National Anthem of the Republic of China

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"National Anthem of the Republic of China" (Traditional Chinese: 中華民國國歌, Simplified Chinese: 中华民国国歌 Pinyin: Zhōnghúa míngúo gúogē), is the current national anthem of the Republic of China. It discusses how the vision and hopes of a new nation and its people can and should be achieved and maintained using the Three Principles of the People. Informally, the song is sometimes known as "San Min Chu-i" or "Three Principles of the People" from its opening line, but this is never used in formal or official occasions.

History

The text of "National Anthem of the Republic of China" was the collaboration between several Kuomintang (KMT) members,

• Hu Han-min (胡漢民 Hú Hànmín),
• Tai Chi-t'ao (戴季陶; Dài Jìtáo),
• Liao Chung-k'ai (廖仲愷 Liáo Zhōngkǎi)
• Shao Yüan-ch'ung (邵元沖 Shào Yuánchōng).

The text debuted on July 16, 1924 as the opening of a speech by Sun Yat-sen at the opening ceremony of the Whampoa Military Academy.

After the success of the Northern Expedition, the Kuomintang chose the text to be its party anthem and publicly solicited for accompanying music. Ch'eng Mao-yün (程懋筠; Chéng Màoyún) won in a contest of 139 participants.

On March 24, 1930, numerous Kuomintang members proposed to use the speech by Sun as the lyrics to the national anthem. Due to opposition over using a symbol of a political party to represent the entire nation, the National Anthem Editing and Research Committee (國歌編製研究委員會) was set up, which endorsed the KMT party song. On June 3, 1937, the Central Standing Committee (中央常務委員會) approved the proposal, and in 1943, the "Three Principles of the People" officially became the national anthem of the Republic of China.

The anthem was chosen as the world's best national anthem at the 1936 Summer Olympics.

Lyrics

The lyrics are in classical literary Chinese. For example,

• ěr (爾) is a literary equivalent of both singular and plural "you" depending on the context (你們). In this case, it is plural you.
• fěi (匪) is "not" (不 bù). And
• zī (咨) acts as an interjection in this national anthem context and is unused in that interjection capacity in the modern colloquial language.

In this respect, the national anthem of the Republic of China stands in contrast to the People's Republic of China's "The March of the Volunteers", which is written a few years later in modern vernacular Chinese entirely.

As well as being classical, the national anthem of the Republic of China is poetic. The style follows that of a four-character poem (四言詩), also called a four-character rhymed prose (四言韻文), first appeared in the Zhou Dynasty. The last character of each line rhymes in -ong (some are pinyinized as -eng). Because of the concise and compact nature of poetry, some words in the text have different interpretations, evident in the two translations below.

Lines seven and eight of the Tu and literal translations seem to vary dramatically, but the Tu translation is actually just in inverse order, properly to suit a more native English word order. Also, "day" and "night" are replaced by the metonyms "sun" and "star". Also, classical Chinese poetry allows for a great amount of license in interpretation.

The real differences are caused by the official interpretations, where some political and martial words have their other significances emphasized:

1. "Our party" (吾黨) has been extended to be "our alliance", meaning "of us together", including the non-party members. (Translated in the Tu version as "our")
2. "Warriors" (多士) personifies the persistence and fighting spirits in all citizens, including the civilians. ("Comrades")
3. "Vanguard" (前鋒) symbolizes the "model citizens".

Such is taught in Taiwanese schools, but some consider the elaboration of those phrases to be an inconsistent and unfaithful interpretation of the original.

The "great unity" (大同) has been interpreted to mean "total world harmony" (世界大同) and is a Confucian term used in the Great Learning as the ultimate aim that humans should strive for. However, the term was also occasionally used in the nineteenth century as a translation of the term "socialism". Sun Yat-sen's philosophy was that by providing for a strong China which could relate to the world as an equal, world harmony could be achieved.

Use in Taiwan

It is generally heard on important occasions such as graduations and flag-raising ceremonies. But for many years it was played before all movie performances. The song was once used to identify illegal migrants to Taiwan from Fujian as they would not be able to sing the anthem. Reportedly this is no longer effective, as migrants to Taiwan now learn the song before crossing the straits.

Because it was originally the party song of Kuomintang (KMT) and was drafted in Mainland China as the speech to Whampoa Military Academy (a military school founded by KMT), those strongly supporting Taiwan independence, have objected to its use as the national anthem. The phrase "our party" (吾黨) actually refers to the KMT, and so has been considered unsuitable for a national anthem. Due to the fact that Taiwan was no longer ruled in dictatorship, the meaning of 「黨」 had been extended to a more general meaning as "we"——as it has been used long before the existence of political parties——where the word refers to a group people linked together by similar ideologies or common benefits. (Compare with the controversy over the first verse of the national anthem of Ireland.)

The Democratic Progressive Party has accepted the current national anthem of the Republic of China but often plays it in a strongly Taiwanese context such as having it sung by a choir of Taiwanese aboriginals or in Taiwanese or Hakka. In 2006, President Chen Shui-bian, after returning from an overseas trip to the ROC's diplomatic allies in Latin America, stated that he fully supports the National Anthem of the Republic of China. He said that the country's citizens must learn to sing the National Anthem proudly and loudly. He also stressed the need for government officials to also sing the anthem and not shun it. Without the government setting an example, it's not surprising that the citizens don't sing the anthem, said Chen. Chen Shui-bian bowed to an effigy of Sun Yat-sen, the founding father of the Republic of China. He also bowed to the flag of the ROC and sang the national anthem loudly once again, as he was presiding over a ceremony in Taipei.

The song is banned in mainland China and although not formally banned in Hong Kong, its public performance there is strongly discouraged. At Chen Shui-bian's inauguration in 2000, the national anthem was sung by popular singer A-Mei, which led to her to be banned from touring in mainland China for a few months.

At international events such as Olympic Games when Taiwan is not allowed to use its official name as the ROC and is forced to use Chinese Taipei instead, the National Banner Song is played in place of the National Anthem of the Republic of China due to pressure from the People's Republic of China over the political status of Taiwan.

See also

• Historical Chinese anthems
• History of Republic of China
• Sun Yat-sen
• Portal:Taiwan

Media

Reference

• Reed W. L. and Bristow M. J. (eds.) (2002) "National Anthems of the World", 10 ed., London: Cassell, p.526. ISBN 0-304-36382-0

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