The "March of the Volunteers" (), originally titled the "March of the Anti-Manchukuo Counter-Japan Volunteers", has been the official

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and Europea ...

of the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

since 1978. Unlike previous Chinese state anthems, it was written entirely in

vernacular Chinese Written vernacular Chinese, also known as Baihua () or Huawen (), is the forms of written Chinese based on the varieties of Chinese spoken throughout China, in contrast to Classical Chinese, the written standard used during imperial China up ...

, rather than in

Classical Chinese Classical Chinese, also known as Literary Chinese (古文 ''gǔwén'' "ancient text", or 文言 ''wényán'' "text speak", meaning "literary language/speech"; modern vernacular: 文言文 ''wényánwén'' "text speak text", meaning "literar ...

. The

Japanese invasion of Manchuria The Empire of Japan's Kwantung Army invaded Manchuria on 18 September 1931, immediately following the Mukden Incident. At the war's end in February 1932, the Japanese established the puppet state of Manchukuo. Their occupation lasted until the ...

saw a boom of nationalistic arts and literature in China. This song had its lyrics written first by the communist playwright

Tian Han Tian Han ( zh, 田汉; 12 March 1898 – 10 December 1968), formerly romanized as T'ien Han, was a Chinese drama activist, playwright, a leader of revolutionary music and films, as well as a translator and poet. He emerged at the time of the ...

in 1934, then set to melody by

Nie Er Nie Er (14 February 1912 – 17 July 1935), born Nie Shouxin, courtesy name Ziyi (子義 or 子藝), was a Chinese composer best known for "March of the Volunteers", the national anthem of People's Republic of China. In numerous Shanghai magaz ...

and

arranged In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchest ...

by Aaron Avshalomov for the communist-aligned

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmospher ...

'' Children of Troubled Times'' (1935). It became a famous

military song A war song is a musical composition that relates to war, or a society's attitudes towards war. They may be pro-war, anti-war, or simply a description of everyday life during war times. It is possible to classify these songs by historical conflict ...

during the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific T ...

beyond the communist faction, most notably the Nationalist general Dai Anlan designated it to be the anthem of the

200th Division The 200th Division ({{zh, t=第200師, s=第200师, w=Ti 200 Shih, p=Dì 200 Shī) was the first mechanised division in the National Revolutionary Army. It was created in 1938 by General Du Yuming, who was also its first commander. Its first act ...

, who fought in Burma. It was adopted as the PRC's provisional anthem in 1949 in place of the "

Three Principles of the People The Three Principles of the People (; also translated as the Three People's Principles, San-min Doctrine, or Tridemism) is a political philosophy developed by Sun Yat-sen as part of a philosophy to improve China made during the Republican Era. ...

" of the

Republic of China (1912–1949) The Republic of China (ROC), between 1912 and 1949, was a sovereign state recognised as the official designation of China when it was based on Mainland China, prior to the Retreat of the government of the Republic of China to Taiwan, relocati ...

and the Communist "Internationale". In the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goa ...

, Tian Han was criticized and placed in prison, where he died in 1968. The song was briefly and unofficially replaced by " The East Is Red", then reinstated but played without lyrics, restored to official status in 1978 with altered lyrics, and finally the original version was restored in 1982.

History

The

lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a " libretto" and their writer, ...

of the "March of the Volunteers", also formally known as the National Anthem of the People's Republic of China, were composed by

in 1934 as two

stanza In poetry, a stanza (; from Italian ''stanza'' , "room") is a group of lines within a poem, usually set off from others by a blank line or indentation. Stanzas can have regular rhyme and metrical schemes, but they are not required to have ei ...

s in his poem "The

Great Wall The Great Wall of China (, literally "ten thousand Li (unit), ''li'' wall") is a series of fortifications that were built across the historical northern borders of ancient Chinese states and Imperial China as protection against Eurasian noma ...

" (), () intended either for a play he was working on at the timeRojas, Carlos
''The Great Wall: A Cultural History'', p. 132.
Harvard University Press (Cambridge), 2010. . or as part of the

script Script may refer to: Writing systems * Script, a distinctive writing system, based on a repertoire of specific elements or symbols, or that repertoire * Script (styles of handwriting) ** Script typeface, a typeface with characteristics of ha ...

for Diantong's upcoming film '' Children of Troubled Times''. The film is a story about a Chinese intellectual who flees during the Shanghai Incident to a life of luxury in

Qingdao Qingdao (, also spelled Tsingtao; , Mandarin: ) is a major city in eastern Shandong Province. The city's name in Chinese characters literally means " azure island". Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, it is a major nodal city of the One Belt ...

, only to be driven to fight the Japanese occupation of

Manchuria Manchuria is an exonym (derived from the endo demonym " Manchu") for a historical and geographic region in Northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day Northeast China (Inner Manchuria) and parts of the Russian Far East (Outer M ...

after learning of the death of his friend.

Urban legend An urban legend (sometimes contemporary legend, modern legend, urban myth, or urban tale) is a genre of folklore comprising stories or fallacious claims circulated as true, especially as having happened to a "friend of a friend" or a family m ...

s later circulated that Tian wrote it in jail on

rolling paper Rolling paper is a specialty paper used for making cigarettes (commercially manufactured filter cigarettes and individually made roll-your-own cigarettes). Rolling papers are packs of several cigarette-size sheets, often folded inside a cardboa ...

or the liner paper from cigarette boxes after being arrested in Shanghai by the Nationalists; in fact, he was arrested in Shanghai and held in

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), Postal Map Romanization, alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu Provinces of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and t ...

just after completing his draft for the film. During MarchLiu (2010)
p. 154
. and April 1935, in Japan,

set the words (with minor adjustments) to music; in May, Diantong's sound director He Luting had the Russian composer Aaron Avshalomov arrange their orchestral accompaniment. The song was performed by

Gu Menghe GU, Gu, or gu may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Gu (instrument), Chinese drums ** Bangu (drum) () or Gu (), a Chinese "flowerpot" drum * ''Global Underground'', an electronic dance music compilation series Other media * GU Comics, an ...

and

Yuan Muzhi Yuan Muzhi (; March 3, 1909 – January 30, 1978) was an actor and director from the Republic of China and later of the People's Republic of China. Career As an actor, Yuan became extremely popular and took on the nickname "man with a thousan ...

, along with a small and "hastily-assembled" chorus; He Luting consciously chose to use their first take, which preserved the

Cantonese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding are ...

accent of several of the men. On 9 May, Gu and Yuan recorded it in more standard Mandarin for Pathé Orient's Shanghai branch ahead of the movie's release, so that it served as a form of advertising for the film. Originally translated as "Volunteers Marching On", the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

name references the several volunteer armies that opposed

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

'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". Sonsanddaughtersintimeofstormmovieposter

Sonsanddaughtersintimeofstormmovieposter

In May 1935, the same month as the movie's release, Lü Ji and other leftists in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

had begun an amateur choir and started promoting a National Salvation singing campaign,Liu Ching-chih. Translated by Caroline Mason
''A Critical History of New Music in China'', p. 172
Chinese University Press (Hong Kong), 2010. supporting mass singing associations along the lines established the year before by Liu Liangmo, a Shanghai

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...

leader. Although the movie did not perform well enough to keep Diantong from closing, its theme song became wildly popular:

musicologist Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some mu ...

Feng Zikai Feng Zikai (; November 9, 1898 – September 15, 1975) was an influential Chinese painter, pioneering ''manhua'' () artist, essayist, and lay Buddhist of 20th-century China. Born just after the First Sino-Japanese War and dying just before the end ...

reported hearing it being sung by crowds in rural villages from

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jiang ...

Hunan Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to ...

within months of its releaseMelvin, Sheila & al
''Rhapsody in Red: How Western Classical Music Became Chinese'', p. 129
. Algora Publishing (New York), 2004. and, at a performance at a Shanghai sports stadium in June 1936, Liu's chorus of hundreds was joined by its audience of thousands. Although Tian Han was imprisoned for two years, Nie Er fled toward the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

only to die en route in

, and Liu Liangmo eventually fled to the U.S. to escape harassment from the Nationalists. The singing campaign continued to expand, particularly after the December 1936

Xi'an Incident The Xi'an Incident, previously romanized as the Sian Incident, was a political crisis that took place in Xi'an, Shaanxi in 1936. Chiang Kai-shek, leader of the Nationalist government of China, was detained by his subordinate generals Chang Hs ...

reduced

Nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

pressure against leftist movements. Visiting St Paul's Hospital at the

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

mission Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion *Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity *Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...

at Guide (now

Shangqiu Shangqiu (), alternately romanized as Shangkiu, is a city in eastern Henan province, Central China. It borders Kaifeng to the northwest, Zhoukou to the southwest, and the provinces of Shandong and Anhui to the northeast and southeast respectively ...

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

W.H. Auden Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in ...

and

Christopher Isherwood Christopher William Bradshaw Isherwood (26 August 1904 – 4 January 1986) was an Anglo-American novelist, playwright, screenwriter, autobiographer, and diarist. His best-known works include '' Goodbye to Berlin'' (1939), a semi-autobiographical ...

reported hearing a "Chee Lai!" treated as a

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' ...

at the mission service and the same tune "set to different words" treated as a favorite song of the

Eighth Route Army The Eighth Route Army (), officially known as the 18th Group Army of the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China, was a group army under the command of the Chinese Communist Party, nominally within the structure of the Chinese ...

Earliest form of the 1935 Volunteers Marching On anthem

The

Pathé Pathé or Pathé Frères (, styled as PATHÉ!) is the name of various French people, French businesses that were founded and originally run by the Pathé Brothers of France starting in 1896. In the early 1900s, Pathé became the world's largest ...

recording of the march appeared prominently in

Joris Ivens Georg Henri Anton "Joris" Ivens (18 November 1898 – 28 June 1989) was a Dutch documentary filmmaker. Among the notable films he directed or co-directed are '' A Tale of the Wind'', '' The Spanish Earth'', ''Rain'', ''...A Valparaiso'', ''M ...

's 1939 '' The 400 Million'', an English-language documentary on the war in China. The same year, Lee Pao-chen included it with a parallel English translation in a

songbook A song book is a book containing lyrics for songs. Song books may be simple composition books or spiral-bound notebooks. Music publishers also produced printed editions for group singing. Such volumes were used in the United States by piano manu ...

published in the new Chinese capital

Chongqing Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), Postal Romanization, alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a Direct-administered municipalities of China, municipality in Southwes ...

; this version would later be disseminated throughout the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

for children's musical education during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

before being curtailed at the onset of the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

. The ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' published the song's

sheet music Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses List of musical symbols, musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chord (music), chords of a song or instrumental Musical composition, musical piece. Like ...

on 24 December, along with an analysis by a Chinese

correspondent A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is usually a journalist or commentator for a magazine, or an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, locati ...

. In exile in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1940, Liu Liangmo taught it to

Paul Robeson Paul Leroy Robeson ( ; April 9, 1898 – January 23, 1976) was an American bass-baritone concert artist, stage and film actor, professional football player, and activist who became famous both for his cultural accomplishments and for his p ...

, the college-educated

polyglot Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingualism, monolingual speakers in the World population, world's pop ...

folk-singing son of a

runaway slave In the United States, fugitive slaves or runaway slaves were terms used in the 18th and 19th century to describe people who fled slavery. The term also refers to the federal Fugitive Slave Acts of 1793 and 1850. Such people are also called free ...

.Liu Liangmo. Translated by Ellen Yeung. "The America I Know". ''China Daily News'', 13–17 July 1950. Reprinted a
"Paul Robeson: The People's Singer (1950)" in ''Chinese American Voices: From the Gold Rush to the Present'', pp. 207 ff.
University of California Press (Berkeley), 2006. Robeson began performing the song in

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

at a large concert in

Lewisohn Stadium Lewisohn Stadium was an amphitheater and athletic facility built on the campus of the City College of New York (CCNY). It opened in 1915 and was demolished in 1973. History The Doric-colonnaded amphitheater was built between Amsterdam and Conven ...

. Reportedly in communication with the original lyricist

, the pair translated it into EnglishLiang Luo
"International Avant-garde and the Chinese National Anthem: Tian Han, Joris Ivens, and Paul Robeson" in ''The Ivens Magazine'', No. 16
. European Foundation Joris Ivens (Nijmegen), October 2010. Accessed 22 January 2015. and recorded it in both languages as ("Arise!") for

Keynote Records A keynote in public speaking is a talk that establishes a main underlying theme. In corporate or commercial settings, greater importance is attached to the delivery of a keynote speech or keynote address. The keynote establishes the framework f ...

in early 1941.Chi, 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.
Woodrow Wilson Center Press (Washington, DC), 2007. Its 3- disc album included a booklet whose preface was written by

Soong Ching-ling Rosamond Soong Ch'ing-ling (27 January 189329 May 1981) was a Chinese political figure. As the third wife of Sun Yat-sen, then Premier of the Kuomintang and President of the Republic of China, she was often referred to as Madame Sun Yat-sen. ...

, widow of

Sun Yat-sen Sun Yat-sen (; also known by several other names; 12 November 1866 – 12 March 1925)Singtao daily. Saturday edition. 23 October 2010. section A18. Sun Yat-sen Xinhai revolution 100th anniversary edition . was a Chinese politician who serve ...

, and its initial proceeds were donated to the Chinese resistance. Robeson gave further live performances at benefits for the China Aid Council and United China Relief, although he gave the stage to Liu and the Chinese themselves for the song's performance at their sold-out concert at

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

Uline Arena The Uline Arena, later renamed the Washington Coliseum, was an indoor arena in Washington, D.C. located at 1132, 1140, and 1146 3rd Street, Northeast, Washington, D.C. It was the site of one of President Dwight D. Eisenhower's inaugural balls ...

on 24 April 1941.Gellman, Erik S
''Death Blow to Jim Crow: The National Negro Congress and the Rise of Militant Civil Rights'', pp. 136
. University of North Carolina Press (Chapel Hill), 2012. . Following the

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, j ...

and beginning of the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...

, the march was played locally in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

, and other locales in

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

; the Robeson recording was played frequently on

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

, American, and

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

radio; and a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

performed by the Army Air Force Orchestra appears as the introductory music to

Frank Capra Frank Russell Capra (born Francesco Rosario Capra; May 18, 1897 – September 3, 1991) was an Italian-born American film director, producer and writer who became the creative force behind some of the major award-winning films of the 1930s ...

's 1944

propaganda film A propaganda film is a film that involves some form of propaganda. Propaganda films spread and promote certain ideas that are usually religious, political, or cultural in nature. A propaganda film is made with the intent that the viewer will ad ...

The Battle of China ''The Battle of China'' (1944) was the sixth film of Frank Capra's ''Why We Fight'' propaganda film series. Summary Following its introductory credits, which are displayed to the Army Air Force Orchestra's cover version of "March of the Volunte ...

'' and again during its coverage of the Chinese response to the

Rape of Nanking The Nanjing Massacre (, ja, 南京大虐殺, Nankin Daigyakusatsu) or the Rape of Nanjing (formerly romanized as ''Nanking'') was the mass murder of Chinese civilians in Nanjing, the capital of the Republic of China, immediately after the Ba ...

. 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 Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, French authorities refused so many visas for its delegates that a parallel conference was held in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

.Santi, Rainer
and Networks" in ''Pax Förlag''">"100 Years of Peace Making: A History of the International Peace Bureau and Other International Peace Movement Organisations and Networks" in ''Pax Förlag''
. International Peace Bureau, January 1991. At the time,

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

had recently come under the control of the

Chinese Communists The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Ci ...

in the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on m ...

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 Guo Moruo (; November 16, 1892 – June 12, 1978), courtesy name Dingtang (), was a Chinese author, poet, historian, archaeologist, and government official. Biography Family history Guo Moruo, originally named Guo Kaizhen, was born on November ...

changed it for the event to "The Chinese nation has arrived at its moment of emancipation". The song was personally performed by Paul Robeson. In June, a committee was set up by the

Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victoriou ...

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. The ''March of the Volunteers'' was suggested by the

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

Xu Beihong Xu or XU may refer to: People and characters * Xu (surname), one of two Chinese surnames ( or /), transliterated as Xu in English * ǃXu, a name for the ǃKung group of Bushmen; may also refer to the ǃKung language or the ǃKung people * ǃXu ...

and supported by

Zhou Enlai Zhou Enlai (; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was a Chinese statesman and military officer who served as the first Premier of the People's Republic of China, premier of the People's Republic of China from 1 October 1949 until his death on 8 J ...

. 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 Imperialism is the state policy, practice, or advocacy of extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economic control of other areas, often through employing hard power (economic and ...

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 Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC) ...

and, on 27 September 1949, the song became the provisional national anthem, just days before the founding of the

People's Republic People's republic is an official title, usually used by some currently or formerly communist or left-wing states. It is mainly associated with Soviet republic (system of government), soviet republics, socialist states following People's democracy ...

. Resolution on the Capital, Calendar, National Anthem, and National Flag of the People's Republic of China. 1st

Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC, zh, 中国人民政治协商会议), also known as the People's PCC (, ) or simply the PCC (), is a political advisory body in the People's Republic of China and a central part of ...

(Beijing), 27 September 1949. Hosted at

Wikisource Wikisource is an online digital library of free-content textual sources on a wiki, operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. Wikisource is the name of the project as a whole and the name for each instance of that project (each instance usually rep ...

. The highly fictionalized

biopic A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of a non-fictional or historically-based person or people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudra ...

'' 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

's point of view. 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 Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...

until the 1990s. The 1 February 1966 ''

People's Daily The ''People's Daily'' () is the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The newspaper provides direct information on the policies and viewpoints of the CCP. In addition to its main Chinese-language ...

'' article condemning

's 1961 allegory, allegorical Peking opera ''Xie Yaohuan'' as a "big poisonous weed" was one of the opening salvos of the

,Wagner, Rudolf G
"Tian Han's Peking Opera ''Xie Yaohuan'' (1961)" in ''The Contemporary Chinese Historical Drama: Four Studies'', pp. 80 ff.
University of California Press (Berkeley), 1990. 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. Following the 9th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, 9th National Congress, "The March of the Volunteers" began to be played once again from the 20th National Day (PRC), 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. The tune's lyrics were restored by the 5th National People's Congress on 5 March 1978, but with alterations including references to the Chinese Communist Party, communism, and Mao Zedong, Chairman Mao. Following Tian Han's posthumous rehabilitation (Soviet), rehabilitation in 1979 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. [''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. "National Anthem"
. State Council of the People's Republic of China (Beijing), 26 August 2014. Accessed 21 January 2015. March of the Volunteers

The anthem's status was enshrined as an amendment to the Constitution of the People's Republic of China on 14 March 2004.s:Constitution of the People's Republic of China, Constitution of the People's Republic of China, s:Constitution of the People's Republic of China#AMENDMENT FOUR, Amendment IV, §31. 10th National People's Congress (Beijing), 14 March 2004. Hosted at

. On 1 September 2017, ''The Law of the National Anthem of the People's Republic of China'', which protects the anthem by law, was passed by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and took effect one month later. The anthem is considered to be a national symbol of China. The anthem should be performed or reproduced especially at celebrations of Public holidays in China, national holidays and anniversaries, as well as sporting events. Civilians and organizations should pay respect to the anthem by standing and singing in a dignified manner. Personnel of the People's Liberation Army, the People's Armed Police and the People's Police of the People's Republic of China, People's Police of the Ministry of Public Security (China), Ministry of Public Security salute when not in formation when the anthem is played, the same case for members of the Young Pioneers of China and PLA veterans.

Special administrative regions

The anthem was played during the Hong Kong handover ceremony, handover of Hong Kong from the United Kingdom in 1997 and during the Transfer of the sovereignty of Macau, handover of Macau from Portugal in 1999. It was adopted as part of Annex III of the Basic Law of Hong Kong, taking effect on 1 July 1997,s:Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, s:Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region/Annex III, Annex III. 7th National People's Congress (Beijing), 4 April 1990. Hosted at

. and as part of Annex III of the Basic Law of Macau, taking effect on 20 December 1999.s:Basic Law of the Macao Special Administrative Region, Basic Law of the Macao Special Administrative Region, s:Basic Law of the Macao Special Administrative Region/Annex III, Annex III. 8th National People's Congress (Beijing), 31 March 1993. Hosted at

. 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 criminal law, criminally punishable by imprisonment of up to 3 years or up to 360 day-fines and, although both Chinese language, Chinese and Portuguese language, Portuguese are official languages of the region, the provided sheet music has its lyrics only in Chinese characters, Chinese. Mainland China has also passed a similar law in 2017. Nonetheless, the Chinese National Anthem in Standard Mandarin, Mandarin now forms a mandatory part of Secondary education in Hong Kong, public secondary education in Hong Kong as well.Ho (2011)
p. 36.
The local government issued a circular in May 1998 requiring government-funded schools to perform Flag of the People's Republic of China, flag-raising ceremonies involving the singing of the "March of the Volunteers" on particular days: the first day of school, the "Open day (school), open day", National Day (PRC), National Day (1 October), New Year's (1 January), the "sport day", Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Establishment Day, Establishment Day (1 July), the Graduation, graduation ceremony, and for some other school-organized events; the circular was also sent to the SAR's private schools. 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 and, by 2008, most schools were holding such ceremonies at least once or twice a year. From National Day (PRC), National Day in 2004, as well, Hong Kong's Local programming, local television networks—Asia Television, aTV, TVB, and Cable TV Hong Kong, CTVHK—have also been required to preface their evening news with government-prepared promotional videos including the national anthem in Mandarin.Vickers, 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
. Routledge (Abingdon), 2011. . Initially a pilot program planned for a few months, it has continued ever since. Viewed by many as propaganda,Wong, Martin
"National Anthem To Be Broadcast before News".
''South China Morning Post'' (Hong Kong), 1 October 2004. 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. 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.

Tune

\relative g' 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 Chinese music, our own national color". Nie's piece is a March (music), 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 in Chinese, "The ''Internationale''". 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 major pentatonic scale, however, create an effect of becoming "progressively more Chinese in character" over the course of the tune. For reasons both musical and political, Nie came to be regarded as a model composer by Chinese musicians in the Maoist era. Howard Taubman, the ''

'' 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".

Lyrics

Original version

1978–1981 version

Variations

The march has been remixed by various performers: * The music of the United States, American musician

recorded it in

and English for the 1941 album ''Chee Lai! Songs of New China''. * The Army Air Force Orchestra recorded an instrumental version as the theme for

's 1944 ''Why We Fight VI:

''. * The Slovenian music, Slovenian group Laibach (band), Laibach created an electronic version of the anthem with lyrics in both English and Mandarin for their album ''Volk (album), Volk''. * The music of the United Kingdom, British musician Damon Albarn included a loose and upbeat version on the Journey to the West (album), soundtrack to his musical theater, musical ''Monkey: Journey to the West''.Jones, Chris
"Monkey: Journey to the West Review"
. BBC Music (London), 2008. Accessed 18 December 2011. * The German musician Holger Czukay included a cut-up instrumental version on his album ''Der Osten ist Rot'' ("The East Is Red").

Notes

References

External links

*
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
"March of the Volunteers"
at ''National Anthems'' {{DEFAULTSORT:MARCH OF THE VOLUNTEERS Asian anthems National symbols of the People's Republic of China 1935 songs Chinese patriotic songs Chinese military marches Articles containing video clips National anthems Songs written for films National anthem compositions in G major