chinese national anthem

[bhchao]

Imagine you are competing for China in the Summer Olympics and have been dreaming of winning a gold medal since childhood, or someone close to you has passed away recently. Which anthem would you rather listen to when you are on top of the podium in front of the world, the short and bugling PRC anthem or the sweeping, sentimental ROC anthem?

[keith]

The latter of course, even if I was born in China.

[keith]

The ROC anthem sounds so smooth, elegant, and grand in comparison to the abrupt bugle beat of the PRC anthem.

The ROC anthem was named the world's best anthem at the 1936 Summer Olympics.

IMHO, if we forgot the lyrics and just concentrate on the music alone, I'd say the smooth majestic ROC tune is a much better choice than the PRC tune for a unified China.

The PRC one sounds so outdated...

[jz87]

Well the communist government has an interest in promoting anti-Japanese sentiment, for the same reason the Arab regimes have an interest in promoting anti-Israeli and anti-US sentiment. It provides an outlet for popular frustration and directs anger away from the government itself.

[keith]

Yes, but I think it is about time we buried the differences and moved on. We live in the 21st century for heaven's sake.

And how come there are so many Japanese companies in Shanghai, if the Chinese despise the Japanese so much?

I am not saying they should ban business with Japan, but we need to move on.

[ala]

And how come there are so many Japanese companies in Shanghai' date=' if the Chinese despise the Japanese so much?

I am not saying they should ban business with Japan, but we need to move on.[/quote']

It's a bad idea to generalize all Chinese on a sample of a vocal minority. Most Chinese do not despise the Japanese so nearly much.

[leezhao]

It is hard for me to be impartial here, but I happen to like the March of the Volunteers very much. I do not think historical relevance of the lyrics should be attached too much weight. I do not know how much relevance the War of 1812 or the French Revolution holds in current everyday life, but "The Star-Spangled Banner" and "Le Marsaille" are regarded as two of the most popular and most recognized national anthems in the world. If the want of relevance is to undermine an anthem's merit, then the immediate goal of the Whampoa Academy, established with Soviet financial and technical aids and where Dr. Sun Yat-sen delivered the words of the anthem of ROC, was nothing other than the Northern Expedition whose relevance to current life is just as questionable as those of the War of Resistance against Japan, the War of 1812 and the French Revolution in present day China, United States and France, respectively.

On the other hand, among other things, the national anthem of a state generally holds great meaning when the state which the anthem represents was established, and hence holds great meaning to the state so long as it exists. If there hadn't been a War of Resistance, I do not know what would become of the Communist Party of China(CPC) and certainly the People's Republic would not be; if there hadn't been a French Revolution, then the Republic of France would not be; if there had not been the Whampoa Academy or

Northern Expedition, then KMT would not have come to power in China(certainly

not Chiang Kai-Shek). I must admit that the War of 1812 plays a much less significant role in the establishment of the United States than the other three mentioned, but it was nevertheless a war for survival of the young republic.

Nowhere in the lyrics of the PRC anthem does it even mention Japan, nor will anyone know it was written during the resistance if he/she doesn't look it up historically. If by accepting such an anthem means the communist government is promoting anti-Japanese sentiment, then the United States government has been promoting anti-British sentiment for a long long while by adopting the Star-Spangled Banner as its anthem. Oh, damn those Brits who bombarded our cities in 1812(I'm being sarcarstic here). Regardless of one's feeling about communism or the CPC, I am really sick and tired of the trend that when a communist government does something, it has to be sinnister regardless of what they are doing.

Also, "Our Party" or "吾黨" cannot be narrowly interpreted as the KMT, but should be more boardly viewed as "our alliance" or "our group with the same goal" and "黨" should be viewed more in line with the character's old and original meaning.

I also like very much the National Anthem from the Qing Dynasty. It was a short-lived anthem, since it was formally adopted on the Thirteenth Day of the Eighth Month of the Third Year of the Reign of Xuan Tong(4 October 1911) but the Emperor abdicated on 12 Febuary 1912 and the anthem was NEVER played in any official capacity. The title of it was "Gong Jin Ou" or Solid Gold Cup. In spirit it is somewhat similar to

the Japanese anthem, except we didn't praise the Emperor, as in the case of the Japanese anthem, so much but spoke more of the Empire of Qing. Prior to this, Imperial China never had an official National Anthem. Li Hongzhang and others had their own music to be played at ceromonies with other countries, but those were not recognized as National Anthems. The lyrics of Gong Jin Ou were deliberately written for the anthem, rather than a

theme song of a movie(PRC's anthem), a speech at an inauguration(ROC's anthem), a poem(USA's anthem) or a marching song for the troops(France's anthem). The lyrics were very well written. Regardless of what we feel about the later days of the Qing, we must admit that Gong Jin Ou was the first officially recognized national anthem of China. It is a pitty that it is now essentially left in oblivion. The following are the original lyrics and an English translation of Gong Jin Ou.

鞏金甌，

承天幬，

民物欣鳧藻，

喜同胞，

淸時幸遭。

眞熈皞，

帝國蒼穹保。

天高高，

海滔滔。

Solidify our golden empire,

Follow the will of Heaven,

All of creation will celebrate,

All of mankind will be filled with happiness,

As long as the Qing rules.

May the enlightened empire,

And its vast boundaries be protected.

The sky is high,

The sea is turbulent.

Also, the music was quite majestical, I don't know where you'd find it on the web, but at least I felt it was quite good upon hearing it. If you like the ROC anthem because of its granduer and majesty of the music and flowery lyrics of classical Chinese, then I think the Qing Anthem is better in both regards.

[Ian_Lee]

Actually I like the "March of Volunteers" very much.

And I think it is the best choice as national anthem for PRC.

Why? The reason is very simple. It is not a Communist song.

The song had existed there long before PRC was established. Moreover, Nie Er died in 1936 and Tian Han was purged to death during the Cultural Revolution.

Undeniably both Nie and Tian were left-leaning intellectuals when the song was born. But most intellectuals and students were left-leaning by that time.

And not even a single word in the lyrics in the song is related to CCP.

So which else song could be picked for national anthem of PRC?

"East is Red" or "Navigation in High Sea relies on the anchor" or "Without Chairman Mao there is no New China"....

None fits.