Inscription for Yang Buhao’s Birthday Congratulations[1]

(November 18, 1945)

Live as long as the people.

[1] Yang Buhao, an ordinary peasant from the Yan’an area in northern Shaanxi. Of shepherd origin, he once joined the Red Guards and the Communist Party. During the Great Production Campaign, he was named a labor hero of the border region and was a peasant friend of Mao Zedong. November 18, 1945, was Yang Buhao’s 40th birthday. Over 200 neighbors, relatives, and friends from seven surrounding villages came to offer congratulations. Mao Zedong also sent a representative to celebrate and presented him with a large red silk banner inscribed with “Live as long as the people,” along with 200,000 yuan, a woolen blanket, and two baskets of wine.