The use of the phrase "ten thousand years" in various East Asian languages originated in ancient China as an expression used to wish long life to the Emperor, and is typically translated as "long live" in English. 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 appeared in many East Asian languages (see the table to the right for an overview of these). In recent times, the term has been associated with Imperial Japan (due to a Meiji-era reintroduction of the term as banzai) and with the Cultural Revolution in Mainland China, where it was used to laud Mao Zedong. Although its usage in both countries is now less common, it nevertheless does not engender a negative connotation and, e