The Military Anthem of the People's Liberation Army (), also known as the March of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (), is a patriotic song of the
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
. The song was written by Zhang Yongnian and composed by
Zheng Lücheng
Zheng Lücheng (; , 27 August 1914 – 7 December 1976) was a Korea-born Chinese composer of Korean ethnicity. He is most notable for having composed the music to the Military Anthem of the People's Liberation Army, to words by Gong Mu (公 ...
.
The song's former name was March of the
Eighth Route Army
The Eighth Route Army (), officially known as the 18th Group Army of the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China, was a group army under the command of the Chinese Communist Party, nominally within the structure of the Chinese ...
(), and was one of the six songs in the Chorus of Eighth Route Army (), all of which had Gong Mu as song writer and Zheng Lücheng as the composer. The song became known as the "March of the Liberation Army" () during the second
Chinese Civil War. The lyrics were re-edited by the
General Political Department in 1951 and the song renamed to ''March of the Chinese PLA'' in 1965.
On July 25, 1988, the
Central Military Commission decided to use the song as the official anthem of the
People's Liberation Army
The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five service branches: the Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, ...
.
Variant
A variant form of the song called ''Parade March of the PLA'' () is used as the main theme of the marching of formative military parade, such as that in
Chinese National Day Parade
The National Day Parade (), officially the National Day of the People's Republic of China Parade (), is a civil-military parade event held at Tiananmen Square in Beijing, the capital of the People's Republic of China, on the National Day of the P ...
. From 1949 onwards, this has been the march past tune of the PLA in every military parade.
Change
The lyrics of this song has been changed in different times in different eras.
1. The banner of freedom is flying high (later changed: the whole Chinese people are completely liberated → the flag of victory is flying high → the flag of Mao Zedong is flying high)
2. Strive for democracy and freedom, (later changed to: the final victory)
3. Strive for national liberation. (later changed to: Liberation of the whole country!)
See also
*
60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China
The 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China took place on 1 October 2009. A military parade involving 10,000 troops and the display of many high-tech weapons was held in Tiananmen Square in Beijing and various celebrat ...
* ''
March of the Volunteers
The "March of the Volunteers" (), originally titled the "March of the Anti-Manchukuo Counter-Japan Volunteers", has been the official national anthem of the People's Republic of China since 1978. Unlike previous Chinese state anthems, it was ...
''
*
Military song of China
External links
Version performed in the 1964 Song and dance epic "The East is Red"Orchestral rendition of the marchOrchestral MP3 Audio from PLA DailyOrchestral and Choral MP3 Audio from PLA Daily
Mandarin-language songs
Chinese patriotic songs
Chinese military marches
Asian anthems
{{Anthem-stub