Ren Guang (; November 9, 1900 in

Zhejiang ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = ( Hangzhounese) ( Ningbonese) (Wenzhounese) , image_skyline = 玉甑峰全貌 - panoramio.jpg , image_caption = View of the Yandang Mountains , image_map = Zhejiang i ...

– January 1941), also known by a

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

, Ren Qianfa (任前发), was a noted Chinese composer of the early 20th century. Ren studied in Paris beginning in 1919, and there acquired the techniques of music composition. As a consequence, his works are influenced by Western music, particularly in their harmonic accompaniment. He returned to China and worked at Baidai Record Company. Among his best-known compositions are ''Colorful Clouds Chasing the Moon'' (彩雲追月, Cǎi Yún Zhuī Yuè), composed in 1935 for Chinese instrumental ensemble and transcribed for piano in 1975, and ''Song of the Fishermen'' (渔光曲, Yú Guāng Qǔ), used as the theme song for a namesake film . Other films for which he provided songs include ''Kangdi ge'' (Resisting the Enemy), ''Dadi xingjunqu'' (Great World March), ''Yue guangguang'' (Bright, bright moon) and ''Wang laowu'' (Wang Five). He invited the musician Huang Yijun to compose ''The Flowers are Blooming and the Moon is Full'' (花好月圆) which was included on a 1935 recording Ren Guang supervised. After another research trip to France, where he set up a Chinese choir, he returned home in 1938 to concentrate on anti-Japanese propaganda with the opera ''Hong bo qu'' (Turbulent Waves) and ''Gaoliang hong le'' (The Sorghum is Red). He went to Southeast Asia in 1939 to assist the

National Salvation Movement The National Salvation Movement (''Movimiento de Salvación Nacional'') is a conservative political party in Colombia, founded by Alvaro Gómez Hurtado in 1990. At the legislative elections held on 10 March 2002, the party, as one of the many sm ...

and in 1940 he worked as composer for the

New Fourth Army The New Fourth Army (N4A) () was a military unit nominally under the banner of the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Republic of China, established in 1937 as part of the Second United Front against Japan. However, in practice, the New ...

, for which he wrote ''Xin Si Jun dongjin qu'' (The New Fourth Army marches east). He died in the Wannan Incident (also called the New Fourth Army Incident, during the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part ...

) in Wannan, southern

Anhui Anhui is an inland Provinces of China, province located in East China. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze and Huai rivers, bordering Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the east, Jiang ...

, in January 1941.

References

External links

Ren Guang page''Colorful Clouds Chasing the Moon''
An article about 彩雲追月 with three music videos

(Chinese)

(Chinese)

by Hon-Lun Yang

References

External links

See also