The lyrics of the "March of the Volunteers", also formally known as the National Anthem of the People's Republic of China, were composed by Tian Han in 1934[8] as two stanzas in his poem "The Great Wall" (萬里長城), (义勇军进行曲) intended either for a play he was working on at the time[9] or as part of the script for Diantong's upcoming film Children of Troubled Times.[10] The film is a story about a Chinese intellectual who flees during the Shanghai Incident to a life of luxury in Qingdao, only to be driven to fight the Japanese occupation of Manchuria after learning of the death of his friend. Urban legends later circulated that Tian wrote it in jail on rolling paper[9] or the liner paper from cigarette boxes[11] after being arrested in Shanghai by the Nationalists; in fact, he was arrested in Shanghai and held in Nanjing just after completing his draft for the film.[10] During March[12] and April 1935,[10] in Japan, Nie Er set the words (with minor adjustments)[10] to music; in May, Diantong's sound director He Luting had the Russian composer Aaron Avshalomov arrange their orchestral accompaniment.[13] The song was performed by Gu Menghe and Yuan Muzhi, along with a small and "hastily-assembled" chorus; He Luting consciously chose to use their first take, which preserved the Cantonese accent of several of the men.[10] On 9 May, Gu and Yuan recorded it in more standard Mandarin for Pathé Orient's Shanghai branch[d] ahead of the movie's [clarification needed] release, so that it served as a form of advertising for the film.[13]
Originally translated as "Volunteers Marching On",[14][15] the English name references the several volunteer armies that opposed Japan's invasion of Manchuria in the 1930s; the Chinese name is a poetic variation—literally, the "Righteous and Brave Armies"—that also appears in other songs of the time, such as the 1937 "Sword March".
In May 1935, the same month as the movie's [clarification needed] release, Lü Ji and other leftists in Shanghai had begun an amateur choir and started promoting a National Salvation singing campaign,[16] supporting mass singing associations along the lines established the year before by Liu Liangmo, a Shanghai YMCA leader.[10][17] Although the movie [clarification needed] did not perform well enough to keep Diantong from closing, its theme song became wildly popular: musicologistFeng Zikai reported hearing it being sung by crowds in rural villages from Zhejiang to Hunan within months of its release[11] and, at a performance at a Shanghai sports stadium in June 1936, Liu's chorus of hundreds was joined by its audience of thousands.[10] Although Tian Han was imprisoned for two years,[13] Nie Er fled to the Soviet Union, only to die en route in Japan;[12][e] and Liu Liangmo eventually fled to the U.S. to escape harassment from the Nationalists.[18] The singing campaign continued to expand, particularly after the December 1936 Xi'an Incident reduced Nationalist pressure against leftist movements.[16] Visiting St Paul's Hospital at the Anglicanmission at Guide (now Shangqiu, Henan), W.H. Auden and Christopher Isherwood reported hearing a "Chee Lai!" treated as a hymn at the mission service and the same tune "set to different words" treated as a favorite song of the Eighth Route Army.[19]
The "March of the Volunteers" was used as the Chinese national anthem for the first time at the World Peace Conference in April 1949. Originally intended for Paris, French authorities refused so many visas for its delegates that a parallel conference was held in Prague, Czechoslovakia.[27] At the time, Beijing had recently come under the control of the Chinese Communists in the Chinese Civil War and its delegates attended the Prague conference in China's name. There was controversy over the third line, "The Chinese nation faces its greatest peril", so the writer Guo Moruo changed it for the event to "The Chinese nation has arrived at its moment of emancipation". The song was personally performed by Paul Robeson.[13]
In June, a committee was set up by the Chinese Communist Party to decide on an official national anthem for the soon-to-be declared People's Republic of China. By the end of August, the committee had received 632 entries totaling 694 different sets of scores and lyrics.[10] The March of the Volunteers was suggested by the painterXu Beihong[28] and supported by Zhou Enlai.[10] Opposition to its use centered on the third line, as "The Chinese people face their greatest peril" suggested that China continued to face difficulties. Zhou replied, "We still have imperialist enemies in front of us. The more we progress in development, the more the imperialists will hate us, seek to undermine us, attack us. Can you say that we won't be in peril?" His view was supported by Mao Zedong and, on 27 September 1949, the song became the provisional national anthem, just days before the founding of the People's Republic.[29] The highly fictionalized biopicNie Er was produced in 1959 for its 10th anniversary; for its 50th in 1999, The National Anthem retold the story of the anthem's composition from Tian Han's point of view.[10]
Although the song had been popular among Nationalists during the war against Japan, its performance was then banned in the territories of the Republic of China until the 1990s.[citation needed]
The 1 February 1966 People's Daily article condemning Tian Han's 1961 allegoricalPeking operaXie Yaohuan as a "big poisonous weed"[30] was one of the opening salvos of the Cultural Revolution,[31] during which he was imprisoned and his words forbidden to be sung. As a result, there was a time when "The East Is Red" served as the PRC's unofficial anthem.[i] Following the 9th National Congress, "The March of the Volunteers" began to be played once again from the 20th National Day Parade in 1969, although performances were solely instrumental. Tian Han died in prison in 1968, but Paul Robeson continued to send the royalties from his American recordings of the song to Tian's family.[13]
The anthem was restored by the 5th National People's Congress on 5 March 1978,[33] but with rewritten lyrics including references to the Chinese Communist Party, communism, and Chairman Mao. Following Tian Han's posthumous rehabilitation in 1979[10] and Deng Xiaoping's consolidation of power over Hua Guofeng, the National People's Congress resolved to restore Tian Han's original verses to the march and to elevate its status, making it the country's official national anthem on 4 December 1982.[33][34]
The use of the anthem in the Macau Special Administrative Region is particularly governed by Law No.5/1999, which was enacted on 20 December 1999. Article 7 of the law requires that the anthem be accurately performed pursuant to the sheet music in its Appendix 4 and prohibits the lyrics from being altered. Under Article 9, willful alteration of the music or lyrics is criminally punishable by imprisonment of up to two years or up to 360 day-fines[37][38] and, although both Chinese and Portuguese are official languages of the region, the provided sheet music has its lyrics only in Chinese. Mainland China has also passed a similar law in 2017.[39]
Hong Kongedit
Nonetheless, the Chinese National Anthem in Mandarin now forms a mandatory part of public secondary education in Hong Kong as well.[40] The local government issued a circular in May 1998 requiring government-funded schools to perform flag-raising ceremonies involving the singing of the "March of the Volunteers" on particular days: the first day of school, the "open day", National Day (1 October), New Year's (1 January), the "sport day", Establishment Day (1 July), the graduation ceremony, and for some other school-organized events; the circular was also sent to the SAR's private schools.[41][42] The official policy was long ignored, but—following massive and unexpected public demonstrations in 2003 against proposed anti-subversion laws—the ruling was reiterated in 2004[43][44] and, by 2008, most schools were holding such ceremonies at least once or twice a year.[45] From National Day in 2004, as well, Hong Kong's local television networks have also been required to preface their evening news with government-prepared[46] promotional videos including the national anthem in Mandarin.[44] Initially a pilot program planned for a few months,[47] it has continued ever since. Viewed by many as propaganda,[47][48][49] even after a sharp increase in support in the preceding four years, by 2006, the majority of Hongkongers remained neither proud nor fond of the anthem.[50] On 4 November 2017, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress decided to insert a Chinese National Anthem Law into the Annex III of the Basic Law of Hong Kong, which would make it illegal to insult or not show sufficient respect to the Chinese national anthem. On 4 June 2020, the National Anthem Bill was passed in Hong Kong after a controversial takeover of the Legislative Council.[51][52]
Tuneedit
A 1939 bilingual songbook which included the song called it "a good example of...copy[ing] the good points from Western music without impairing or losing our own national color".[20] Nie's piece is a march, a Western form, opening with a bugle call and a motif (with which it also closes) based on an ascending fourth interval from D to G inspired by "The Internationale".[53] Its rhythmic patterns of triplets, accented downbeats, and syncopation and use (with the exception of one note, F♯ in the first verse) of the G majorpentatonic scale,[53] however, create an effect of becoming "progressively more Chinese in character" over the course of the tune.[40] For reasons both musical and political, Nie came to be regarded as a model composer by Chinese musicians in the Maoist era.[12]Howard Taubman, the New York Times music editor, initially panned the tune as telling us China's "fight is more momentous than her art" although, after US entrance into the war, he called its performance "delightful".[13]
Lyricsedit
Original version for Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, and Englishedit
Arise! We who refuse to be slaves!
With our flesh and blood, let us build our new Great Wall!
The Chinese nation face their greatest peril.
From each one the urgent call for action comes forth.
Arise! Arise! Arise!
Us millions with but one heart,
Braving the enemy's fire, march on!
Braving the enemy's fire, march on!
March on! March on, on!
Arise! ye who refuse to be bond slaves!
With our very flesh and blood, Let us build our new Great Wall.
China's masses have met the day of danger,
Indignation fills the hearts of all our countrymen.
Arise! Arise! Arise!
Many hearts with one mind,
Brave the enemy's gunfire, March on!
Brave the enemy's gunfire, March on!
March on!, March on!, On!
1978–1981 versionedit
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
March on! People of all heroic nationalities!
The great Communist Party leads us in continuing the Long March,
Millions with but one heart toward a communist tomorrow,
Develop and protect the country in a brave struggle.
March on, march on, march on!
We will for generations,
Raise high Mao Zedong's banner, march on!
Raise high Mao Zedong's banner, march on!
March on! March on! On!
^Pathé's local music director at the time was the French-educated Ren Guang, who in 1933 was a founding member of Soong Ching-ling's "Soviet Friends Society"'s Music Group. Prior to his arrest, Tian Han served as the group's head and Nie Er was another charter member. Liu Liangmo, who subsequently did much to popularize the use of the song, had also joined by 1935.[13]
^Nie actually finalized the movie's [clarification needed] music in Japan and sent it back to Diantong in Shanghai.[10]
^The lyrics, which appeared in the Music Educators' Journal,[21] are sung verbatim in Philip Roth's 1969 Portnoy's Complaint, where Portnoy claims "the rhythm alone can cause my flesh to ripple" and that his elementary school teachers were already calling it the "Chinese national anthem".[22]
^This song was also sometimes spelled as Chi Lai or Ch'i-Lai.
^ abBasic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Annex III. 7th National People's Congress (Beijing), 4 April 1990. Hosted at Wikisource.
^ abBasic Law of the Macao Special Administrative Region, Annex III. 8th National People's Congress (Beijing), 31 March 1993. Hosted at Wikisource.
^ abConstitution of the People's Republic of China, Amendment IV, §31. 10th National People's Congress (Beijing), 14 March 2004. Hosted at Wikisource.
^曾永介 (25 December 2012). "淺談聶耳名歌「義勇軍進行曲」". 雲南文獻 (42). Yunnan Association of Taipei. Archived from the original on 14 April 2021.
^曹建民 (29 August 2013). "中华人民共和国国歌的诞生源于长城抗战". Kuancheng History Museum, Hebei, China. Archived from the original on 18 August 2016.
^丛焕宇 (8 February 2021). "红色桓仁是国歌原创素材地". Liaoning Daily. Archived from the original on 6 November 2021 – via People.com.
^The politics of songs: Myths and symbols in the Chinese communist war music, 1937–1949. CT Hung. Modern Asian Studies, 1996.
^Huang, Natasha N. 'East Is Red': A Musical Barometer for Cultural Revolution Politics and Culture, pp. 25 ff.[permanent dead link]
^ abRojas, Carlos. The Great Wall: A Cultural History, p. 132. Harvard University Press (Cambridge), 2010. ISBN 0674047877.
^ abcdefghijklmnChi, Robert. "'The March of the Volunteers': From Movie Theme Song to National Anthem" in Re-envisioning the Chinese Revolution: The Politics and Poetics of Collective Memories in Reform China, pp. 217 ff. Archived 30 August 2017 at the Wayback Machine Woodrow Wilson Center Press (Washington, DC), 2007.
^ abcMelvin, Sheila & al. Rhapsody in Red: How Western Classical Music Became Chinese, p. 129 Archived 25 September 2018 at the Wayback Machine. Algora Publishing (New York), 2004.
^ abcLiu (2010), p. 154 Archived 7 November 2017 at the Wayback Machine.
^ abcdefghijkLiang Luo. "International Avant-garde and the Chinese National Anthem: Tian Han, Joris Ivens, and Paul Robeson" in The Ivens Magazine, No. 16 Archived 6 March 2019 at the Wayback Machine. European Foundation Joris Ivens (Nijmegen), October 2010. Accessed 22 January 2015.
^ ab《電通半月畫報》 [Diantong Pictorial], No. 1 (16 May) or No. 2 (1 June). Diantong Film Co. (Shanghai), 1935.
^Yang, Jeff & al. Once Upon a Time in China: A Guide to Hong Kong, Taiwanese, and Mainland Chinese Cinema, p. 136. Atria Books (New York), 2003.
^ abLiu Ching-chih. Translated by Caroline Mason. A Critical History of New Music in China, p. 172. Chinese University Press (Hong Kong), 2010.
^Gallicchio, Marc. The African American Encounter with Japan & China, p. 164. Archived 25 September 2018 at the Wayback Machine University of North Carolina Press (Chapel Hill), 2000.
^ abcLiu Liangmo. Translated by Ellen Yeung. "The America I Know". China Daily News, 13–17 July 1950. Reprinted as "Paul Robeson: The People's Singer (1950)" in Chinese American Voices: From the Gold Rush to the Present, pp. 207 ff. Archived 30 August 2017 at the Wayback Machine University of California Press (Berkeley), 2006.
^Deane, Hugh. Good Deeds & Gunboats: Two Centuries of American-Chinese Encounters, p. 169. China Books & Periodicals (Chicago), 1990.
^ abGellman, Erik S. Death Blow to Jim Crow: The National Negro Congress and the Rise of Militant Civil Rights, pp. 136 Archived 30 August 2017 at the Wayback Machine. University of North Carolina Press (Chapel Hill), 2012. ISBN 9780807835319.
^Robeson, Paul Jr. The Undiscovered Paul Robeson: Quest for Freedom, 1939–1976, pp. 25 f Archived 30 August 2017 at the Wayback Machine. John Wiley & Sons (Hoboken), 2010.
^Eagan, Daniel. America's Film Legacy: The Authoritative Guide to the Landmark Movies in the National Film Registry, pp. 390 f. Archived 1 December 2018 at the Wayback Machine Continuum International (New York), 2010.
^Santi, Rainer. "100 Years of Peace Making: A History of the International Peace Bureau and Other International Peace Movement Organisations and Networks" in Pax Förlag Archived 21 March 2019 at the Wayback Machine. International Peace Bureau, January 1991.
^Liao Jingwen. Translated by Zhang Peiji. Xu Beihong: Life of a Master Painter, pp. 323 f. Foreign Language Press (Beijing), 1987.
^Resolution on the Capital, Calendar, National Anthem, and National Flag of the People's Republic of China. 1st Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (Beijing), 27 September 1949. Hosted at Wikisource.
^"T'ien Han and his Play Hsieh Yao-huan". Current Background (784). Hong Kong: American Consulate General: 1. 30 March 1966.
^Wagner, Rudolf G. "Tian Han's Peking Opera Xie Yaohuan (1961)" in The Contemporary Chinese Historical Drama: Four Studies, pp. 80 ff. Archived 19 November 2018 at the Wayback Machine University of California Press (Berkeley), 1990. ISBN 9780520059542
^Miller, Toby (2003). "Broadcasting and Politics Spread Across the World" in Television: Critical Concepts in Media and Cultural Studies, Vol. I, p. 361. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9780415255035. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
^ abc《中华人民共和国国歌》 [Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó Guógē, "National Anthem of the People's Republic of China"]. State Council of the People's Republic of China (Beijing), 2015. Accessed 21 January 2015. (in Chinese)
^中华人民共和国国歌法 [The Law of the National Anthem of the People's Republic of China] (PDF) (in Chinese). The National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China. 1 September 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 September 2017. Retrieved 6 December 2017.
^Ho Wai-chung. School Music Education and Social Change in Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, p. 69. Archived 3 January 2019 at the Wayback Machine Koninklijke Brill NV (Leiden), 2011. ISBN 9789004189171.
^第5/1999號法律 國旗、國徽及國歌的使用及保護 [Dì 5/1999 Háo Fǎlǜ: Guóqí, Guóhuī jí Guógē de Shǐyòng jí Bǎohù, "Law №5/1999: The Use and Protection of the National Flag, National Emblem, and National Anthem"]. Legislative Assembly (Macao), 20 December 1999. Hosted at the Chinese Wikisource. (in Chinese)
^Lei n.º 5/1999: Utilização e protecção da bandeira, emblema e hino nacionais ["Law №5/1999: The Use and Protection of the National Flag, Emblem, and Anthem"]. Legislative Assembly (Macao), 20 December 1999. Hosted at the Portuguese Wikisource. (in Portuguese)
^"China's national anthem law takes effect". english.www.gov.cn. Archived from the original on 14 January 2020. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
^ abHo (2011), p. 36. Archived 7 November 2017 at the Wayback Machine
^Ho (2011), pp. 89 ff. Archived 7 November 2017 at the Wayback Machine
^Lee, Wing On. "The Development of Citizenship Education Curriculum in Hong Kong after 1997: Tensions between National Identity and Global Citizenship" in Citizenship Curriculum in Asia and the Pacific, p. 36. Archived 7 November 2017 at the Wayback Machine Comparative Education Research Centre (Hong Kong), 2008.
^Riemenschnitter, Andrea; Madsen, Deborah L. (August 2009). "Positioning at the Margins" in Diasporic Histories: Cultural Archives of Chinese Transnationalism, pp. 57 f. Hong Kong University Press. ISBN 9789622090804. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
^ abVickers, Edward. "Learning to Love the Motherland: 'National Education' in Post-Retrocession Hong Kong" in Designing History in East Asian Textbooks: Identity Politics and Transnational Aspirations, p. 94 Archived 7 November 2017 at the Wayback Machine. Routledge (Abingdon), 2011. ISBN 9780415602525.
^Mathews, Gordon & al. Hong Kong, China: Learning to Belong to a Nation, p. 89. Archived 7 November 2017 at the Wayback Machine Routledge (Abingdon), 2008. ISBN 0415426545.
^Hong Kong 2004: Education: "Committee on the Promotion of Civic Education" Archived 4 July 2019 at the Wayback Machine. Government Yearbook (Hong Kong), 2015. Accessed 25 January 2015.
^ abWong, Martin. "National Anthem To Be Broadcast before News". Archived 16 August 2019 at the Wayback MachineSouth China Morning Post (Hong Kong), 1 October 2004.
^Luk, Helen. "Chinese National Anthem Video Draws Fire from Hong Kong People" Archived 25 January 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Associated Press, 7 October 2004.
^Jones, Carol. "Lost in China? Mainlandisation and Resistance in Post-1997 Hong Kong" in Taiwan in Comparative Perspective, Vol. 5, pp. 28–ff. Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine London School of Economics (London), July 2014.
^Mathews & al. (2008), p. 104. Archived 7 November 2017 at the Wayback Machine
^"Chaos at Hong Kong's legislature as lawmakers battle for control of committee". HKFP. 5 May 2020. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
^"Hong Kong passes bill criminalising disrespect of Chinese national anthem". ABC News. 4 June 2020. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
^ abHoward, Joshua (2014). ""Music for a National Defense": Making Martial Music During the Anti-Japanese War". Cross-Currents. 13: 11–12. Archived from the original on 2 October 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
^Paul Robeson's "Chee Lai!" Audio hosted at the Internet Archive. Lyrics and sheet music[j] hosted at Political Folk Music. Accessed 22 January 2015.
^Bonner, David. Revolutionizing Children's Records: 1946–1977, pp. 47 f. Archived 5 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine Scarecrow Press (Plymouth), 2008.
^Anderson, Rick. "Laibach: Volk" Archived 2 November 2016 at the Wayback Machine. AllMusic (San Francisco), 2015. Accessed 22 January 2015.
^Jones, Chris. "Monkey: Journey to the West Review" Archived 14 May 2020 at the Wayback Machine. BBC Music (London), 2008. Accessed 18 December 2011.
External linksedit
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
March of the Volunteers
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
zh:中华人民共和国第五届全国人民代表大会第一次会议关于中华人民共和国国歌的决定
中华人民共和国国歌 (in Chinese (China)). Government of the People's Republic of China.
National Anthem of the People's Republic of China (EN)
Official instrumental version, hosted by the People's Republic of China
Semi-official vocal version, hosted by the China Internet Information Center