" March " became the national anthem. Why did Zhou Enlai make great contributions?
in Hai
1949, New China is about to be established. Creating a national anthem that represents the image of New China, inspires patriotism, and inspires national spirit has been officially put on the agenda.
In the few months before the announcement of New China, elites from all walks of life and people from various democratic parties gathered in the capital to prepare for a new political consultation meeting and organize a new government. Every agenda of the new CPPCC meeting will be negotiated with extremely important national events, including the selection of the national anthem.
On September 29, 1949, the national anthem score published in the People's Daily
1949 On the evening of June 16, 1949, the Standing Committee of the Preparatory Committee of the New CPPCC held its first meeting in Zhongnanhai . The meeting was chaired by Zhou Enlai and passed the establishment of six preparatory groups under the leadership of the Standing Committee to complete the preparations for the first plenary session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. Among them, the sixth group is responsible for formulating the national flag, national anthem, national emblem, national capital, and year-end plans. The head of the sixth group of
is Mr. Ma Xulun, the main founder and first chairman of the Central Committee of the China Democratic Promotion Association, and the vice chairman of the fourth National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. Ye Jianying and Shen Yanbing are the deputy leader of the sixth group, and 13 people including Tian Han , Li Lisan, Liao Chengzhi, and Guo Moruo serve as members.
On July 9, Zhou Enlai's office received a draft "Notice on Soliciting National Flag and National Emblem Patterns and National Anthem Lyrics". This was drafted by Guo Moruo, Shen Yanbing, Zheng Zhenduo on behalf of the sixth group.
Zhou Enlai carefully read and reviewed the content of the notice, and immediately issued an instruction: "Print and send it to all members of the Standing Committee, solicit consent!" The next day, the solicitation notice was delivered to Mao Zedong, Zhu De, Zhang Lan, Shen Junru, Li Jishen, Cai Tingkai, Lin Boqu and other members of the Standing Committee of the New CPPCC Preparatory Committee. All feedback was withdrawn on the 12th, and the result was a unanimous vote.
Starting from July 14, the "Notice on Soliciting the Pattern of the National Flag and the Lyrics of the National Anthem" was published continuously in well-known newspapers and magazines such as the People's Daily, the Beiping Jiefang Daily, and the Xinmin Daily . Other domestic newspapers, Hong Kong and overseas Chinese newspapers have also reprinted them. The deadline for calling for papers is August 20. In the
collection notice, the design plan for the national anthem is:
(A) The lyrics should be noted:
(1) Chinese characteristics;
(2) regime characteristics;
(3) New Democracy ;
(4) The vision of New China;
(5) Limited language style and should not be too long.
(B) song score and lyrics will be solicited after the song score is selected, but those who are applying for the lyrics of the national anthem can also attach the music score at the same time (must use the five-line score).
The content about "New Democracy" was added by Zhou Enlai himself, and he replaced the original "Mao Zedong Thought".
All sectors of society responded enthusiastically to the call for papers, and manuscripts created across the country flew to the preparation group like snowflakes. As of August 20, 1,920 national flag manuscripts, 2,992 patterns, 112 national emblem manuscripts, 900 patterns, 632 national anthem, 694 lyrics and song scores, and 24 opinions were received.
These contributors include senior cadres , famous artists and scholars, as well as ordinary soldiers, workers, farmers, students, overseas Chinese and compatriots from Hong Kong and Macao.
Faced with the more than 1,000 "national anthem" that was applied for, the members of the National Anthem Lyrics Committee of the Sixth Group and expert consultants conducted intense reviews. They conducted serious reviews and brought the piano to play and sing. However, after a few days of initial review, everyone felt that there was no single song that could be directly elected as the national anthem of New China!
According to the "Notice on Soliciting the Pattern of the National Flag and the National Emblem and the National Anthem Lyrics", "The song score will be solicited after the lyrics are selected..." Therefore, everyone agreed and focused on the selection of lyrics first.
At August 24, everyone decided to print the lyrics of the best in the primary election into "Selected Lyrics of the National Anthem for Soliciting Opinions" and submit them to Chairman Mao and other central leaders.
Time is approaching day by day, and the members of the sixth group are extremely anxious. At this time, everyone realized that even if the lyrics were selected soon, they still needed to enter the newspaper to solicit opinions from all parties, then seek to compose music, find someone to try singing, and finally review it - obviously, it was too late!
At this time, I don’t know who made a suggestion: Since it is impossible to write a national anthem that people recognize in such a short time, since there is no suitable national anthem yet, why not find a song that everyone is familiar with, widely circulated, and has had a significant influence in the history of the Chinese revolution to make a temporary national anthem? This suggestion has been unanimously agreed upon. With the approval of the central government, everyone quickly selected songs such as "Ode to Yan'an", "Yanshui Ballad", " National Rescue March ", " on the Taihang Mountains, ", "Songhua River", " Graduation Song ", "Fisherman's Song", " Big Sword March " as alternative national anthems.
Among these alternative songs, more people believe that "March of the Volunteers" has a huge influence at home and abroad and is more suitable as the national anthem. But some people also believe that the Communist Party of China has achieved a comprehensive victory under the leadership of the people of the whole country, and the New China is about to be established. Is the lyrics of the "March of the Volunteers" "The Chinese nation is at its most dangerous time" appropriate? Everyone has different opinions on this and there are still many controversies.
There are only 5 days left to hold the ceremony for the founding of New China, and the highly anticipated new national anthem has not yet been finalized. Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai must have been very anxious. On the evening of September 25, two leaders of the New China personally came forward to hold a symposium in Fengzeyuan, Zhongnanhai to discuss the national anthem and other matters.
Mr. Peng Guanghan is the secretary of the sixth group appointed by the Standing Committee of the New CPPCC Preparatory Committee. He recorded the speeches on the national anthem at the symposium that day -
Ma Xulun: Our government is about to be established, and the national anthem cannot be made at once based on the current situation. Can we temporarily use the "March of the Volunteers" to temporarily replace the national anthem.
xxx: (I don’t know who this person is? ——The author) The song is very good, but it is inappropriate to say that “the Chinese nation has reached the last moment” in the lyrics, so it is best to modify the lyrics.
Zhang Xiruo, Liang Sicheng :I think this song is a product of history. In order to maintain its integrity, I advocate that the lyrics are not modified.
Xu Beihong :This marche can only temporarily serve the national anthem.
Guo Moruo: I agree to use it as the national anthem for the time being, because not only can the Chinese people sing it, but also foreign people sing it, but the lyrics are better modified.
Huang Yanpei :I think it is better not to change the word.
Tian Han: I think this song is good, but the lyrics in the past have historical significance, but now they should give way to new lyrics.
(Mr. Tian Han is very modest, maybe he is embarrassed to express his opinion on his work. ——Author)
…
The meeting was very hot. At this time, the plan to use the new national anthem has been denied. The opinions on using "March of the Volunteers" as the national anthem of the generation have been relatively unified. The difference is only whether the original lyrics need to be modified.
At this time, everyone turned their attention to Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai, hoping that the leaders would decide in the end.
Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai were together
Comrade Zhou Enlai was confident and said with great certainty: "Just use the old lyrics so that you can inspire emotions. After modifying them, you won't have that kind of emotion!"
Chairman Mao listened carefully to everyone's opinions, and finally he said: "...The old ones still need them."
The leaders were determined, and warm applause suddenly sounded in the venue.At the end of the meeting, Comrade Zhou Enlai happily suggested that everyone stand up, and he took the initiative to serve as the conductor, and Chairman Mao and everyone sang the "March of the Volunteers" that was about to become the national anthem of New China.
1949, the first plenary session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference was held historic, and the sixth Group submitted a plan on the national anthem to the conference.
Zhou Enlai presided over the vote on the national anthem:
"Before the national anthem of of the People's Republic of China, the "March of the Volunteers" is the national anthem.
If you agree, please raise your hand.
Please put it down.
.
h If tml2 does not agree, please raise your hand. (No one raises your hand)
If you doubt or abstain, please raise your hand.
Oh! There is abstention.
Now we use the vast majority of the "March of the Volunteers" as our current national anthem! "
The long-lasting and thunderous applause rang out in the court.
...
...
At 3 pm on October 1, 1949, at the grand founding ceremony held in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, Mao Zedong solemnly declared to the world: "The Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China is established today!" Then, he pressed the button and accompanied the five-star red flag rising slowly. "March of the Volunteers" sounded as the national anthem in Tiananmen Square for the first time.
Founding Ceremony played the "March of the Volunteers"
1949 On November 15, 1949, the People's Daily published an article in the "Xinhua News Agency Mailbox" column, introducing the national anthem of the People's Republic of China: "March of the Volunteers" is the most popular song in the revolutionary struggle of the vast number of Chinese people over the past decade and has historical significance. The use of the "March of the Volunteers" to the current national anthem of the People's Republic of China without modification is to awaken the people to recall the difficulties and hardships in the creation process of the motherland, to inspire the people to carry forward their patriotic enthusiasm to resist imperialist aggression, and to carry out the revolution to the end. This is the same as the role of the Soviet people who used " Internationale " as the national anthem for a long time, and the French people still use " Marseille " as the national anthem today.
In the preparatory meeting of the new political consultation meeting, who was the first to propose the "March of the Volunteers" as the national anthem? For more than 70 years, this matter has been widely discussed and unanimous. Some of the widely circulated statements now are just memories from the family and students of the parties involved. They lack real and objective basis and may not be accurate enough.
In the spring of 1949, Guo Moruo led a delegation to represent China at the Prague Conference to attend the World Peace Defense Conference on Defending World Peace under the order of the Central Committee. The General Assembly stipulates that the delegations of each country must lead the national anthem when entering the venue. However, the New China had not yet been established at that time, so of course there was no national anthem. After everyone discussed it, the "March of the Volunteers" was temporarily used for the national anthem. Based on the opinions of the comrades of the delegation, Guo Moruo also modified the two words "When the Chinese nation is at its most dangerous time, everyone is forced to make the last roar" and changed it to "When the Chinese nation is at its great turn, every rural city is making the roar of liberation." After Guo Moruo returned to China, he immediately reported the situation to the central government. Comrade Zhou Enlai was very satisfied when he learned about this.
On July 9, 1949, Zhou Enlai must have thought of this when reviewing and revising the "Notice on Soliciting the Patterns of the National Flag and the National Emblem and the Score of the National Anthem (Draft)" drafted by Guo Moruo and others. He said: "It is best for my personal opinion to use the "March of the Volunteer Army" as the national anthem. However, this is only my personal opinion. You can discuss it and solicit the opinions of the masses."
Later, in the national anthem lyrics for the whole country, many of the submissions also proposed to use the "March of the Volunteer Army" as the national anthem or the national anthem of the New China.
"March of the Volunteers" oil painting
Mr. Peng Guanghan is a witness to the birth of the national anthem. He participated in the entire process of the National Anthem from the collection, primary election, re-selection to determination of the National Anthem of New China. As the secretary of the Sixth Group, he always records the content of the meeting seriously and responsibly at the national anthem seminar.In his recollection article, he wrote very surely: "I remember that Comrade Zhou Enlai first proposed the "March of the Volunteers" as the national anthem!"
believes that the article written by Mr. Peng himself must have a basis!
Reviewing the process of "March of the Volunteers" becoming our national anthem, we can see:
is the preparation group for Zhou Enlai to convene a meeting and determine the national anthem;
is the notice of Zhou Enlai personally revising the national anthem collection;
is Zhou Enlai's first proposal to use it as the national anthem;
is the first to propose to use it as the national anthem;
is Zhou Enlai's first proposal to use it as the national anthem;
is Zhou Enlai's far-sighted vision and does not agree to modify his lyrics;
is Zhou Enlai's final vote on him and announced the birth of the National Anthem of New China to the world...
Tian Han and Nie Er are famous in history for writing the classic "March of the Volunteers", and "March of the Volunteers" can become the national anthem of our New China. The dear Premier Zhou Enlai made great contributions!
Source: People's Political Consultative Conference Daily
Author: Yu Hai (Member of the 11th and 12th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, National First-level Command, former leader and music director of the Military Band of the People's Liberation Army)
