Comrade, Master/Teacher, Mister, and Boss

At this time, as we approach the imminent end of a century, it is amusing to look back at the changes that have taken place in the manners in which people have addressed one another in society over the last hundred years. If we are to locate, among all the terms that relate to social address, those that are, as Raymond Williams calls them, the "keywords,"1 then, to be sure, the term tongzhi or comrade is bound to be at the head of the list.