( CN, EN) 義勇軍進行曲 March of the Volunteers ( Paul Robeson version)

The March of the Volunteers is the national anthem of the People s Republic of China, including its special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau. Unlike most previous Chinese state anthems, it is written entirely in the vernacular, rather than in Classical Chinese. Its lyrics were composed as a dramatic poem by the poet and playwright, the Japaneducated Tian Han in 1934 and set to music by Nie Er from Yunnan Province the next year for the film Children of Troubled Times. It was adopted as the PRC s provisional anthem in 1949 in place of the Three Principles of the People of the Republic of China and the Communist Internationale. In exile in New York City in 1940, Liu Liangmo taught it to Paul Robeson, the collegeeducated polyglot folksinging son of a runaway slave. Robeson began performing the song in Chinese at a large concert in New York City s Lewisohn Stadium. Reportedly in communication with the original lyricist Tian Han, the pai