Historical Chinese anthems comprise a number of official and unofficial

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 European n ...

s of China composed during the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

and 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 ...

. "Chinese national anthem" may refer to: * "

March of the Volunteers The "March of the Volunteers" (), originally titled the "March of the Anti-Manchukuo Counter-Japan Volunteers", has been the official national anthem of the People's Republic of China since 1978. Unlike previous Chinese state anthems, it was ...

" of the People's Republic of China * "

National Anthem of the Republic of China The "Three Principles of the People" is the national anthem of the Republic of China as well as the party anthem of the Kuomintang. It was adopted in 1930 as China's national anthem and was used as such in mainland China until 1949, when the R ...

" of the Republic of China

''Tune of Li Zhongtang''

''Quasi-official'' In 1896, for purposes of diplomatic missions to

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and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

Li Hongzhang Li Hongzhang, Marquess Suyi ( zh, t=李鴻章; also Li Hung-chang; 15 February 1823 – 7 November 1901) was a Chinese politician, general and diplomat of the late Qing dynasty. He quelled several major rebellions and served in important ...

(Zhongtang being a term of respect for a

vizier A vizier (; ar, وزير, wazīr; fa, وزیر, vazīr), or wazir, is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in the near east. The Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called ''katib'' (secretary), who was a ...

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

) employed in political lyrics combined with classical Chinese music to create a song later known as the "Tune of Li Zhongtang" (李中堂樂).

''Praise the Dragon Flag''

''Quasi-official'' After the Department of the Army was established in 1906, ''Praise the Dragon Flag'' became the army song, and has been played at formal occasions overseas. ¹ 兆 usually means one trillion (10¹²), but it could mean one million (10⁶), and should have that value here in the song for factual accuracy. See

Chinese numerals Chinese numerals are words and characters used to denote numbers in Chinese. Today, speakers of Chinese use three written numeral systems: the system of Arabic numerals used worldwide, and two indigenous systems. The more familiar indigenous sy ...

for details.

''Cup of Solid Gold'' (1911–1912)

''Official'' The ''Cup of Solid Gold'' became the official national anthem of the

Qing Empire The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

in less than a week when the

Wuchang Uprising The Wuchang Uprising was an armed rebellion against the ruling Qing dynasty that took place in Wuchang (now Wuchang District of Wuhan), Hubei, China on 10 October 1911, beginning the Xinhai Revolution that successfully overthrew China's last i ...

occurred in 1911. It lasted for about one year until the end of the empire and the establishment of the

. It is 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 ...

''Song of Five Races Under One Union''

''Provisional'' After the establishment of the provisional government in

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

, the Ministry of Education under

Cai Yuanpei Cai Yuanpei (; 1868–1940) was a Chinese philosopher and politician who was an influential figure in the history of Chinese modern education. He made contributions to education reform with his own education ideology. He was the president of Pek ...

asked the public for possible anthems (as well as coats of arms), and "Song of Five Races under One Union" (五旗共和歌), with lyrics by Shen Enfu (沈恩孚) and music by Shen Pengnian (沈彭年), was released as a draft in the newspaper.

''How Great is Our China!''

''Unofficial'' Also called "Patriotic Song" (愛國歌), "How Great is Our China!" (泱泱哉，我中華！) has lyrics written by

Liang Qichao Liang Qichao (Chinese: 梁啓超 ; Wade–Giles, Wade-Giles: ''Liang2 Chʻi3-chʻao1''; Yale romanization of Cantonese, Yale: ''Lèuhng Kái-chīu'') (February 23, 1873 – January 19, 1929) was a Chinese politician, social and political act ...

and music by

overseas Chinese Overseas Chinese () refers to people of Chinese birth or ethnicity who reside outside Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. As of 2011, there were over 40.3 million overseas Chinese. Terminology () or ''Hoan-kheh'' () in Hokkien, refe ...

at Datong School (大同學校),

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...

. Released in 1912, it became quite popular, especially among students.

''Song to the Auspicious Cloud'' (1913–1928)

''Official'' The ''Song to the Auspicious Cloud'' has two versions, one used in 1913 and another after 1920.

First version

On April 8, 1913, this national anthem was used in the opening ceremony of the 1st Regular Council; the last line was added by Wang Baorong (汪寶榮), with other lines from ''

Shang Shu The ''Book of Documents'' (''Shūjīng'', earlier ''Shu King'') or ''Classic of History'', also known as the ''Shangshu'' (“Venerated Documents”), is one of the Five Classics of ancient Chinese literature. It is a collection of rhetorica ...

''; it was set to music by Jeans Hautstont.

Second version

In November 1919,

Duan Qirui Duan Qirui (; ) (March 6, 1865 – November 2, 1936) was a Chinese warlord and politician, a commander of the Beiyang Army and the acting Chief Executive of the Republic of China (in Beijing) from 1924 to 1926. He was also the Premier of the R ...

established the National Anthem Research Committee (國歌研究會), which adopted: * The lyrics (1920) by Zhang Taiyan (章太炎) from the

classic A classic is an outstanding example of a particular style; something of lasting worth or with a timeless quality; of the first or highest quality, class, or rank – something that exemplifies its class. The word can be an adjective (a ''c ...

"The Song to the Auspicious Cloud" (卿雲歌) from the ''

Book of Documents The ''Book of Documents'' (''Shūjīng'', earlier ''Shu King'') or ''Classic of History'', also known as the ''Shangshu'' (“Venerated Documents”), is one of the Five Classics of ancient Chinese literature. It is a collection of rhetorica ...

''. * The music (1921) by

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 ...

professor,

Xiao Youmei Xiao Youmei (, ; 7 January 1884 – 31 December 1940, styled as and ; formerly transliterated Shio Yiu-mei) was a noted Chinese music educator and composer. Life Xiao was born in Zhongshan County, Guangdong to a musical family. From an early ag ...

(蕭友梅). The anthem was released in July 1921 by the Department of National Affairs (國務院). ¹糺 (''jiū'' "collaborate") is sometimes written as 糾 (''jiū'' "investigate") or 織 (''zhī'' "to web")

''China Heroically Stands in the Universe'' (1915–1921)

''Official'' After general

Yuan Shikai Yuan Shikai (; 16 September 1859 – 6 June 1916) was a Chinese military and government official who rose to power during the late Qing dynasty and eventually ended the Qing dynasty rule of China in 1912, later becoming the Emperor of China. H ...

became head of state, the Ritual Regulations Office (禮制館) issued the new official anthem, ''China Heroically Stands in the Universe'' (中國雄立宇宙間) in June 1915. Its lyrics were written by Yin Chang (廕昌) and music by Wang Lu (王露).

''Song of the National Revolution''

''Provisional'' Written by officers of the

Whampoa Military Academy The Republic of China Military Academy () is the service academy for the army of the Republic of China, located in Fengshan District, Kaohsiung. Previously known as the the military academy produced commanders who fought in many of China ...

, the "Revolution of the Citizens" song (國民革命歌, ''Guomin Geming Ge''), sung to the tune of "''

Frère Jacques "Frère Jacques" (, ), also known in English as "Brother John", is a nursery rhyme of French origin. The rhyme is traditionally sung in a round. The song is about a friar who has overslept and is urged to wake up and sound the bell for the mati ...

'' (commonly known as "Two Tigers" in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

)," was released on July 1, 1926.

''The Internationale''

When the

Chinese Soviet Republic The Chinese Soviet Republic (CSR) was an East Asian proto-state in China, proclaimed on 7 November 1931 by Chinese communist leaders Mao Zedong and Zhu De in the early stages of the Chinese Civil War. The discontiguous territories of the CSR ...

was established in 1931,

the Internationale in Chinese "The Internationale" (french: "L'Internationale", italic=no, ) is an international anthem used by various communist and socialist groups; currently, it serves as the official anthem of the Communist Party of China. It has been a standard of th ...

was decided to be its national anthem, since it followed the ideals of

Communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

, especially 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 ...

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 ...

History of Chinese national anthems in a hundred years
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References

External links

This links to several of these anthems, including Audio, lyrics, and sheet music
{{National anthems of Asia

Anthems An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to short s ...

National symbols of China

Chinese patriotic songs

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 va ...