March of the Volunteers

The "**March of the Volunteers**" (, ) is the national anthem of the People's Republic of China. The words of the song were written by a playwright named Tian Han in 1934, and the melody to his words were composed by a composer named Nie Er a year later. It was first adopted in 1949 when the previous government was overthrown. It also became the national anthems of Hong Kong in 1997 and Macao in 1999. In 2004, this anthem became embedded in the Chinese Constitution.

### Current official version

|Words of the song in Chinese|Words of the song in Traditional Chinese|Words of the song using _pinyin_|Words of the song using _Yale romanisation_|Pronunciation of these words using the IPA|Words of the song in English|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|<poem></poem>|<poem></poem>|<poem></poem>|<poem>Héilòi! Bātyuhn jouh nòudaih dīk yànmùn! Bá ngóhmùn dīk hyutyuhk, jūksìng ngóhmùn sāndīk chèungsìng! Jūngwà mànjuhk doulíuh jeui ngàihím dīk sìhauh, Múihgoyàn beihbīkjeuk faatchēut jeuihauh dīk hausīng. Héilòi! Héilòi! Héilòi! Ngóhmùn maahnjungyātsām, Mouhjeuhk dihkyàn dīk paaufó, chìnjeun! Mouhjeuhk dihkyàn dīk paaufó, chìnjeun! Chìnjeun! Chìnjeun! Jeun!</poem>|<poem>[tɕʰì.lǎɪ̯ ‖ pǔ.ʏ̯ɛ̂n tswô̞ nǔ.lî tɤ ɻə̌n.mən ‖] [pà̠ wò̞.mən tɤ ɕʏ̯ø̞̂.ɻô̞ʊ̯ ǀ ʈʂû.ʈʂʰɤ̞̌ŋ wò̞.mən ɕín tɤ ʈʂʰɑ̌ŋ.ʈʂʰɤ̞̌ŋ ‖] [ʈʂʊ́ŋ.xwǎ̠ mǐn.tsǔ tɑ̂ʊ̯.ljɑ̀ʊ̯ tswê̞ɪ̯ wé̞ɪ̯.ɕjɛ̀n tɤ ʂɻ̩̌.xô̞ʊ̯ ‖] [mè̞ɪ̯ kɤ ɻə̌n bê̞ɪ̯.pʰwô̞.ʈʂɤ fá̠.ʈʂʰú tswê̞ɪ̯.xô̞ʊ̯ tɤ xò̞ʊ̯.ʂɤ̞́ŋ ‖] [tɕʰì.lǎɪ̯ ‖ tɕʰì.lǎɪ̯ ‖ tɕʰì.lǎɪ̯ ‖] [wò̞.mən wân.ʈʂʊ̂ŋ.î.ɕín ǀ] [mɑ̂ʊ̯.ʈʂɤ tǐ.ɻə̌n tɤ pʰɑ̂ʊ̯.xwò̞ ǀ tɕʰjɛ̌n.tɕîn ‖] [mɑ̂ʊ̯.ʈʂɤ tǐ.ɻə̌n tɤ pʰɑ̂ʊ̯.xwò̞ ǀ tɕʰjɛ̌n.tɕîn ‖] [tɕʰjɛ̌n.tɕîn ‖ tɕʰjɛ̌n.tɕîn ‖ tɕîn ‖]</poem>|<poem>Arise, you who refuse to be bond slaves, Let's stand up and fight for liberty and true democracy, All our world is facing the change of the tyrant! Everyone who works for freedom is now crying: Arise, Arise, Arise! All of us with one heart, With the torch of freedom, march on, With the torch of freedom, March on, March on! March on and on!</poem>|

### In local languages

|Uyghur translation|Uyghur transliteration|Lhasa Tibetan translation|Lhasa Tibetan transliteration|Portuguese translation|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|<poem></poem>|<poem></poem>|<poem></poem>|<poem></poem>|<poem></poem>|

### Previous version used between 1978 and 1982

|Words of the song in Chinese|Words of the song using _pinyin_|Translation of the words into English|
| --- | --- | --- |
|<poem>前进！各民族英雄的人民！ 伟大的共产党领导我们继续长征。 万众一心奔向共产主义明天， 建设祖国保卫祖国英勇的斗争。 前进！前进！前进！ 我们千秋万代 高举毛泽东旗帜，前进！ 高举毛泽东旗帜，前进！ 前进！前进！进！</poem>|<poem>Qiánjìn! Gè mínzǔ yīngxióngde rénmín, Wěidàde gòngchǎndǎng lǐngdǎo wǒmen jìxù chángzhēng. Wànzhòng yīxīn bēn xiàng gòngchǎnzhǔyì míngtiān, Jiànshè zǔgúo bǎowèi zǔgúo yīngyǒngde dòuzhēng. Qiánjìn! Qiánjìn! Qiánjìn! Wǒmen qiānqīu-wàndài Gāojǔ Máo Zédōng qízhì, qiánjìn! Gāojǔ Máo Zédōng qízhì, qiánjìn! Qiánjìn! Qiánjìn! Jìn!</poem>|<poem>March on! Heroes of every races! The great Communist Party leads us in continuing the Long March! Millions with but one heart toward a communist tomorrow Bravely struggle to develop and protect the motherland. March on! March on! March on! We will for many generations Raise high Mao Zedong's banner! March on! Raise high Mao Zedong's banner! March on! March on! March on! On!</poem>|

## Parodies

- In 1941, African American musician Paul Robeson recorded and sung both a Chinese and an English version of the song.
- In 1944, an instrumental version recorded by the Army Air Force Orchestra was played as the theme song for film _Why We Fight VI: The Battle of China_.
- The Slovenian avant-garde band Laibach recorded an electronic version of this song in both English and Mandarin.
- British musician Damon Albarn created an upbeat version of this song.
- German musician Holger Czukay created a cut-up instrumental version of this song.
- The third line of the first stanza in the lyrics of _Glory to Hong Kong_ created during the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests makes a reference to the first line of _March of the Volunteers_.

## Infobox (anthem)

- **title**: 义勇军进行曲
- **country**: the
- **author**: Tian Han
- **composer**: Nie Er
- **image**: March of the Volunteers (Pathe Records – 1935).png
- **adopted**: 1949 <small>(provisional)</small>
1982 <small>(China, officially)</small>
1997 <small>(Hong Kong)</small>
1999 <small>(Macau)</small>
2004 <small>(constitutional)</small>
2017 <small>(legalised)</small>
- **sound title**: Instrumental version