On February 14, 1912, Nie Er was born in Chengchuntang, a Chinese medicine shop in the south of Kunming, with six brothers and sisters, three older brothers and two older sisters, and Nie Er was the youngest.
His father, Nie Hongyi, is a Chinese medicine doctor who treats people and grasps medicine, barely maintaining the family's life, and his mother, mainly engaged in housework, and assists her husband in running medical affairs.
Nie Er is the youngest child in the family, smart and studious, the memory is particularly strong, his mother taught him to sing the national minor key, he will sing it several times, the adults tell him stories, he can also quickly repeat it, the whole family loves him very much.
Nie Er's father, because of the excessive burden of the family, long-term overwork, when Nie Er was 4 years old, his father was infected with tuberculosis, and soon became bedridden and died, which was a heavy blow to Nie Er's whole family.
The mother is a strong and capable Dai woman, she has not been able to go to school since childhood, but after marriage, with the help of her husband, she learned culture, after her husband's death, she took up all the burdens of life, gradually mastered the pharmacology, pulse cutting and prescription and other comprehensive Chinese medicine theory and medicine, inherited her husband's profession, she saw doctors and dispensed medicines, washed clothes and needlework for others at night, to earn money to maintain the family's life.
In 1918, the 6-year-old Nie Er made a request to his mother to study, and her mother had to pawn the only property left by her father, the eight-tone bell, pay the tuition fee, and Nie Er went to primary school.
Nie Er did not live up to his mother's expectations, reading very hard, one day, it snowed heavily, his mother said not to go to school, the teacher will not go to class, Nie Er still came to school on time, only three or four students came to the class, the teacher not only went to class as usual, but also praised their spirit of not being afraid of hardship.
One day, Nie Er's mother secretly shed tears, because she knew that the family owed the landlord a few months of rent, Nie Er and his two brothers discussed and decided to carry her mother to work as a temporary worker outside to earn some money to solve the family's urgent needs.
They went along the streets of Kunming from south to north, from east to west, almost all the shops were asked, but because of their young age, none of them would use them, and finally the three brothers returned home full of frustration and hunger dragging heavy steps.
Nie Er loved rich and beautiful folk songs since childhood, dreamed of being a musician, Nie Er's mother moved with her children several times, there was a neighbor Qiu Carpenter, idle to like to play the flute, Nie Er listened very attentively, and gradually Nie Er learned to play the flute.
Later, Nie Er learned to play erhu from a primary school teacher, learned to play the three strings and the moon organ, and in November 1924, the school established a music troupe, Nie Er and his two brothers were members of this group, and Nie Er served as the conductor of this music group.
In the spring of 1925, Nie Er was promoted to Yunnan First Union Middle School, he met his mentor Mr. Bai Xiwen, he had a profound impact on nie er's english level and music hobbies, Nie Er became interested in western instruments such as piano, further deepened his understanding of European and American music, and when Nie Er graduated from high school, he could already read general English readings.
In 1927, Nie Er was admitted to the Yunnan First Normal School, which is a publicly-funded school, the students' tuition and miscellaneous expenses and accommodation expenses are borne by the state, Nie Er majored in English, and is an active member of the school's literary and artistic activities.
In the autumn of 1928, Nie Er joined the Communist Youth League and became a member of the Relief Society under the leadership of the Party, and Nie Er repeatedly visited and helped the imprisoned revolutionary comrades and engaged in underground activities.
In October 1929, Nie Er participated in the school's Chinese drama performance activities and met his first love girlfriend Yuan Chunhui, who was Nie Er's only lifelong lover, and in those days away from home, Nie Er and Yuan Chunhui exchanged about 200 letters.
After Nie Er's death in Chongyang, Yuan Chunhui was devastated and could not extricate herself for many years, and she has been living in Nie Er's home and serving Nie Er's old mother.
On July 11, 1929, the Warlords of Yunnan were carrying arms in preparation for war, which caused the explosion of the powder depot, killing and injuring more than 4,000 people.
He mobilized the victims to petition the warlords for compensation for their losses, and the reactionary authorities panicked and searched for students everywhere, and Nie Er survived under the cover of the masses and was arranged to go to the countryside for a period of time.
On July 10, 1930, Nie Er, with the help of his third brother Nie Lun, evaded the pursuit, Nie Er bid farewell to his relatives and friends and hometown, took Vietnam alone, passed through Hong Kong, and on July 18, came to Shanghai Beach and began to make an independent living, when Nie Er was only 18 years old.
Nie Er arrived in Shanghai, life is very poor, Nie Er went to Yunfeng Shenzhuang as a buddy, every day to pick up goods, mail and bookkeeping, work up to more than 10 hours, night, Nie Er used all the time to learn English and Japanese.
On March 19, 1931, Yunfeng Shenzhuang collapsed due to tax evasion, and Nie Er lost his job, and later, Nie Er applied for the Music and Dance School, and after strict examinations such as the initial re-examination, Nie Er was fortunately admitted.
In school, Nie Er got formal training, he practiced the violin more diligently, practicing for more than 6 hours a day, after half a year of hard practice, Nie Er's violin playing skills have been greatly improved.
He began his self-study of piano playing, vocals and composition, and in January 1932 he began his musical experimentation, writing a violin piece "Lamentations", two harmonica pieces "March" and "Round Dance".
On March 1, 1932, the January 28 Incident broke out in Shanghai, and the Japanese army occupied Shanghai, and Nie Er saw those compatriots who had been devastated by the war and fled, so he actively participated in various anti-Japanese activities.
He once braved his guns alone to go to the war zone and secretly photographed a Japanese warship, which is a precious historical material and ironclad evidence of the Japanese imperialist aggression against China.
At the beginning of 1933, Nie Er joined the Communist Party of China through the introduction of Tian Han, head of the Chinese Left-Wing Dramatists Alliance, and nie Er's literary and artistic thinking was further improved.
In 1933, Nie Er and Tian Han took a group photo
Music, like other arts, can replace the shouts of the masses, he is determined to take up the weapon of music, for the people to inspire morale, Nie Er joined the party in the two years, successfully composed more than 30 songs full of fighting passion.
Nie Er is enthusiastic and straightforward, very humorous and funny, and has won the hearts of the people throughout the Shanghai film industry, because of Nie Er's talent and talent, he played the role of "Mother's Light" and "Fishing Light Song", shaped the screen image of the working class, and also scored "Fishing Light Song".
In 1934, under the direct leadership of the party, Dentsu Film Company was established, and when Nie Er undertook the soundtrack work of the film "Dalu Song", he went to the construction site in Jiangwan, Shanghai to pull the brick with the workers, personally experienced their labor life, and worked hard to write the hard life of the workers, Nie Er also created many revolutionary songs: "Mei Niang Song", "Saiwai Village Girl", "Shepherd Girl", and "Flying Flower Song".
In March 1935, Dentsu Pictures decided to shoot "Children of the Storm", and soon after, Tian Han was arrested and imprisoned, and Tian Han wrote the lyrics on the back of the cigarette box wrapper, that is, the original first draft, and the comrades who visited the prison were brought out.
At that time, Nie Er was preparing to take refuge in Japan, and when he learned that the children of the movie had a theme song to compose, he took the initiative to ask for the song to be composed, and promised to send back the song manuscript as soon as possible after arriving in Japan.
Nie Er was responsible for composing the lyrics, almost sleeping and forgetting to eat, night and day, a moment on the table to beat, the landlord thought that Nie Er was crazy, ran upstairs and scolded Nie Er, and finally Nie Er scored the first draft of the theme song "March of the Volunteer Army".
On April 1, 1935, the news came that Nie Er was in danger of being arrested, and the party organization decided to let Nie Er go to Japan in order to protect Nie Er.
Soon after arriving in Japan, Nie Er sent the revised final draft back to China, and Nie Er's song was full of enthusiasm, and when the people of the whole country could not bear it and urgently demanded anti-imperialist resistance, these simple syllables precisely expressed the voice of tens of millions of people.
Unfortunately, when the "Volunteer March" first sounded on the screen, Nie Er swam on the beach of Theuganuma in Japan and unfortunately drowned at the age of 23.
At the end of August 1935, Nie Er's ashes and relics were escorted back to Shanghai by his fellow friends Zhang He and Zheng Ziping.
On September 27, 1949, the Party Central Committee resolved to make the "March of the Volunteer Army" the national anthem of the People's Republic of China, and on December 4, 1982, after discussion at the Fifth Session of the Fifth National Congress, it was considered that Tian Han composed the lyrics and Nie Er composed the "March of the Volunteer Army" as the "National Anthem of the People's Republic of China".
Nie Er died young, created 35 songs and 4 national instrumental songs in his lifetime, due to his excessively short life and artistic experience, with the passion of his life, the melody composed, sang the strongest voice of the times, deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.