March of the Volunteers

Do you know, the national anthem of China, March of the Volunteers, 义勇军进行曲, was jointly composed by Nie Er and Tian Han in 1934. Nie Er was reportedly drowned while swimming in Japan on 17 of July 1935, at the age of twenty-three. The song was featured many times in patriotic films and it was used as the national anthem for the first time in an international conference in February 1949 when China had come under the control of the Chinese Communists.

During the Cultural Revolution, the March of the Volunteers was forbidden to be sung; and it was replaced by "The East is Red" as the unofficial national anthem. The March of the Volunteers began to be played once again from the 20th PRC National Day Parade in 1969 onward. It was restored as the national anthem in 1978. The stamps below show the two songs and Nie Er 聂耳, the musician who composed March of the Volunteers. Below him (on the left) are the lyrics of the song.

It is amazing, China as a great nation can change its national anthem for political reasons. I don't know if any other countries in this world will do that. Please enlighten me. However, during turbulent times, children can betrayed their parents, wives betrayed husbands, and etc.. Such stories are very common during the Cultural Revolution,


The National Anthem and Its Composer

                                                           China National Anthem


  Photo of Nie Er from wikipedia

       义勇军进行曲
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！

For more information on March of the Volunteers: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_of_the_Volunteers

For information related to the Cultureal Revolution:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_Revolution

For information on Nie Er:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nie_Er