March of the Volunteers

义勇军进行曲 義勇軍進行曲 English: March of the Volunteers Yìyǒngjūn Jìnxíngqǔ Original album released by Pathé Records of Shanghai. National anthem of  People's Republic of China  Hong Kong  Macau Lyrics Tian Han, 1934 Music Nie Er, 1935 Adopted 1949-09-27 (provisional national anthem in mainland China)[1] 1982-12-04 (official status) 1997-07-01 (in Hong Kong)[2] 1999-12-20 (In Macau)[3] 2004-03-14 (Attained constitutional status)[4] Music sample March of the Volunteers (Instrumental) March of the Volunteers Traditional Chinese 義勇軍進行曲 Simplified Chinese 义勇军进行曲 Transcriptions Mandarin - Hanyu Pinyin Yìyǒngjūn Jìnxíngqǔ - Wade–Giles Iyungchün Chinhsingch'ü Cantonese (Yue) - Jyutping ji6 jung5 gwan1 Zeon3 hang4 kuk1 - Yale Romanization yi6 yung5 jyun1 Jin4 syin2 chyu3

March of the Volunteers (simplified Chinese: 义勇军进行曲; traditional Chinese: 義勇軍進行曲; pinyin: Yìyǒngjūn Jìnxíngqǔ) is the national anthem of the People's Republic of China (including the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region since 1 July 1997, and the Macau Special Administrative Region since 20 December 1999), written by the noted poet and playwright Tian Han with music composed by Nie Er. This composition is a musical march. The piece was first performed as part of a 1934 Shanghai play and its original lyrics are the official lyrics of the national anthem. In 2004, a provision that the March of the Volunteers be the national anthem was added to the Constitution of the People's Republic of China as Article 136.

Origins as national anthem

The earliest form of the 1935 Volunteers Marching On anthem still in the pre-PRC traditional Chinese characters in the Denton Gazette [3] newspaper

March of the Volunteers was composed by Nie Er to a text by Tian Han in 1934.^[5] Popular stories suggest, however, that Tian wrote it on a tobacco paper after being arrested in Shanghai and thrown into a Kuomintang (KMT) jail in 1935. The song was featured as the theme song of the 1935 patriotic film Sons and Daughters in a Time of Storm, also known as "Children of the Storm," a story about an intellectual who leaves to fight in the Second Sino-Japanese War. It was one of many songs that were promoted secretly among the population as part of the anti-Japanese resistance during the "left-wing cinema movement" (1931-37).^[6] The song was released as an album by the Pathé label of EMI in 1935.

It was used as the national anthem for the first time in an international conference in February 1949 held in Prague, Czechoslovakia. At the time Beijing had recently come under the control of the Chinese Communists in the Chinese Civil War. There was controversy over the line "The Chinese people faces their greatest peril". Historian Guo Moruo changed the line to "The Chinese people have come to their moment of emancipation" (中國民族到了大翻身的時候).^[7]

In June, a committee was set up by the Communist Party of China 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 6,926 submissions. March of the Volunteers was suggested by painter Xu Beihong and almost unanimously supported by the members of the committee. There was contention, however, over the issue of the third line. On this Zhou Enlai made the conclusive judgment: "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 of China.

Cultural Revolution and later history

During the Cultural Revolution, Tian Han was imprisoned, and the March of the Volunteers was therefore forbidden to be sung; as a result there was a period of time when "The East Is Red" was used as the unofficial national anthem. The anthem began to played once again from the 20th PRC National Day Parade in 1969 onward.

The March of the Volunteers was restored by the National People's Congress in 1978, but with different lyrics; however, these new lyrics were never very popular and caused a great deal of confusion. For example, the last sentence of the lyrics read "raise high Chairman Mao's banner".

During China's 1981 volleyball World Cup victories, both the old and new lyrics were sung simultaneously amongst fans.^[8] On 4 December 1982, the National People's Congress resolved to restore the original 1935 version by Tian Han as the official national anthem. Of note, the current lyrics do not mention either the Communist Party of China nor Mao Zedong and the reversion of the lyrics was symbolic of the downfall of Hua Guofeng and the cult of personality of Mao and the ascendancy of Deng Xiaoping.

The National People's Congress made the song the official PRC anthem in a 2004 amendment of the Constitution of the People's Republic of China. The anthem is mentioned immediately after the national flag.

Although popular among Nationalists during the Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945), the song was banned in the Republic of China, also known as Taiwan, until the 1990s.

Sheet music from Appendix 4 of Law n.o 5/1999 of Macau

The anthem was performed in an official capacity in Hong Kong for the first time^[9] following the handover of the territory to the PRC in 1997, and the handover of Macau in 1999. English translation of the anthem is adopted by the University of Hong Kong in significant events such as graduation ceremony.

The use of the anthem in Macau, China is governed in Law n.o 5/1999 (zh:第5/1999號法律, pt:Lei de Macau 5 de 1999) since 20 December 1999. Article 7 of the Law requires the national anthem to be accurately performed pursuant to the sheet music in Appendix 4 and prohibits the lyrics from being altered. Willfully failing to follow the sheet music or altering the lyric when performing the national anthem in public is criminally punishable by imprisonment of up to 3 years or up to 360 day-fines. The sheet music in Appendix 4 has the lyric in Chinese only without Portuguese translation even though both Chinese and Portuguese are official languages of Macau. There are no analogous laws in Hong Kong or in mainland China.

The anthem is written completely in Vernacular Chinese, while the "National Anthem of the Republic of China" is written in Classical Chinese.

Lyrics

Official lyrics (original and currently in use)

Simplified[10]	Traditional	Pinyin	English translation	Portuguese translation[11]
起来！不愿做奴隶的人们！ 把我们的血肉，筑成我们新的长城！ 中华民族到了最危险的时候， 每个人被迫着发出最后的吼声。 起来！起来！起来！ 我们万众一心， 冒着敌人的炮火，前进！ 冒着敌人的炮火，前进！ 前进！前进！进！	起來！不願做奴隸的人們！ 把我們的血肉，築成我們新的長城！ 中華民族到了最危險的時候， 每個人被迫著發出最後的吼聲。 起來！起來！起來！ 我們萬眾一心， 冒著敵人的炮火，前進！ 冒著敵人的炮火，前進！ 前進！前進！進！	Qǐlái! Búyuàn zuò núlì de rénmen! Bǎ wǒmen de xuèròu, zhùchéng wǒmen xīn de chángchéng! Zhōnghuá mínzú dào le zuì wēixiǎn de shíhòu. Měi ge rén bèi pòzhe fāchū zuìhòu de hǒushēng. Qǐlái! Qǐlái! Qǐlái! Wǒmen wànzhòngyìxīn, Màozhe dírén de pàohuǒ, qiánjìn! Màozhe dírén de pàohuǒ, qiánjìn! Qiánjìn! Qiánjìn! Jìn!	Arise! All those who don't want to be slaves! Let our flesh and blood forge our new Great Wall! As the Chinese people have arrived at their most dangerous time. Every person is forced to expel his very last cry. Arise! Arise! Arise! Our million hearts beating as one, Brave the enemy's fire, March on! Brave the enemy's fire, March on! March on! March on! On!

Altered lyrics (1978−1982; unofficial or not amended to constitution)

Simplified[12][13]	Traditional	Pinyin	English Translation
前进！各民族英雄的人民！* 伟大的共产党领导我们继续长征。* 万众一心奔向共产主义明天， 建设祖国保卫祖国英勇地斗争。 前进！前进！前进！ 我们千秋万代 高举毛泽东旗帜，前进！ 高举毛泽东旗帜，前进！ 前进！ 前进！ 进！	前進！各民族英雄的人民！ 偉大的共產黨領導我們繼續長征。 萬眾一心奔向共產主義明天， 建設祖國保衛祖國英勇地鬥爭。 前進！前進！前進！ 我們千秋萬代 高舉毛澤東旗幟，前進！ 高舉毛澤東旗幟，前進！ 前進！ 前進！進！	Qiánjìn! Gè mínzú yīngxióng de rénmín, Wěidà de gòngchǎndǎng lǐngdǎo wǒmen jìxù chángzhēng. Wànzhòngyīxīn bēnxiàng gòngchǎnzhǔyì míngtiān, Jiànshè zǔgúo bǎowèi zǔgúo yīngyǒng de dòuzhēng. Qiánjìn! Qiánjìn! Qiánjìn! Wǒmen qiānqīuwàndài Gāojǔ Máo Zédōng qízhì, Qiánjìn! Gāojǔ Máo Zédōng qízhì, Qiánjìn! Qiánjìn! Qiánjìn! Jìn!	March on! Heroes of every nationality! The great Communist Party leads us in continuing the Long March, Millions with but one heart toward a communist tomorrow, Bravely struggle to develop and protect the motherland. March on, march on, march on! We will for many generations, Raise high Mao Zedong's banner, march on! Raise high Mao Zedong's banner, march on! March on! March on! On!

*The rhythm in these lines is actually slightly altered, though the number of syllables is the same as with the original.

Musical references

The tune has been referenced in other musical compositions:

• The American musician Paul Robeson sang it in Russia and the USA (for an audience of 7,000 at an open concert in New York City in 1940), both in English and Chinese, with his own modified lyrics to more specifically address African Americans, as he also did with his unofficial translation of the National Anthem of the Soviet Union. In both cases he kept the tune of the original song.^[14][15]
• The Slovenian group Laibach created an electronic version of the anthem with lyrics in both English and Mandarin^[16] for their album Volk.^[17]
• The British musician Damon Albarn included a loose and upbeat version in his soundtrack based on the stage musical Monkey: Journey to the West.^[18]

See also

People's Republic of China portal

• Historical Chinese anthems

Notes

1. ^ Per Resolution on the Capital, Calendar, National Anthem and National Flag of the People's Republic of China.
2. ^ Per Annex III of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region when the Resolution on the Capital(Beijing), Calendar, National Anthem and National Flag of the People's Republic of China would be applied in Hong Kong with effect from 1 July 1997 by way of promulgation or legislation by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
3. ^ Per Annex III of the Basic Law of the Macao Special Administrative Region when the Resolution on the Capital, Calendar, National Anthem and National Flag of the People's Republic of China would be applied in Macao with effect from 20 December 1999 by way of promulgation or legislation by the Macao Special Administrative Region. On the same day, Law n.o 5/1999 (zh:第5/1999號法律, pt:Lei de Macau 5 de 1999) became effective to regulate the anthem.
4. ^ Per Article 31 of the Amendment four of the Constitution of the People's Republic of China
5. ^ Malm, William. Music Cultures of the Pacific, the Near East, and Asia. 3. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, 1996. 1-278. Print., p.197.
6. ^ Pang, Laikwan. Building a new China in cinema: the Chinese left-wing cinema movement, 1932-1937. Rowman & Littlefield Pub Inc, 2002. Print., p.3
7. ^ Simplified Chinese: 中国民族到了大翻身的时候; Pinyin: Zhōngguó mínzú dàole dà fānshēn deshíhòu
8. ^ Gonga.com
9. ^ news.bbc.co.uk
10. ^ The PRC anthem from the PRC's official government webportal (www.gov.cn)
11. ^ Used in Macau, where one of the official languages is Portuguese
12. ^ big5.eastday.com. "big5.eastday.com." 新中國國歌歌詞改換風波 . Retrieved on 2009-09-27.
13. ^ Sina.com. "Sina.com." 國歌歌詞曾是高舉毛澤東旗幟前進. Retrieved on 2009-09-27.
14. ^ http://english.cri.cn/4026/2008/04/15/164@345976_1.htm
15. ^ http://chinatoday.com.cn/ctenglish/se/txt/2009-01/15/content_174808.htm
16. ^ [1]
17. ^ [2]
18. ^ http://bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/3qp2

External links

• China's National Anthem
• The March of the Volunteers, instrumental and then chorus.
• March of the Volunteers, sung in Sons and Daughters in a Time of Storm.
• Video with singing chorus
• Video of the 1978-1982 version, with Chinese and English lyrics in two different renditions
• Info
• Paul Robeson - Singing in Chinese, then English