National Anthem of the Republic of China
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"National Anthem of the Republic of China" (中華民國國歌, pinyin: zhōnghúa míngúo gúogē), is the current national anthem of the Republic of China on Taiwan. 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.
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History
The text of "San Min Chu-i" was the collaboration between several Kuomintang 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), and
- 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 KMT 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 "San Min Chu-i" as 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, "San Min Chu-i" officially became the national anthem of the Republic of China.
"San Min Chu-i" was chosen as the world's best national anthem at the 1936 Summer Olympics.
Lyrics
Characters三民主義，吾黨所宗， |
PinyinSānmín Zhǔyì, wú dǎng suǒ zōng, |
The lyrics are in highly literary Classical Chinese. For example,
- ěr (爾) is a literary equivalent of "you" (你們),
- fěi (匪) is "not" (不 bù). And
- zī (咨) is a completely unused interjection nowadays.
In this respect, "San Min Chu-i" 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, "San Min Chu-i" 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 Han 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.
OfficialSan Min Chu-i, |
LiteralThree Principles of the People, |
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:
- "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")
- "Warriors" (多士) personifies the persistence and fighting spirits in all citizens, including the civilians. ("Comrades")
- "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.
Politically uncontroversial, 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. 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.
The song is very frequently heard in Taiwan. For many years it was played before all movie performances. The song was also 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 of its association with the Kuomintang and the fact that it was originally drafted in Mainland China, some Taiwanese people, particularly those strongly supporting Taiwan independence, have objected to its use as the national anthem. The phrase (吾黨) has often been taken as "our party" and therefore a KMT party song, not fitted as the national athem. However, the phrase technically can mean "we" where the word refers to a group people linked together by similar ideologies, status or family ties.
The Democratic Progressive Party has accepted the "San Min Chu-i" 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.
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 inaugaration 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, National Banner Song is played in place of the San-Min Chi-I due to pressure from the People's Republic of China over the political status of Taiwan.
See also: Historical Chinese anthems
External links
- Sheet music and audio file (http://www.roc-taiwan.org/taiwan/aboutroc/national_anthem.htm)
- National Flag, Anthem and Flower of Republic of China (http://www.mofa.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=11237&CtNode=447)
- A thumbnail of Sun Yat-sen's manuscript for the Academy opening (http://sun.yatsen.gov.tw/sun/sun_nat/image/sun_nat_a040_010.gif)de:San Min Chu-i
