Ten thousand years


In various East Asian languages, the phrase "ten thousand years" is used to wish long life, and is typically translated as "Long live" in English. The phrase originated in ancient China as an expression used to wish long life to the emperor. Due to the political and cultural influence of China in the area, and in particular of the Chinese language, cognates with similar meanings and usage patterns have appeared in many East Asian languages. In some countries, this phrase is mundanely used when expressing feeling of triumph, typically shouted by crowds.

China

The phrase wansui was once used casually to wish a person long life. The term's use was probably coined during Han dynasty. In 110 BC, Emperor Wu of Han was addressed by the phrase "Wansui" on Mount Song. According to legend, Mount Song itself called out the phrase to address the emperor. During the Tang dynasty, it came to be used exclusively to address the emperor as a prayer for his long life and reign. Then, during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, its use was temporarily extended to include certain higher-ranking members of the imperial court, but this tradition was relatively short-lived: in later imperial history, using it to address someone other than the emperor was considered an act of sedition and was consequently highly dangerous. During certain reigns of weak emperors, powerful eunuchs such as Liu Jin and Wei Zhongxian circumvented this restriction by styling themselves with jiǔ qiān suì so as to display their high positions, which were close to or even exceeded the emperor's, while still remaining reverent to the title of the emperor.
Traditionally, empresses consort and empresses dowager were addressed with "thousand years" rather than "ten thousand years", which was reserved for the emperor. However, Empress Dowager Cixi, the de facto supreme ruler of China from 1861 to 1908, was addressed with "ten thousand years". Several photographs of her show a banner on her litter reading "The Incumbent Holy Mother, the Empress Dowager of the Great Qing, ten thousand years, ten thousand years, ten thousand of ten thousand years". The Emperor was addressed by the title "Lord of Ten Thousand Years".

Usage

Classically, the phrase wansui is repeated multiple times following a person's name or title. For example, in ancient China, the Emperor would be thus addressed with. The foregoing phrase is best known to modern Chinese through televised films, but is not historically accurate; in the Ming dynasty, the only occasion during which 萬歲 is used is the great court, held thrice a year. Approaching the end of the ceremony, the attending officials will be asked to shout three times. An important distinction made in Chinese but not in English is the use of suì to mean year, rather than the equally common nián, which is also translated as year. The former is used as a counter for years of life, whereas the latter is used for periods of time and calendar years. Thus the phrase "ten thousand years" in its original sense refers to ten thousand years of life, and not a period of ten thousand years.
The significance of "ten thousand" in this context is that "ten thousand" in Chinese and many other East Asian languages represents the largest discrete unit in the counting system, in a manner analogous to "thousand" in English. Thus 100,000 in Chinese is expressed as 10 ten-thousands; similarly, whereas a million is "a thousand thousands" in Western languages, the Chinese word for it is bǎiwàn, which literally means "hundred ten-thousands". Because of this, Chinese people often use wàn in a manner analogous to "thousand" – whereas an English speaker might exclaim "there are thousands of ants on the ground", the Chinese speaker would substitute it with "ten thousand" in the description. So in the context of wànsuì, a literally incorrect but culturally appropriate translation might be, "may you live for thousands of years". The number simply denotes innumerability, in a manner etymologically similar to the Greek myriad.
During the Qing, at the entrances of mosques in China, a tablet was placed upon which the characters for Huangdi, wansui, wansui, wanwansui were inscribed, which means, "The Emperor, may he live forever". Westerners traveling in China noted the presence of these tablets at mosques in Yunnan and Ningbo.
During the Battle of Sihang Warehouse in 1937 during the Second Sino-Japanese War, Chinese civilians cheered "Zhōnghuá Mínguó wànsuì！" after raising the Flag of the Republic of China on a flag-raising ceremony, to celebrate their victory over the Japanese.
In August 1945, after Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek announced the defeat of Japan in the Second Sino-Japanese War, the people exclaimed "Jiǎng... Zhōngguó... Wànsuì... Wànwànsuì!", which means, "Chiang... China... live ten thousand years... live ten thousand ten thousand years".

Modern use

One of the most conspicuous uses of the phrase is at the Tiananmen gate in Beijing, where large placards are affixed to the gatehouse reading "中华人民共和国万岁"; ) and "世界人民大团结万岁"; ).
During the Cultural Revolution, the saying 毛主席万岁 was also common. After Mao's death, the phrase has never been used for any individual. Apart from these special cases, the phrase is almost never used in political slogans today. In casual conversation, however, the phrase is used simply as an exclamation of joy. For example, CCTV commentator Huang Jianxiang shouted "Yìdàlì wànsuì" during a game of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Taiwan-based singer Leehom Wang's 2007 album Change Me contains a song called "華人萬歲".
Within the Republic of China, shouting the phrase 中華民國萬歲;, translated as Long Live the Republic of China!) has been the final act ending presidential speeches on the National Day of the Republic of China, a tradition which was broken in 2016. It has been combined in recent years with another saying, 台灣民主萬歲 When this is said, everyone raises their right fists while standing.
Chinese authorities censored the phrase in 2018 after their decision to abolish term limits on the Chinese presidency. It was feared that it could be used ironically to mock the alleged aspirations of Xi Jinping to become president for life. Xi is also the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, the de facto paramount leader with no term limits.
In Cantonese, "ten thousand years" can also be a slang term for treating others to foods and drinks.

Japan

The Chinese term was introduced to Japan as banzai in the 8th century, and was used to express respect for the Emperor in much the same manner as its Chinese cognate.
Even earlier, however, according to the Nihongi, during the reign of Empress Kōgyoku, A.D. 642, 8th Month, 1st Day: The Emperor made a progress to the river source of Minabuchi. Here, he knelt down and prayed, worshipping towards the four quarters and looking up to the Heaven. Straightway there was thunder and a great rain, which eventually fell for 5 days, and plentifully bedewed the Empire. Hereupon the peasantry throughout the Empire cried with one voice: "Banzei" and said "an Emperor of exceeding virtue".
Banzei was later revived as banzai after the Meiji Restoration. Banzai as a formal ritual was established in the promulgation of the Meiji Constitution in 1889 when university students shouted banzai in front of the Emperor's carriage.
Around the same time, banzai also came to be used in contexts unrelated to the Emperor. The supporters of the Freedom and People's Rights Movement, for example, began to shout "Jiyū banzai" in 1883.
During World War II, banzai or its full form Tennōheika Banzai! served as a battle cry of sorts for Japanese soldiers. Ideally, kamikaze pilots would shout "banzai!" as they rammed their planes into enemy ships; although Japanese popular culture has portrayed this romanticized scene, it is unknown if any pilot actually did so. Its confirmed use by ground troops, however, was heard in numerous battles during the Pacific Campaign, when Japanese infantry units attacked Allied positions. As a result, the term "banzai charge" gained common currency among English-speaking soldiers and remains the most widely understood context of the term in the West to this day.

Modern use

Traditionally, "banzai" was an expression of enthusiasm, and crowds shouting the word three times, arms stretched out above their heads, could be considered the traditional Japanese form of applause. More formally, the word is shouted three times during the dissolution of the House of Representatives, and also as an acclamation at the enthronement of the Japanese Emperor.

Korea

The same term is pronounced manse in Korean. In Silla, it was used as a casual exclamation. It was a part of the era name of Taebong, one of the Later Three Kingdoms declared by the king Gung Ye in 911. During Joseon, Koreans used cheonse in deference to the Chinese emperor's ten thousand years.
In the 20th century, various protests against Japanese occupation used the term in their names, including a pro-independence newspaper established in 1906, the March 1st Movement of 1919, and the June 10th Movement of 1926.
In North Korea, manse was used to wish long life for Kim Jong-il, and for the political principles of his father, Kim Il-sung. It is now used to wish Kim Jong-un with a long life. Akin to the "banzai charge" used by Japanese servicemen during the Pacific War, the Korean People's Army used Widaehan Suryŏng Kim Ilsŏng Janggun Manse! as a charge mantra during the Korean War.
It is also used as a casual proclamation, commonly used as the English equivalent of "Victory."

Vietnam

In Vietnamese, "vạn tuế" is the phrase cognate to the Chinese wàn suì and is the Sino-Vietnamese reading of. However, this word is rarely used in the modern language, appearing instead only in China-related contexts. In other situations, "muôn năm" is used instead, and is frequently heard in communist slogans, such as "Hồ Chí Minh muôn năm!" and "Đảng cộng sản muôn năm!". Just like the Japanese banzai, it is said 3 times.
Muôn is the Old Sino-Vietnamese reading of the Chinese character 萬.
Tuổi is the Old Sino-Vietnamese reading of the Chinese character 歲. It is derived from the pronunciation of this character in Middle Chinese.
Năm is a native Vietnamese word that inherited from the Proto-Mon-Khmer language.
There are many ways to write the words muôn tuổi, muôn năm in chữ Nôm characters, for example:
In Portuguese the word "banzé", directly taken from the Japanese "banzai," is still used as meaning a lot of noise made by a gathering of people.