China's national anthem was born from a 1930s film about the Japanese invasion.
In short: The March of the Volunteers began as a rallying cry in a 1935 movie, Children of Troubled Times. Written by a playwright in prison and composed by a musician who died young, the song evolved from a wartime anthem into a legally protected symbol of the modern Chinese state.
The anthem originated in 1934, when playwright Tian Han penned the lyrics as part of a poem titled The Great Wall. Composer Nie Er set the words to music for the film Children of Troubled Times, which depicted the struggle against the Japanese occupation of Manchuria. The song was recorded in May 1935 by actors Gu Menghe and Yuan Muzhi, with an orchestral arrangement by Aaron Avshalomov. It quickly transcended the film, becoming a popular anthem for resistance efforts during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
During the Cultural Revolution, the song faced significant upheaval. Tian Han was imprisoned and died in 1968, and his lyrics were banned, leading to a period where the melody was played without words or replaced by The East Is Red. It was not until 1982 that the National People's Congress officially restored Tian’s original verses. In 2004, the anthem was enshrined in the constitution, and in 2017, China passed a national law to protect its performance and mandate respectful conduct.
The song’s reach extended far beyond China during World War II. In 1940, activist Liu Liangmo taught the melody to Paul Robeson, who recorded it as Chee Lai! (Arise!) to support Chinese resistance efforts. The song was featured in American documentaries and propaganda films, including Frank Capra's 1944 The Battle of China. Today, the anthem remains a mandatory part of public education in Hong Kong and Macau, where strict laws govern its performance and prohibit any alteration of its music or lyrics.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: March of the Volunteers
- Also: www.britannica.com — March of the Volunteers | song by Nie Er | Britannica
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