1949, Beijing was preparing for specific matters of building a new China, and the sixth group under the Standing Committee of the Preparatory Committee was specifically responsible for the formulation of the national flag, national anthem and national emblem plan for the new China.
In order to choose a national anthem that best represents the style of New China, the sixth group decided to solicit opinions from the public.
1949, the notice on soliciting the lyrics of the national anthem was published in major newspapers and received positive responses from all walks of life.
Since the date of publication of the notice, the sixth group has received a total of 632 national anthems and 694 lyrics, each of which has been carefully considered and discussed by the group members.
However, due to the haste, the songs participating in the application are always unsatisfactory. The members of the sixth group are relatively more inclined to use the temporary national anthem of " March ", which has been widely circulated before.
However, there are actually different opinions within the seminar group as to whether the "March of the Volunteers" can be used to temporarily replace the national anthem.
The focus of the controversy is on a lyrics in the song. Many people argue that this sentence is inappropriate in the national anthem, and even the original lyricist Mr. Tian Han also agrees to modify the lyrics slightly.
But just when everyone was controversial, Premier Zhou opposed the public and strongly supported the preservation of the original lyrics without making any changes, which led to the lyric version we heard today.
So, which lyrics are this sentence that has made everyone argue? Why did Premier Zhou insist on keeping this lyrics?
lyrics written on the backing of cigarette boxes
931, the Japanese invaders deliberately provoked with the excuse of " Liutiao Lake Incident " to create the "18 Incident " that shocked China and the world.
Since then, a wave of anti-Japanese and national salvation movement has been set off across the country, and knowledgeable people from all walks of life have gone to the national crisis together, and the literary and artistic circles are no exception.
Dentsu Film Company, founded in Shanghai, is the famous progressive film shooting base during the Anti-Japanese War period.
In the autumn of 11934, in order to deeply promote the Anti-Japanese and National Rescue Movement and to drive the whole country to unite in the war of resistance, Tian Han was asked to write a movie for Dentsu Film Company with the theme of Great Wall Anti-Japanese War . Tian Han initially titled the movie in his creation "The Rebirth of the Phoenix".
During the process of creating the script, Tian Han had a clearer idea of the movie.
He thought that the movie he wanted to write must describe the process of a group of young men and women who were just young from the initial late review to the firm confidence in fighting the enemy. Through such vivid and vivid pictures, the awakening of the vast number of young people was awakened.
Therefore, he decided to rename the script in his creation "Storm and Cloud Children ".
That winter, Tian Han handed the initial summary of the story to Comrade Sun Shiyi of Diantong Film Company.
script, but the theme song of the movie is still unclear, and Tian Han has no choice but to shoulder the heavy responsibility of creating the lyrics of the theme song.
He already has a sense of worrying about his country and family. The coolies carrying sacks of sacks at the Bund Pier in Shanghai, the children running barefoot on the streets and alleys, and the displaced people in the suburbs and rural areas were deeply imprinted in Tian Han's mind.
He wants to speak out for all the oppressed and all the people who want to fight!
Just as Tian Han himself wrote in his memory: "This song is a product of national difficulties."
Tian Han originally planned to write this theme song into several paragraphs, but unfortunately, after he just finished the creation of the first paragraph, he was arrested and imprisoned by the Kuomintang network weaving charges.
The reason given by the Kuomintang was "propaganda redification", because Tian Han created a large number of literary and artistic works of the Anti-Japanese War, which had long become a thorn in the Kuomintang's side.
After being arrested and imprisoned, Tian Han had no choice but to temporarily shelve the lyrics, and "March of the Volunteers" could only compose the first lyrics written by Tian Han.
Fortunately, this hard-won lyrics were finally presented on the table of Sun Shiyi of Dentsu Film Company - using a thin cigarette box tin foil.
It turned out that Tian Han once racked his brains to write the theme song that best suits the plot of the movie, and hurriedly wrote it on the cigarette box liner at hand when the inspiration suddenly appeared.
Later, he was arrested for a hurry and had no time to carefully copy the first draft of the first paragraph. Therefore, what Sun Shiyi saw was the lyrics on the paper of this cigarette box.
But the backing paper was soaked in tea, and the handwriting on it was a bit blurred. Sun Shiyi carefully identified it and took a long time to complete the copying of the lyrics of Tian Han's manuscript.
But perhaps it was because of the blurred handwriting that caused deviations during the transcription, or it may be that in order to match the score to enhance the strength of the song during the composer, the final lyrics of the final draft were slightly deviations from Tian Han’s original manuscript.
For example, the "cannon aircraft" in the manuscript has become "cannon fire". In addition to using "Forward! Forward" in the manuscript, the word "Inward" is added at the end of the song. The specific details of
are difficult to verify, but this majestic and passionate anti-Japanese song came into being.
On May 24, the movie "Shangyun Children" was released at the Jincheng Grand Theater in Shanghai, which caused a huge response.
The theme song "March of the Volunteers" that appears in the movie sublimated the theme of the movie, and the high-pitched rhythm and loud lyrics hit the hearts of every Chinese.
For a moment, the domestic and foreign awareness of anti-Japanese and national salvation reached another climax.
The strongest voice of the War of Resistance against Japan
At that time, many progressive music workers realized that songs were the best tool to awaken the people of the country. In addition, the widespread use of phonographs in society at that time, the singing of "March of the Volunteers" quickly spread throughout the streets and alleys.
And the "March of the Volunteers" is in full swing, and it is inseparable from an important figure - Ren Guang .
Ren Guang is a famous composer in modern my country. He has created a large number of well-known anti-Japanese music such as "Fisherman's Song".
In addition to the identity of a composer, Ren Guang was also the director of the music department of , the largest record company in China at that time - Eighteen Records.
This unique condition allows Ren Guang to burn and compile the record of "March of the Volunteers" as soon as possible, creating excellent conditions for the spread of this song.
Not only did everyone buy records to support this anti-Japanese song, but they were also actively singing it.
At that time, whether it was a mass gathering or a singing performance, "March of the Volunteers" was a must-sing song and often appeared as the finale song.
Modern painter Feng Zikai once told that he had traveled to many places in 1938. From Zhejiang to Jiangxi, and from Hunan to Hankou , the sound of singing "March of the Volunteers" is always heard.
There is no need to say much in the city, but what surprised him was that even in the "Three Villages in the Barren Mountains", the voice singing "The Chinese nation is at its most dangerous time".
The meaningless region, no matter the rich or poor, in the face of national justice, everyone has the enthusiasm to fight against Japan and save the nation.
Students are the mainstay of "March of the Volunteers".
"Shenbao" has reported on many occasions the scene of students singing "March of the Volunteers" in 1937 to 1940.
The shadow of this song could be seen everywhere in the articles and reports at that time.
or in the alley recorded in "Outside the No.", a junior high school student who was about fourteen years old was seriously teaching his younger brother and sister to sing the "March of the Volunteers", and his tender voice clearly sang "Get up, people who don't want to be slaves."
or in the student dormitory written by Li Wenbin, low chorus sounds are coming from time to time, and the low and powerful voices are singing the lyrics of "March of the Volunteers".
At the Shanghai "128th" fourth anniversary commemoration meeting, the Youth Song Group also led the singing of "The March of the Volunteers".
At the forefront of the War of Resistance, it was filled with the sound of "March of the Volunteers".
In that dark moment of nationality, "March of the Volunteers" became the key to people's glimpse of the light.
When the Hankou Anti-Enemy Support Association Women's Team was comforting the injured soldiers, more than thousands of soldiers sang this song. The Eighth Route Army soldiers sang this song while trekking on the Loess Plateau .
Li Gongpu was escorted to Suzhou , and he still sang "The March of the Volunteers" all the way.
In the singing of "March of the Volunteers", everyone's heart is filled with warm hope. It is the courage to help the national crisis and the confidence to win the war of resistance.
From "war song" to "national anthem"
949, the People's Liberation Army swept the Kuomintang army with a destructive momentum, and the construction of a new China was put on the agenda.
1 In June 949, our party invited people from all walks of life to gather in groups to discuss various matters regarding the establishment and construction of a new China.
The sixth group responsible for formulating the national anthem was originally planned to publicly solicit the national anthem from the public. In just over 40 days after the solicitation notice was issued, the sixth group received a total of 694 lyrics.
After careful selection by the primary election committee, 13 lyrics finally entered the selection process and were included in the "Selected Collection of Lyrics of the National Anthem of the Enlistment".
But the final national anthem of New China did not come from these thirteen lyrics, but the song that everyone has long known - "March of the Volunteers".
Ma Xulun, who was responsible for the selection of the national anthem, recalled that the hundreds of works received at that time had their highlights, but they were not a problem as ordinary revolutionary songs. If they were the national anthem, they always lacked something.
Ma Xulun put forward his own ideas at the national anthem consultation symposium. It is really difficult to formulate a new national anthem in a short period of time. It is better to choose the national anthem from the existing and widely sung revolutionary songs. I don’t know if it is feasible.
The revolutionary song that the sixth group prefers is "March of the Volunteers".
However, the group had different opinions on whether "March of the Volunteers" could be the national anthem.
Someone suggested that the tune of "March of the Volunteers" is exciting, and as the national anthem, there is no big problem.
But this is a song that originated from a specific historical background. The lyrics "The Chinese nation is at its most dangerous time" seems a bit inappropriate now. If it is to be used as the national anthem, the lyrics should be modified.
The original lyricist Tian Han also supports this view. He feels that the tune of "The March of the Volunteers" is fine, but the lyrics he wrote are of historical significance. Since it has entered a new era, it should give way to new lyrics.
However, some scholars represented by Liang Sicheng do not agree with this opinion.
They believe that since "The March of the Volunteers" is a historical product, in order to maintain the completion of the song, the lyrics and music should not be modified.
According to the meeting minutes left at that time, there were more participants who agreed to modify the lyrics than those who opposed it, but why did the old lyrics be used in the end?
Tian Han’s memoir provides answers to this question.
It turns out that when many people put forward opinions on modifying the lyrics, Premier Zhou pondered and retorted, "If you want to use it, use the old lyrics, so that you can inspire your feelings." Once the lyrics are modified, it will be difficult to have that kind of feeling again when singing.
Premier Zhou then added: "We still have an enemy of imperialism ahead of us. The more we progress our construction, the more jealous and hateful the imperialism will become. Destroy us and attack us. Can you say that we are not dangerous?"
Therefore, it is better to leave this lyrics and be alert for a long time.
949, after two months of solicitation and discussion, the resolution was finally passed to temporarily replace the national anthem with the "March of the Volunteers" before the national anthem was officially formulated.
Two days later, " People's Daily " published the music score of "March of the Volunteers" on the front page. The military band conductor of the founding ceremony Luo Lang urgently configured harmony and began to rehearse and perform.
1949, on the founding ceremony of , accompanied by the rising of the five-star red flag, the tune of "March of the Volunteers" resounded throughout Tiananmen Square.
Unmodified lyrics of the Power of China
However, although the lyrics of the national anthem we sing now have not been modified, the tune adjustments are subtle differences from the original version.
Comparison of the music scores published by the People's Daily and the music scores as the theme song of the movie "Shiyun Children" have several changes in the rhythm of the music - the weak shots originally existed in bars 21, 22 and 27 have all cancelled the original attachment points. Changes like
have gained better performance power, making the singing of "March of Volunteers" more sonorous and powerful.
"Xinhua News Agency Mailbox" also responded to the unmodified lyrics on November 15, 1949.
article mentioned that "The March of the Volunteers" as a war song once inspired the Chinese people's confidence in resisting Japan and saving the country, and will also inspire our will to resist imperialism in the days to come.
retains the lyrics and does not modify them. The purpose is to remind us to be prepared for danger in times of peace, remember the difficulties and hardships that the motherland has faced in the process of creation, and to inspire us to maintain patriotic enthusiasm forever.
In order to enable people across the country to learn to sing the national anthem, Central People's Radio took the lead in taking action and selected the "March of the Volunteers" in the opening song on January 1, 1950.
After that, local radio stations in various places followed closely and began to teach sing the national anthem.
Whether it is a worker's night school or a peasant association, whether it is a youth organization or a women's group, cultural centers and other social units in various places are promoting teaching and singing the national anthem.
The popularity of "March of the Volunteers" has increased unprecedentedly. The National Anthem Law, which was officially implemented on October 1, 2017, highly safeguards the dignity of the national anthem in the form of national legislation.
The history of the birth of "March of the Volunteers" is the history of the Chinese people's resistance to Japanese aggression. This song witnessed the movement of the whole country to fight against Japan and save the nation, and also witnessed the process of the birth of New China.
It can be said that "March of the Volunteers" is the well-deserved national anthem and a powerful and exciting voice of the times.
