Guide
"March of the Volunteer Army" is an anti-Japanese war song and the theme song of the movie "Children of the Storm". Why did the theme song of a movie end up being our national anthem, how did the song come about, and what has it been through over the years?
Hello everyone, I'm Wang Hui. At the end of the last episode, I left a question for everyone, do you know which movie the national anthem is the theme song of which movie? Many friends gave the answer, which was "Children of the Storm", released in 1935, which was very correct. The film is directed by Xu Xingzhi, written by Tian Han and Xia Yan, and starring Yuan Muzhi, Wang Renmei, Tan Ying and others.
But have you seen this movie? Do you know what it's about? Why did a movie's theme song end up being our national anthem, and what did it go through? Today, let's find the answers to these questions together.
Let the time go back to 1931, when Japan, whose expansion ambitions were rapidly expanding, brazenly launched the September 18 Incident, which opened the prelude to the japanese imperialist invasion of China, and the 14-year-long War of Resistance Against Japan began. Within four months, the Japanese army forcibly occupied the three eastern provinces, burned and looted everywhere they went, and committed heinous crimes against the Chinese people.
In the face of national difficulties, the people of Northeast China, who were not afraid of violence, rose up and quickly formed a number of anti-Japanese volunteer armies, fighting to the death with their flesh and blood and the Japanese aggressors armed to the teeth. Among them were peasants, workers, patriotic officers and soldiers, intellectuals, and even former bandits.
At a time when the nation was in danger, the Kuomintang government insisted that "the outside world must first be safe inside", stepped up the "encirclement and suppression" of the Central Soviet Region, and adopted a policy of non-resistance to Japan, resulting in the Japanese army driving straight in. At this time, the Communist Party of China issued a declaration of resistance against Japan.
The cry of "not being a slave to the country" spread throughout the north and south of the great river, and large-scale demonstrations broke out in Shanghai, Nanjing, Beiping, Guangzhou and other places. People took to the streets to protest Japanese aggression and spontaneously boycotted Japanese products.
Japanese goods are named "enemy goods", which is the stuff of enemies. Many Japanese enterprise employees voluntarily resigned, and dock workers refused to load and unload Japanese goods in the form of strikes, and Japan's dumping on China was seriously hit.
At that time, the Chinese Communist Party formed a series of "left-wing" cultural organizations in Shanghai, the "Left Writers Alliance", the "Left Dramatist Alliance" and so on. The members of these "left-wing" organizations used pens and knives to stimulate the anti-Japanese enthusiasm of the broad masses of the people through various forms such as movies, plays, and songs.
Tian Han, known as "Tian Boss", was the bearer of the "left-wing" film and drama industry at that time. Tian Han has a very tacit partner- Nie Er, these two like-minded communists have joined forces to create many popular songs, such as "Mining Song", "Great Road Song", "Graduation Song", "Forward Song", etc., and of course, our national anthem "March of the Volunteer Army".
Tian Han (left), Nie Er (right)
In 1934, Tian Han promised to create a film for the Shanghai Dentsu Company that reflected the Great Wall War of Resistance, "The Rebirth of the Phoenix", which later became "Children of the Wind and Clouds". Dentsu Corporation was a "left-wing" film company led by the Communist Party of China, considered a "red base camp" by the Kuomintang government, and was founded in Shanghai in 1934.
Although it only existed for more than a year in the harsh environment, it launched 4 excellent films, including "Peach and Plum Robbery" and "Children of the Storm", and published 13 issues of the then influential Dentsu Pictorial.
Dentsu Pictorial video screenshot
This is the National Anthem Exhibition Hall located at No. 405 Jingzhou Road in Shanghai, and the place where the exhibition hall is located has a very special significance. In early 1935, Dentsu moved here, and the first film made here was "Children of the Storm".
The film begins with an adventure between shanghai pavilions and ends with the Great Wall War of Resistance, telling the story of two intellectuals who go from ivory towers to the front line of national anti-Japanese resistance. Dentsu was very optimistic about this work and equipped it with a strong cast. In addition to the four leading actors Yuan Muzhi, Gu Menghe, Wang Renmei and Tan Ying, Zhou Xuan, who has just entered the film world, also played a dancer in the film.
At that time, Tian Han first completed the story synopsis of "Children of the Storm", and the theme song "March of the Volunteer Army" was written on the last page as the end of the film story. However, in early 1935, before he could script the story, he was arrested and imprisoned for propaganda against Japan.
After Tian Han was arrested, Dentsu Company found Xia Yan and asked Xia Yan to change the story synopsis of "Children of the Wind and Clouds" into a script. At that time, the last page of the original manuscript, that is, the piece of paper with the theme song written on it, was accidentally wet with tea. Xia Yan was afraid that others would not be able to see clearly, so he transcribed it next to him. But a few words were really vague, Xia Yan was empty there, and then asked Sun Shiyi, a master of writing, to find a way to fill them out.
After Sun Shiyi thought about it carefully, he added the word "artillery fire" to him. In this way, without deliberately changing the word, the "aircraft cannon" in the sixth sentence of Tian Han's original word was written as "cannon fire".
Video screenshots
The arrest of Tian Han and other "left-wing" literary and art workers made Nie Er feel indignant and aroused his creative passion. After hearing that there was a theme song at the end of "Children of the Wind and Clouds", Nie Er found Xia Yan and took the initiative to ask for help.
He said, "I'll do the composition!" Before Xia Yan could speak, Nie Er shook his hand and repeated, "I do it!" Hand it over to me, and Mr. Tian will definitely agree. ”
At that time, Nie Er rented xiafei road in Shanghai, which is now the 3rd floor of No. 1258 Middle Huaihai Road. He told director Xu Xingzhi: "In order to create the "March of the Volunteer Army", I almost forgot to eat and sleep, and worked day and night. One moment on the table to beat, one moment on the floor slab to keep walking, the next moment to sing loudly, the landlord and the old lady did not agree, thinking that I was crazy, ran upstairs to scold me. ”
Just after Nie Er finished composing and auditioning the "March of the Volunteer Army", he was also blacklisted by the Kuomintang authorities for his propaganda against Japan. In order to protect and train Nie Er, the party organization decided to send him abroad to study, and japan transferred to Europe to the Soviet Union.
Early in the morning of April 15, 1935, Nie Er took the first draft of the "March of the Volunteer Army" from Shanghai Huishan Wharf to Japan by steamer. Before leaving, he told Xia Yan and others that after the song was changed, he would definitely send it back as soon as possible.
In late April, Nie Er completed the final revision of the Volunteer March in Japan and sent the final draft back to Dentsu Corporation. The song score sent by Nie Er only had the words "March" written on it. Later, General Zhu Qinglan, who was an investor in the movie "Children of the Wind and Clouds", added "Volunteer Army" in front of the three words of "March", thus naming the song "March of the Volunteer Army".
The film was filmed for a total of four months, and in May 1935, the shooting work was nearing completion, and only the theme song had not yet been recorded. At this time, seven staff members of Dentsu Formed a small choir and completed the recording of "Volunteer March" in the recording studio of EMI Records.
The National Anthem Exhibition Hall displays a record of the first edition of "The March of the Volunteer Army", and the A side of the record is the interlude of "The Singer Under the Iron Hoof" and "Children of the Wind and Clouds"; the B side is the theme song of "The March of the Volunteer Army" and "Children of the Wind and Clouds".
This small red building at 811 Hengshan Road is home to EMI Records. This is a small French-style western-style building, and the main color of the façade is red, so now everyone calls it "Little Red Building".
This is the cradle of China's recording industry, and many heavyweights in the history of modern Chinese art have left their footprints here, such as Nie Er, Xian Xinghai, Ren Guang, An E, Zhou Xuan, Hu Die, Ruan Lingyu, Li Jinhui and so on.
May 3, 1935 was a memorable day, and the EMI Company's record book clearly stated that the March of the Volunteer Army was recorded on this day. The mother plate of the current year is also preserved here, number A2395.
The seven singers of the first edition of the national anthem were Situ Huimin, Shi Chao, Zheng Junli, Gu Menghe, Sheng Jialun, Jin Shan and Yuan Muzhi of Dentsu Corporation. Since Situ Huimin, Zheng Junli and Gu Menghe are three Cantonese, when we put this record now, we can still faintly hear the Cantonese accent mixed in.
On May 24, 1935, "Children of the Storm" premiered at the Shanghai Jincheng Grand Theater, which is now the Huangpu Theater. The movie was full of scenes from the day of its release, and the "March of the Volunteer Army" sang everyone's voice. In order to learn this song, many audiences entered the theater again and again, and soon there was a moving scene of the whole audience singing the "March of the Volunteers" in the cinema.
This song quickly spread throughout the north and south of the great river, and became a war song of the Chinese nation against the Japanese invaders. The famous painter and musician Feng Zikai once recalled: "I came to Hankou from Zhejiang through Jiangxi and Hunan, and when I stayed in various places along the way, the anti-war songs were endlessly heard, and even the three villages in the barren mountains also had 'up!'" Get up! ','Forward!' advance! The voice came from the mouth of the villager shepherd boy. Needless to say, the Hunan mother-in-law in Changsha and the Hubei coachman in Hankou can sing 'The Chinese nation has reached the most dangerous time'. ”
However, what no one expected was that on July 17, 1935, the bad news came that Nie Er had drowned while swimming on the Japanese seashore, at the age of 23. Tian Han and Nie Er composed a total of 14 songs together, and "The March of the Volunteer Army" became their last collaboration, and it also became the best song in Nie Er's short and brilliant life.
Nie Er liked the song very much, and he thought that the March of the Volunteers was brighter than the Internationale and more exciting than the Marseillaise.
On the eve of the founding of New China in 1949, the March of the Volunteer Army participated in the selection of the national anthem. At that time, some people did not agree with the song very much, they felt that the lyrics of "the Chinese nation has reached the most dangerous time" have become outdated, and it is best to change this word if you choose it.
After listening to everyone's opinions, both Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou mentioned the principle of "thinking of danger in times of peace."
On September 27, 1949, the First Plenary Session of the Chinese Political Consultative Conference passed a resolution to replace the national anthem with the March of the Volunteer Army.
At the founding ceremony, the "March of the Volunteer Army" was sung in Tiananmen Square. Since then, it has accompanied the growth of this country, witnessing one important moment after another.
In 2004, the March of the Volunteer Army was written into the Constitution of the People's Republic of China as a national anthem. On September 1, 2017, the National Anthem Law of the People's Republic of China was voted and passed by the 29th session of the Standing Committee of the 12th National People's Congress and came into force on October 1, 2017.
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, and we take this opportunity to sing the national anthem once again and pay tribute to the motherland.
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