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–Mao Zedong, June 1959 Faint dreams of old days curse time’s swift flowing tide,My homeland’s scenes recall thirty-two years’ pride.Red flags unfurl; serf’s halberds rise far and wide,Black hands hold high tyrant’s whips, cruel and applied.
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—Mao Zedong, Summer 1933 Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet hue,Who waves the colored ribbon high in view?After fresh rain the slanting sunbeams glow;Our mountains green and grand in steady flow.
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Prologue In the beginning, the world lay shrouded in darkness—an era named “Chaos.”