beginning of a nationwide movement against the "three evils" during which criminal capitalists were found to have colluded with government staff in various crimes.
In January 1952, the Party Central Committee issued a directive on waging a large-scale movement against the "five evils" in cities within a definite time limit. This movement started in early February and soon began to expand.
The movements against the "three evils" and the "five evils" concluded by October 1952. They succeeded in controlling and eliminating a large number of criminal activities, and helped pave the way for the socialist transformation of capitalist industry and commerce.
“三反”“五反”运动
“三反”“五反”运动是1951年年底到1952年10月，新中国在党政机关工作人员中开展的“反贪污、反浪费、反官僚主义”和在私营工商业者中开展的“反行贿、反偷税漏税、反盗骗国家财产、反偷工减料、反盗窃国家经济情报”斗争的统称。
1951年12月，中共中央先后发出了《关于实行精兵简政、增产节约、反对贪污、反对浪费和反对官僚主义的决定》和《关于反贪污斗争必须大张旗鼓地去进行的指示》。从此，“三反”运动在全国展开。在“三反”运动中，又揭发出一些资产阶级不法分子同国家机关中的贪污分子内外勾结、从事犯罪活动的严重情况。
1952年1月，中共中央又发出《关于在城市中限期展开大规模的坚决彻底的“五反”斗争的指示》。2月上旬，“五反”运动首先在各大城市开始，并且很快形成高潮。
1952年10月，“三反”“五反”运动结束。这两场运动，打退了资产阶级的猖狂进攻，为实现对资本主义工商业的社会主义改造打下了坚实基础。