March of the Volunteers#Lyrics

{{National anthems of China}}

File:Tian Han and Nie Er.jpg (left) and Tian Han (right), photographed in Shanghai in 1933]]

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 1934Huang, Natasha N. [https://books.google.com/books?id=M7ySb1Vp-ZgC&pg=PA25 {{'}}East Is Red': A Musical Barometer for Cultural Revolution Politics and Culture, pp. 25 ff.]{{Dead link|date=November 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} as two stanzas in his poem "The Great Wall" ({{lang|zh|{{linktext|萬里長城}}}}), ({{lang|zh|{{linktext|义勇军进行曲}}}}) intended either for a play he was working on at the timeRojas, Carlos. [https://books.google.com/books?id=IaIwmEh-OpsC&pg=PA132 The Great Wall: A Cultural History, p. 132.] Harvard University Press (Cambridge), 2010. {{ISBN|0674047877}}. or as part of the script 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, 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 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 just after completing his draft for the film. During MarchLiu (2010), [https://books.google.com/books?id=AjE3HNO7j3kC&pg=PA154 p. 154] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107032719/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=AjE3HNO7j3kC&pg=PA154 |date=7 November 2017 }}. and April 1935, in Japan, Nie Er 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 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. On 9 May, Gu and Yuan recorded it in more standard Mandarin for Pathé Orient's Shanghai branch{{efn|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.}} ahead of the movie's {{Clarify|date=March 2023}} release, so that it served as a form of advertising for the film.

Originally translated as "Volunteers Marching On",Yang, Jeff & al. [https://books.google.com/books?id=amqzDMOzaCUC&pg=PA136 Once Upon a Time in China: A Guide to Hong Kong, Taiwanese, and Mainland Chinese Cinema, p. 136.] Atria Books (New York), 2003. 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".

File:Sonsanddaughtersintimeofstormmovieposter.jpg (1935), which used the march as its theme song]]

In May 1935, the same month as the movie's {{Clarify|date=March 2023}} release, Lü Ji and other leftists in Shanghai had begun an amateur choir and started promoting a National Salvation singing campaign,Liu Ching-chih. Translated by Caroline Mason. [https://books.google.com/books?id=AjE3HNO7j3kC&pg=PA172 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 leader.Gallicchio, Marc. [https://books.google.com/books?id=oh3Cn3YQ0UQC&pg=PA164 The African American Encounter with Japan & China, p. 164.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180925215914/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=oh3Cn3YQ0UQC&pg=PA164 |date=25 September 2018 }} University of North Carolina Press (Chapel Hill), 2000. Although the movie {{Clarify|date=March 2023}} did not perform well enough to keep Diantong from closing, its theme song became wildly popular: musicologist Feng Zikai reported hearing it being sung by crowds in rural villages from Zhejiang to Hunan within months of its releaseMelvin, Sheila & al. [https://books.google.com/books?id=hwvECudSl_EC&pg=PA129 Rhapsody in Red: How Western Classical Music Became Chinese, p. 129] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180925180652/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=hwvECudSl_EC&pg=PA129 |date=25 September 2018 }}. 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 to the Soviet Union, only to die en route in Japan;{{efn|Nie actually finalized the movie's {{Clarify|date=March 2023}} music in Japan and sent it back to Diantong in Shanghai.}} 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 reduced Nationalist pressure against leftist movements. Visiting St Paul's Hospital at the Anglican mission 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.Journey to a War, cited in Chi (2007), p. 225.

File:Earliest form of the 1935 Volunteers Marching On anthem.jpg Pictorial{{lang|zh-Hant|《電通半月畫報》}} [Diantong Pictorial], No. 1 (16 May) or No. 2 (1 June). Diantong Film Co. (Shanghai), 1935.]]

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The Pathé recording of the march appeared prominently in Joris Ivens'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 published in the new Chinese capital Chongqing; this version would later be disseminated throughout the United States for children's musical education during World War II before being curtailed at the onset of the Cold War.{{efn|The lyrics, which appeared in the Music Educators' Journal,Music Educators Journal. National Association for Music Education, 1942. 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".Roth, Philip. Portnoy's Complaint. 1969.}} The New York Times published the song's sheet music on 24 December, along with an analysis by a Chinese correspondent in Chongqing. In exile in New York City in 1940, Liu Liangmo taught it to Paul Robeson, the college-educated polyglot folk-singing son of a runaway slave.Liu Liangmo. Translated by Ellen Yeung. "The America I Know". China Daily News, 13–17 July 1950. Reprinted as [https://books.google.com/books?id=eMvaMuZkwvcC&pg=PA207 "Paul Robeson: The People's Singer (1950)" in Chinese American Voices: From the Gold Rush to the Present, pp. 207 ff.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170830013336/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=eMvaMuZkwvcC&lpg=PA207 |date=30 August 2017 }} University of California Press (Berkeley), 2006. Robeson began performing the song in Chinese at a large concert in New York City's Lewisohn Stadium. Reportedly in communication with the original lyricist Tian Han, the pair translated it into EnglishLiang Luo. [https://www.academia.edu/1493511/International_Avant-Garde_and_the_Chinese_National_Anthem "International Avant-garde and the Chinese National Anthem: Tian Han, Joris Ivens, and Paul Robeson" in The Ivens Magazine, No. 16] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190306150508/https://www.academia.edu/1493511/International_Avant-Garde_and_the_Chinese_National_Anthem |date=6 March 2019 }}. European Foundation Joris Ivens (Nijmegen), October 2010. Accessed 22 January 2015. and recorded it in both languages as {{nowrap|"Chee Lai!"}} ("Arise!") for Keynote Records in early 1941.Chi, Robert. [https://books.google.com/books?id=-daxO76KmV8C&pg=PA217 "'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.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170830013614/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=-daxO76KmV8C&pg=PA217 |date=30 August 2017 }} Woodrow Wilson Center Press (Washington, DC), 2007.{{efn|This song was also sometimes spelled as {{nowrap|Chi Lai}} or {{nowrap|Ch'i-Lai.}}}} Its 3-disc album included a booklet whose preface was written by Soong Ching-ling, widow of Sun Yat-sen,Deane, Hugh. Good Deeds & Gunboats: Two Centuries of American-Chinese Encounters, p. 169. China Books & Periodicals (Chicago), 1990. 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's Uline Arena on 24 April 1941.Gellman, Erik S. [https://books.google.com/books?id=vYZPIE7UKggC&pg=PA136 Death Blow to Jim Crow: The National Negro Congress and the Rise of Militant Civil Rights, pp. 136] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170830005424/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=vYZPIE7UKggC&pg=PA136 |date=30 August 2017 }}. University of North Carolina Press (Chapel Hill), 2012. {{ISBN|9780807835319}}.{{efn|The Washington Committee for Aid to China had previously booked Constitution Hall but been blocked by the Daughters of the American Revolution owing to Robeson's race. The indignation was great enough that President Roosevelt's wife Eleanor and the Chinese ambassador joined as sponsors, ensuring that the Uline Arena would accept and desegregate for the single concert. When the organizers offered generous terms to the National Negro Congress to help fill the larger venue, however, these sponsors withdrew and attempted to cancel the event, owing to the NNC's Communist tiesRobeson, Paul Jr. [https://books.google.com/books?id=MzFhJ5v0TL0C&pg=PA25 The Undiscovered Paul Robeson: Quest for Freedom, 1939–1976, pp. 25 f] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170830004858/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=MzFhJ5v0TL0C&pg=PA25 |date=30 August 2017 }}. John Wiley & Sons (Hoboken), 2010. and Mrs. Roosevelt's personal history with the NNC's founder.}} Following the attack on Pearl Harbor and beginning of the Pacific War, the march was played locally in India, Singapore, and other locales in Southeast Asia; the Robeson recording was played frequently on British, American, and Soviet radio; and a cover version performed by the Army Air Force OrchestraEagan, Daniel. [https://books.google.com/books?id=deq3xI8OmCkC&pg=PA390 America's Film Legacy: The Authoritative Guide to the Landmark Movies in the National Film Registry, pp. 390 f.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181201135057/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=deq3xI8OmCkC&pg=PA390 |date=1 December 2018 }} Continuum International (New York), 2010. appears as the introductory music to Frank Capra's 1944 propaganda film The Battle of China and again during its coverage of the Chinese response to the Rape of Nanking.

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.Santi, Rainer. [http://santibox.ch/Peace/Peacemaking.html#5.%20A%20New%20Start "100 Years of Peace Making: A History of the International Peace Bureau and Other International Peace Movement Organisations and Networks" in Pax Förlag] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190321044904/http://www.santibox.ch/Peace/Peacemaking.html#5.%20A%20New%20Start |date=21 March 2019 }}. International Peace Bureau, January 1991. 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.

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. The March of the Volunteers was suggested by the painter Xu BeihongLiao Jingwen. Translated by Zhang Peiji. Xu Beihong: Life of a Master Painter, pp. 323 f. Foreign Language Press (Beijing), 1987. and supported by Zhou Enlai. 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.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. The highly fictionalized biopic Nie 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.

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 |date = April 2014}}

File:Sons and Daughters in a Time of Storm.ogv (1935), featuring "March of the Volunteers".]]

The 1 February 1966 People's Daily article condemning Tian Han's 1961 allegorical Peking opera Xie Yaohuan as a "big poisonous weed"{{cite journal|journal=Current Background|publisher=American Consulate General|place=Hong Kong|date=30 March 1966|issue=784|title=T'ien Han and his Play Hsieh Yao-huan|page=1}} was one of the opening salvos of the Cultural Revolution,Wagner, Rudolf G. [https://books.google.com/books?id=7zFiHwkpo88C&dq=Xie+Yaohuan&pg=PA80 "Tian Han's Peking Opera Xie Yaohuan (1961)" in The Contemporary Chinese Historical Drama: Four Studies, pp. 80 ff.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181119132620/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=7zFiHwkpo88C&lpg=PA137&ots=NuM7CzzEhM&dq=Xie%20Yaohuan&pg=PA80#v=onepage&q=Xie%20Yaohuan&f=false |date=19 November 2018 }} University of California Press (Berkeley), 1990. {{ISBN|9780520059542}} 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.{{efn|Such use continued some time after the "March of the Volunteers"'s nominal rehabilitation in 1969.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f5UbE-D5N_cC&pg=PA361 |title="Broadcasting and Politics Spread Across the World" in Television: Critical Concepts in Media and Cultural Studies, Vol. I, p. 361. |isbn=9780415255035 |access-date=23 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304092026/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=f5UbE-D5N_cC&pg=PA361 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |url-status=live|last1=Miller |first1=Toby |year=2003 |publisher=Taylor & Francis }}}} 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.

The anthem was restored by the 5th National People's Congress on 5 March 1978, but with rewritten lyrics including references to the Chinese Communist Party, communism, and Chairman Mao. Following Tian Han's posthumous 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.{{lang|zh|[http://www.gov.cn/guoqing/2005-05/24/content_2615210.htm 《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 lang|zh}}[http://english.gov.cn/archive/china_abc/2014/08/27/content_281474983873455.htm "National Anthem"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171204222856/http://english.gov.cn/archive/china_abc/2014/08/27/content_281474983873455.htm |date=4 December 2017 }}. State Council of the People's Republic of China (Beijing), 26 August 2014. Accessed 21 January 2015.

File:March of the Volunteers.png's Law No.5/1999]]

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

On 1 September 2017, the National Anthem Law 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 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.{{Cite web|url=http://www.npc.gov.cn/npc/fujian/site1/20170901/1078d2c86a3d1b138cce01.pdf|script-title=zh:中华人民共和国国歌法|trans-title=The Law of the National Anthem of the People's Republic of China|language=zh|date=1 September 2017|publisher=The National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China|access-date=6 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170901164600/http://www.npc.gov.cn/npc/fujian/site1/20170901/1078d2c86a3d1b138cce01.pdf|archive-date=1 September 2017|url-status=dead}} Personnel of the People's Liberation Army, the People's Armed Police and the People's Police of the 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.

The anthem was played during the handover of Hong Kong from the United Kingdom in 1997Ho Wai-chung. [https://books.google.com/books?id=7VieYfjWRV0C&pg=PA69 School Music Education and Social Change in Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, p. 69.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190103211849/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=7VieYfjWRV0C&pg=PA69 |date=3 January 2019 }} Koninklijke Brill NV (Leiden), 2011. {{ISBN|9789004189171}}. and during the 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,Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Annex III. 7th National People's Congress (Beijing), 4 April 1990. Hosted at Wikisource. and as part of Annex III of the Basic Law of Macau, taking effect on 20 December 1999.Basic Law of the Macao Special Administrative Region, Annex III. 8th National People's Congress (Beijing), 31 March 1993. Hosted at Wikisource.

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{{lang|zh|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 lang|zh}}{{lang|pt|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 lang|pt}} 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.{{Cite web|url=http://english.www.gov.cn/news/top_news/2017/10/01/content_281475895755376.htm|title=China's national anthem law takes effect|website=english.www.gov.cn|access-date=14 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200114073754/http://english.www.gov.cn/news/top_news/2017/10/01/content_281475895755376.htm|archive-date=14 January 2020|url-status=live}}

Nonetheless, the Chinese National Anthem in Mandarin now forms a mandatory part of public secondary education in Hong Kong as well.Ho (2011), [https://books.google.com/books?id=7VieYfjWRV0C&pg=PA36 p. 36.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107020435/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=7VieYfjWRV0C&lpg=PA36 |date=7 November 2017 }} 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.Ho (2011), [https://books.google.com/books?id=7VieYfjWRV0C&pg=PA89 pp. 89 ff.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107011421/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=7VieYfjWRV0C&pg=PA89 |date=7 November 2017 }}Lee, Wing On. [https://books.google.com/books?id=btkuYUgXLRIC&pg=PA36 "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.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107005406/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=btkuYUgXLRIC&pg=PA36 |date=7 November 2017 }} Comparative Education Research Centre (Hong Kong), 2008. 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{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pjc3zF0hI6wC&pg=PA57 |title="Positioning at the Margins" in Diasporic Histories: Cultural Archives of Chinese Transnationalism, pp. 57 f. |isbn=9789622090804 |access-date=23 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107033020/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=pjc3zF0hI6wC&pg=PA57 |archive-date=7 November 2017 |url-status=live|last1=Riemenschnitter |first1=Andrea |last2=Madsen |first2=Deborah L. |date=August 2009 |publisher=Hong Kong University Press }} and, by 2008, most schools were holding such ceremonies at least once or twice a year.Mathews, Gordon & al. [https://books.google.com/books?id=UqmFL5d-bAAC&pg=PA89 Hong Kong, China: Learning to Belong to a Nation, p. 89.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107033251/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=UqmFL5d-bAAC&pg=PA89 |date=7 November 2017 }} Routledge (Abingdon), 2008. {{ISBN|0415426545}}. From National Day in 2004, as well, Hong Kong's local television networks have also been required to preface their evening news with government-preparedHong Kong 2004: Education: [http://www.yearbook.gov.hk/2004/en/07_11.htm "Committee on the Promotion of Civic Education"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190704092855/https://www.yearbook.gov.hk/2004/en/07_11.htm |date=4 July 2019 }}. Government Yearbook (Hong Kong), 2015. Accessed 25 January 2015. promotional videos including the national anthem in Mandarin.Vickers, Edward. [https://books.google.com/books?id=QwXgYeQRVHsC&pg=PA94 "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] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107023017/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=QwXgYeQRVHsC&pg=PA94 |date=7 November 2017 }}. Routledge (Abingdon), 2011. {{ISBN|9780415602525}}. Initially a pilot program planned for a few months, it has continued ever since. Viewed by many as propaganda,Wong, Martin. [http://www.scmp.com/article/472472/national-anthem-be-broadcast-news "National Anthem To Be Broadcast before News".] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190816101148/https://www.scmp.com/article/472472/national-anthem-be-broadcast-news |date=16 August 2019 }} South China Morning Post (Hong Kong), 1 October 2004.Luk, Helen. [http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1238125/posts "Chinese National Anthem Video Draws Fire from Hong Kong People"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160125225011/http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1238125/posts |date=25 January 2016 }}. Associated Press, 7 October 2004.Jones, Carol. [http://www.lse.ac.uk/asiaResearchCentre/countries/taiwan/TaiwanProgramme/Journal/JournalContents/TCP5Jones.pdf "Lost in China? Mainlandisation and Resistance in Post-1997 Hong Kong" in Taiwan in Comparative Perspective, Vol. 5, pp. 28–ff.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304062021/http://www.lse.ac.uk/asiaResearchCentre/countries/taiwan/TaiwanProgramme/Journal/JournalContents/TCP5Jones.pdf |date=4 March 2016 }} London School of Economics (London), July 2014. 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.Mathews & al. (2008), [https://books.google.com/books?id=UqmFL5d-bAAC&pg=PA104 p. 104.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107013015/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=UqmFL5d-bAAC&pg=PA104 |date=7 November 2017 }} 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 being approved by the Legislative Council.{{cite news |title=Chaos at Hong Kong's legislature as lawmakers battle for control of committee |url=https://hongkongfp.com/2020/05/08/chaos-at-hong-kongs-legislature-as-lawmakers-battle-for-control-of-committee-as-democrats-ejected/ |access-date=4 June 2020 |work=HKFP|date=5 May 2020}}{{cite news |title=Hong Kong passes bill criminalising disrespect of Chinese national anthem |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-04/hong-kong-legislature-passes-national-anthem-bill-amid-protests/12323024 |access-date=4 June 2020 |work=ABC News |date=4 June 2020}}

\relative g' {

\key g \major \time 2/4

g8. b16 d8 d8 \bar "|" e4 d4 \bar "|" b8. g16 \times 2/3 {d'8 d d} \bar "|" b4 g4 \bar "|" \times 2/3 {d8 d d} \times 2/3 {d8 d d} \bar "|" g4 r8 d8 \bar "|" \break

g4. g8 \bar "|" g8. g16 d8 e16 fis16 \bar "|" g4 g4 \bar "|" r8 b8 g8 a16 b16 \bar "|" d4 d4 \bar "|" \break

b8. b16 g8. b16 \bar "|" d8. b16 a4 \bar "|" a2 \bar "|" e'4^> d4^> \bar "|" a4^> b4^> \bar "|" \break

d8^> b8^> r8 d8 \bar "|" b8 a16 b16 g4 \bar "|" b4 r4 \bar "|" d,8. e16 g8 g8 \bar "|" b8. b16 d8 d8 \bar "|" \break

a8 a16 a16 e4 \bar "|" a4. d,8 \bar "|" ^\< g4. g8 \bar "|" b4. b8 \! \bar "|" d2 \bar "|" \break

g,8. b16 d8 d8 \bar "|" e4 d4 \bar "|" b8. g16 \times 2/3 {d'8 d d} \bar "|" b8 r8 g8 r8 \bar "|" d4^> g4^> \bar "|" \break

b8. g16 \times 2/3 {d'8 d d} \bar "|" b8 r8 g8 r8 \bar "|" d4^> g4^> \bar "|" d4^> g4^> \bar "|" d4^> g4^> \bar "|" g4^> r4 \bar "|."

}

\addlyrics {

　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 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！

}

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".{{cite book |last=Lee |first=Pao-chen |title=China's Patriots Sing |publisher=The China Information Publishing Co. |location=Chungking |year=1939}} 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". Its rhythmic patterns of triplets, accented downbeats, and syncopation and use (with the exception of one note, F{{music|#}} in the first verse) of the G major pentatonic scale,{{cite journal |last=Howard |first=Joshua |title="Music for a National Defense": Making Martial Music During the Anti-Japanese War |journal=Cross-Currents |volume=13 |date=2014 |url=https://cross-currents.berkeley.edu/e-journal/issue-13/howard |ref=none |access-date=23 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181002215050/https://cross-currents.berkeley.edu/e-journal/issue-13/howard |archive-date=2 October 2018 |url-status=live |pages=11–12}} 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 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".

{{Wikisource|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}}

{{Wikisource|en:March of the Volunteers}}

The march has been remixed by various performers:

• The American musician Paul Robeson recorded it in Chinese and English for the 1941 album Chee Lai! Songs of New China.{{refn|Paul Robeson's "Chee Lai!" [https://archive.org/details/Paul-Robeson-collection-61-70 Audio] hosted at the Internet Archive. [http://politicalfolkmusic.org/wordpress/paul-robeson-march-of-the-volunteers/ Lyrics and sheet music]{{efn|Mistakenly credited to Nie Er & "Xiexing Hai" (i.e., Xian Xinghai).}} hosted at Political Folk Music. Accessed 22 January 2015.}}Bonner, David. [https://books.google.com/books?id=7ekAAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA47 Revolutionizing Children's Records: 1946–1977, pp. 47 f.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305095716/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=7ekAAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA47 |date=5 March 2016 }} Scarecrow Press (Plymouth), 2008.
• The Army Air Force Orchestra recorded an instrumental version as the theme for Frank Capra's 1944 Why We Fight VI: The Battle of China.
• The Slovenian group Laibach created an electronic version of the anthem with lyrics in both English and Mandarin for their album Volk.Anderson, Rick. [http://www.allmusic.com/album/volk-limited-edition-mw0000573590 "Laibach: Volk"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161102050902/http://www.allmusic.com/album/volk-limited-edition-mw0000573590 |date=2 November 2016 }}. AllMusic (San Francisco), 2015. Accessed 22 January 2015.
• The British musician Damon Albarn included a loose and upbeat version on the soundtrack to his musical Monkey: Journey to the West.Jones, Chris. [https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/3qp2 "Monkey: Journey to the West Review"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200514220343/https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/3qp2/ |date=14 May 2020 }}. 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").

{{Portal|China|Music}}

• Historical Chinese anthems
• Flag of the People's Republic of China
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{{Reflist}}

{{Wikisource}}

{{Wikisource|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}}

• {{cite web |url=http://www.gov.cn/guoqing/guoge/ |script-title=zh:中华人民共和国国歌 |publisher=Government of the People's Republic of China |language=zh-cn}}
• [http://english.gov.cn/audio National Anthem of the People's Republic of China (EN)]
• [http://www.gov.cn/jingtai/guoge/guoge.wav Official instrumental version], hosted by the People's Republic of China
• [http://www.china.org.cn/e-changshi/china.mp3 Semi-official vocal version], hosted by the China Internet Information Center

{{s-start}}

{{succession box

|title = March of the Volunteers

|before = Three Principles of the People
{{nobold|(1943–1949 in the Mainland and since 1949 in Taiwan)}}

|years = 1949–present

|after = Incumbent

}}

{{succession box

|title = March of the Volunteers

|before = God Save the Queen
{{nobold|(until Handover of Hong Kong)}}

|years = 1997–present

|after = Incumbent

}}

{{succession box

|title = March of the Volunteers

|before = A Portuguesa
{{nobold|(until Handover of Macau)}}

|years = 1999–present

|after = Incumbent

}}

{{s-end}}

{{Chinese patriotic songs}}

{{National anthems of Asia}}

{{Hong Kong topics}}

{{Macau topics}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:MARCH OF THE VOLUNTEERS}}

Category:Chinese anthems

Category:National symbols of the People's Republic of China

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