The March of the Volunteers is the national anthem of China.
The lyrics were written in 1935 by Tian Han and the melody was composed by Nie Er. Initially, it was intended to be the credits of a film: The children of China (Sons and Daughters in a Time of Storm) on the second China-Japan war. Yuan Muzhi and Gu Menghe were the performers.
On September 27, 1949, the song became the interim Chinese national anthem given that it recounted an outstanding historical moment of China and exuded a powerful melody reflecting the Chinese revolutionary traditions since the end of the Qing dynasty. But, during the Cultural Revolution, the writer Tian Han was criticized, accused of an anti-revolutionary stance, persecuted and tortured. His health could not bear it, and in 1968, he fell ill and died.
The song henceforth could no longer be sung, except played instrumentally.
On March 5, 1978, the lyrics were changed. However, many Chinese continued asking for the original lyrics and that was how on December 4, 1982, Tian Han’s wordings of The Volunteers’ March were restored and the song was made the official national anthem of the Peoples Republic of China.
Qilai! Buyuan zuo nuli de renmen,
Ba women de xuerou zhucheng women xin de changcheng.
Zhonghua Minzu dao liao zui weixian de shihou,
Meigeren beipo zhe fachu zuihou de housheng.
Qilai! Qilai! Qilai!
Women wanzhong yixin,
Mao zhe diren de paohuo,
Qianjin!
Mao zhe diren de paohuo,
Qianjin! Qianjin! Qianjin! Jin!
Marche des Volontaires
Version française
Debout ! Nous qui refusons l'esclavage !
Avec notre chair et notre sang, soyons une autre Grande Muraille !
La nation chinoise est en grand danger.
De chaque poitrine jaillit le cri :
Debout ! Debout ! Debout !
Nous, millions d'hommes, d'un seul coeur,
Bravons le feu de l'ennemi, en avant !
Bravons le feu de l'ennemi, en avant !
En avant ! En avant ! En avant !