History---
China's national anthem, the "The March of the Volunteers" was written in 1935 and was adopted when the Communist came to power in 1949. It was written by the famous writer, Tian Han , and composed by Nie Er., a great composer. It's said that Nie Er., composed it one year after the Japanese invasion of Manchuria. The composition is a musical march and it was written as the theme song for a film called, "Sons and Daughters of the Storm". Sources suggest that it was written on a tobacco paper by Tian Han when he was arrested in Shanghai and thrown into a Kuomintang jail in 1935, where he was latter murdered. He was only 24 years old. It's said that the text was the collaboration between several Kuomintang (commonly known as the National Party of China) members.
"Sons and Daughters of the Storm"- the film tells the story of all those who went to fight the Japanese invaders, especially it's about all the intellectuals who went to fight in the Second Sino-Japanese War in north-east China in the 1930s.
"The March of the Volunteers"- the song gave voice to the Chinese people's willpower to sacrifice themselves for national liberation. Sonorous, aggressive and inspiring, it expresses China's admirable courage, and urged people to join the National Resistance Movement against the Japanese in World War the second. It was one of the many songs that were clandestinely promoted among the Chinese population as part of the anti-Japanese resistance which described the rage of the Chinese people against imperialist aggression and their resolution, determination and unity in protecting their motherland against foreign invaders.
Here is a small excerpt: "Arise, ye who refuse to be slaves! With our flesh and blood, let us build our new Great Wall!" At the time of the Second World War, it was also sung by people of other countries who sympathized with the Chinese people in their anti-Japanese struggle. However, it was not until 1982 that "The March of the Volunteers" was officially named the national anthem by the National People's Congress.
Presently the anthem is seldom known as "Yiyonggjun Jinxingqu " (The March of the Volunteers). Majority of the people in China just call it the "Zhongguo Guoge" (Chinese National Song), or, more formally, the "Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo Guoge" (National Song of the People's Republic of China).
Translation---
The official version of the "National Anthem of the Republic of China," translated by Tu Ting-hsiu , is used when the anthem lyrics are described in foreign- language guide to the Republic of China in print by the government.
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