What do you think Mao meant when he called on students to root out the poisonous weeds in schools?

When Mao Zedong called on students to root out the poisonous weeds in schools during the Cultural Revolution, he was referring to the intellectuals, scholars, and teachers who were deemed to be politically incorrect or a threat to his regime. He believed that these individuals were spreading bourgeois ideology and revisionist ideas that went against the principles of Maoism, and that they needed to be eliminated in order to achieve true revolutionary change. By encouraging students to take up the task of rooting out these "poisonous weeds," Mao effectively mobilized them to attack anyone who was seen as a potential opponent or critic of his policies, often leading to widespread persecution, censorship, and violence.