“Ten thousand years, another ten thousand years, and yet another ten thousand years to our Great Teacher, Great Leader, Great Commander, and Great Helmsman Chairman Mao!” Each time the three “ten thousand”s and four “great”s were shouted out, everyone raised their Little Red Books in unison. My father would not do this. He said that the “ten thousand years” was how emperors used to be addressed, and it was unfitting for Chairman Mao, a Communist.
