This song that is well-known to Chinese people and widely sung among the people is "The East is Red". In the collection of songs published before the reform and opening up, the first song must be "The East is Red" and the second song is "The Internationale".

In October 1949, Tiananmen Square in Beijing was crowded with people. As Chairman Mao ascended the Tiananmen Rostrum, a loud piece of music filled the audience.

"The East is Red

The sun rises

China has a Mao Zedong

He seeks happiness for the people

Hu'er Hiyo

He is the great savior of the people

He seeks happiness for the people

Huer Hiyo

He is the great savior of the people"

This The song "The East Is Red" is a household name in the first country and is widely sung among the people. As a classic revolutionary song, it has inspired generations of people to fight for the future of the country. In 1970, China's first artificial earth satellite was named "Dongfanghong-1". The song it plays is the adapted version of "The East Is Red". In the collection of songs published before the reform and opening up, the first song must be "The East is Red" and the second song is "The Internationale". This shows the supreme status of this song in the hearts of the people.

Who is the lyricist of this song? So how did this song come about?

Farmer SingerLi Youyuan

One early morning in the winter of 1943, Li Youyuan went to Jia County to buy vegetables. Along the way, he hummed the song " Riding a White Horse ":

Riding a white horse, carrying a foreign gun

The third brother ate the food of the Eighth Route Army

He was interested in going home to see the girl and calling her heyyo

He couldn't care less about fighting Japan

He suddenly Looking up, I saw a red sun slowly rising from the mountains in the east. The warm light shines on the mountains, and a warmth spreads throughout the body. Li Youyuan was surrounded by thousands of lights in front of him, and he was suddenly inspired.

"Isn't Chairman Mao the red sun?"

He jumped up excitedly, following the tune of "Riding the White Horse" just now, dancing and singing:

"The east is red, the sun rises.

China has a Mao Zedong.

He has made great achievements for the people. Survival

Huerheiyou

He is the great savior of the people..."

Li Youyuan was very happy to get the new lyrics. He wanted to rush home immediately and sing the song to his nephew Li Zengzheng. When Li Zengzheng heard the new lyrics composed by his uncle, he didn't even bother to eat the lunch he had just prepared. I started singing with my uncle in the cave. When the noodles in the bowl were cool, Li Zengzheng stopped and asked his uncle:

"How did you come up with this metaphor?"

Li Youyuan sat on the kang, took a sip of tea, and thought about Chairman Mao's leadership in the past two years. The scene of the poor people fighting against the local tycoons and dividing their fields, he said to his nephew:

"Zengzheng, do you still remember when you were three years old?"

"Uncle, no one remembers what happened when you were three years old, but you told me everything I’ve done it many times." Li Zengzheng was a little impatient. My uncle is quite talented, but when he talks about old things, he will repeat them over and over again, which makes me almost go deaf.

"I know that there was a great famine in the south that year, and many people from the provincial capitals fled to us. They were all poor places, and there was so much food." Li Zengzheng thought of the countless people who died on the roadside that year. Shaanxi fellows feel very heavy in their hearts.

The Great Famine in Guanzhong in 1928 starved to death many people, and they were only poor people with no money or food. The landowners will never die of hunger.

"Do you know why no one starved to death after Mao Zedong came?" Li Youyuan touched his shriveled belly. My nephew often complained to himself that life was hard, but it was not as hard as when he was a child.

Li Youyuan's thoughts returned to 1903.

When Li Youyuan was born, the living conditions at home were extremely poor. Not to mention that the entire country is in turmoil and war, even the dozens of acres of land at home require a lot of royal grain every year. If they accidentally encounter bandits crossing the border, the family does not know how many lambs they will lose.

When Li Youyuan was five or six years old, his parents gave him a whip and asked him to drive the sheep up the mountain to graze. Every day I lie down once in the morning and once in the afternoon. Every time I go out, I have to go to a hillside more than ten miles away. As the days of herding sheep went by, Li Youyuan's peers would more or less sing to pass the boring time of herding sheep.As time went by, Li Youyuan also fell in love with singing.

On the vast northern Shaanxi plateau , sheep were looking for grass on the grassy hillside. Li Youyuan and his playmates were lying on the hillside singing folk songs, thinking of selling the lambs for meat.

The happy days of herding sheep lasted until he was 13 years old. In 1918, a great famine occurred in northern Shaanxi. Countless poor farmers suffered. In order to save food at home, Li Youyuan's mother sent her precious little son to her parents' home.

There is a popular saying in northern Shaanxi: a half-grown man will live in poverty. When a boy is in his teens, he has a huge appetite.

When he arrived at his grandmother's house, Li Youyuan found that he could eat enough. He could eat five cornmeal buns and an extra bowl of millet porridge. Grandma saw that her grandson was very good at eating, so she left the pickles in her bowl for him.

After staying at his grandma's house for a few days, Li Youyuan felt that it was boring to herd sheep without a place, so he was sent to a private school by his grandpa. In the middle of winter, it's too cold for the children to run outside, and there are people to look after them at school.

This is the first time that I have entered a school at this age. Li Youyuan looked at the teacher's polite appearance and felt very envious. It would be great if I could read and write like my husband. The happy days in school did not last long.

In the spring of the next year, Li Youyuan was brought home by his mother. But the seeds of knowledge had already sprouted in his heart. But my family is too poor. Without my grandma’s pickled vegetables and noodles, I don’t want to eat anything.

had to continue herding sheep after returning home. Fortunately, as my friends grew up, they learned more about folk songs and . During the off-season, Li Youyuan and the others would take potatoes from home to the mountains to burn and eat. The best baked potato is awarded to the winning singer. Decades of rural life have taught Li Youyuan a lot of folk songs.

"Uncle? Didn't you say that after the Communist Party came, the poor became better off? Our family now has land and sheep. After selling two crops of sheep in two years, our family will be able to build a new cave dwelling, and the remaining money will be paid back." Can you give me a wife?" Li Zengzheng thought happily.

Li Youyuan came to his senses, "You coward, let's see what you can do."

Li Zengzheng blushed, picked up the cold corn noodles on the table, and swallowed them in big mouthfuls.

"Baby, please eat slowly. After eating, we will think about it and go to the team to sing tomorrow."

The sky was slightly bright the next day, and there were a few stars hanging in the azure sky in the east, a translucent curve. The moon hangs like a sickle in the southwest sky. The slightly cold wind in the early morning blew into the courtyard of the Lijia Village Committee.

More than twenty farmers were waiting in the courtyard for village chief Li Tianliang to speak, while village cadres were busy moving chairs from the house. The village committee is actually the cave dwelling of Li Tianliang's family.

Village chief Li Tianliang took a small speaker and walked out of the cave dwelling.

"Hey, hello, is everyone here?" The farmers in front of the cave became quiet. We will be preparing to move in the next few days. Today, the village chief called all the people from each family together to discuss the housing and living issues in Yan'an .

"Well, ah, it seems that everyone is here. Let me just say a few words. It is a good thing that the higher-ups mobilized our village to relocate. When we get to Yan'an, your family will own as much land as you can open in the barren mountains over there.

And the Communist Party also provided us with seeds and farm tools. Of course, you can bring your own tools. They are easy to use and convenient." Li Tianliang cleared his throat.

"If you don't have any objections, please go home quickly and make preparations. The day after tomorrow is an auspicious day, so it's a good time to move!"

After the morning meeting, the twenty or so farmers in Lijia Village who were preparing to move went home. Uncles and nephews Li Youyuan and Li Zengzheng were also among them.

"Riding a white horse, carrying a foreign gun, the third brother ate grain from the Eighth Route Army. He wanted to go home and see the girl, but he didn't care about attacking Japan." Li Youyuan sang "Riding a White Horse" ( Northern Shaanxi Folk Song ), While walking home.

The villagers in Lijia Village are already used to it. Li Youyuan was a man of culture. He had attended school, attended the county primary school, and could help villagers write letters and read newspapers.He likes to sing folk songs the most. Whenever he has free time, he can roar twice. He is also a famous singer in the village.

"The east is red, the sun rises, and Mao Zedong appears in the east." A song full of magnetism and warmth reached the ears of the villagers.

"Uncle Youyuan, what new tunes have you arranged?" Wang Cuihua from next door asked him across the yard.

"What song? This is "Immigration Song". We are about to move to Yan'an. When we arrive in Yan'an, we will meet Chairman Mao and live a good life. We feel happy." Li Youyuan took a sip of cold water to moisten his throat.

"Uncle Youyuan, don't just sing by yourself, teach me." After Wang Cuihua finished speaking, she moved a bench and sat in the yard of Li Youyuan's house without waiting for Li Youyuan's nod.

"You follow me and learn", Li Youyuan let go of his singing voice and sang:

"From Jia County to Yan'an, poor farmers are opening up wasteland, and good crops are growing on the mountains. Hey, hey, everyone will live a good life. Days. "

"The East is Red" became popular all over the country

In the winter of 1943, Li Zengzheng was elected as the deputy captain of the Jiaxian Immigration Team. He and his uncle Li Youyuan were rated as active members of the immigration team. The cold wind blew through the withered grass on the high loess slopes. More than 20 households in Lijia Village drove ox carts and luggage on the winding mountain road. Every step of the way, Li Youyuan's uncle and nephew sang songs to encourage the neighbors.

"The east is red, the sun is rising, and Mao Zedong is born in the east." The fellow villagers couldn't help but sing along. The rich singing voice spreads in the land of northern Shaanxi along with the winter wind on the loess land.

Teachers and students from Lu Xun Art Institute went out to collect and write folk songs. They heard the tune and prepared to write it down.

Wang Dahua ( Lu Yi teacher) listened to this familiar folk song and said to Liu Chi:

"This song is "White Horse Tune", but the lyrics are brand new."

Liu Chi (Lu Yi teacher) wiped He opened his eyes and said to Wang Dahua:

"Did you hear it? The power and hope in this song." As professional musicians, Gong Mu and He Jingzhi decided to visit the mysterious lyricist.

"Hello, fellow countryman, we are from Yan'an. We were very moved after listening to your song. Can I record it?" Li Zengzheng looked at the two gentlemen wearing glasses in front of him and quickly called Li Youyuan over.

"Hello, comrade!" Liu Chi and Wang Dahua shook hands with the old farmers one after another:

"Uncle Li's singing has spread throughout northern Shaanxi, but I didn't expect to meet him on the road today." Wang Dahua said.

"You two gentlemen, don't be polite. I'm happy if you are willing to write."

Li Youyuan cleared his throat, called his nephew Li Zengzheng and sang "Immigration Song". The singing slowly rippled in the valley, and the accompanying villagers also joined in.

"It is difficult to travel and climb the mountain, but our Lijiacun is strong-willed..." Liu Chi quickly took out his shorthand notebook and recorded the lyrics of "Immigration Song".

In the spring of 1944, the villagers of Lijia Village who moved to Yan'an received relief grains from the border region government. The villagers have been busy for half the winter, reclaiming hundreds of acres of land on the barren hills of Ganquan County. The government exempted taxes in the first two years of land reclamation. The newly reclaimed land was fertile and the harvests produced were good.

There will also be some weeds growing in the ground planted the first year. By the second year, the harvest from the newly opened land began to exceed that of the old land in Lijia Village. While working day and night, Li Youyuan still took some time off from his busy schedule and sang whenever he had time. For him, singing is like farming.

came to his new home in Yan'an and learned more new songs. Yan'an's new folk song is like spring grass on the hillside, spreading throughout half of the northwest with the victory of the revolution.

Wang Dahua and Liu Chi returned to Yan'an with the "Immigration Song" they had collected. They planned to teach this folk song in schools, but found that the song had ten sections, which was really too long. In order to make it easier to sing, they deleted some lyrics in the middle. Finally, a three-part lyrics was formed that was easy to sing, and the name was changed to "The East Is Red".

's adaptation of "The East is Red" soon spread in the streets of Yan'an.People sing it at festivals and gatherings, and even at weddings. Li Youyuan's uncle and nephew often go to various places to promote and sing "The East is Red".

The original version of the northern Shaanxi folk song "The East is Red" was published in the "Liberation Daily" in 1944. After that, this northern Shaanxi folk song gradually spread across the vast land behind enemy lines.

In 1945, this song was brought to Shenyang by the "Advancing Northeast Cadre Group" composed of teachers and students from Lu Xun Art Institute. In order to celebrate the recapture of Northeast China, the Advancement Group needs to put on a show. "The East is Red" naturally became the first choice.

In order to make the program more suitable for celebrating victory, Liu Chi, Wang Dahua, Gao Yang, Tian Fang, and Gong Mu modified the lyrics. One of the sentences "He seeks survival for the people" was changed to "He seeks happiness for the people." In the winter of 1945, "The East Is Red" was officially performed at the Shenyang Grand Theater and became popular throughout the country.

On October 1, 1949, when Chairman Mao announced the founding of New China at Tiananmen , the background music played was "The East Is Red". In 1964, in order to commemorate the 15th anniversary of New China City, Premier Zhou Enlai planned and conducted the large-scale dance drama "The East is Red". The opera singers adapted this piece in the form of a chorus.

On October 2, the large-scale music and dance epic "The East Is Red" was performed at the Great Hall of the People, , and the national literary and art circles rejoiced.

At this time, "The East is Red" has transformed from the original northern Shaanxi folk song "White Horse Tune" and "Immigration Song" into a large-scale chorus. After more than 20 years of singing, this song has spread from the hills in northern Shaanxi to the north and south of the country, telling the unforgettable story of the Chinese Communist Party leading the people into dire straits in that era.

What happened to Li Youyuan later?

The Regret of a Farmer Singer

Due to long-term heavy physical labor, 52-year-old Li Youyuan unfortunately passed away in 1955. Before he died, Li Youyuan wanted to eat a piece of meat. However, when his son bought the meat back, he found that his father had passed away. Li Youyuan died, but the folk songs he sang continued to be popular in northern Shaanxi.

Especially the longevity of "The East Is Red" allows us to see that literary and artistic works are not castles in the air, but a process of continuous singing and repeated creation. Although Li Youyuan has passed away, he will always live in the memory of future generations with "The East is Red".