Unity Is Strength
"Unity Is Strength" (simplified Chinese: 团结就是力量; traditional Chinese: 團結就是力量; pinyin: Tuánjié jiùshì lìliàng) is a Chinese patriotic song written by Mu Hong and Lu Su in June 1943. Despite being written as the finale act to an opera of the same name, the song gained popularity as a standalone anti-Japanese propaganda piece, and soon became widely used among numerous Chinese guerrilla groups, most notably the Chinese Communist Party. The song remains a popular patriotic song today, and in an online poll hosted by the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television in 2015, Unity is Strength was voted among the top ten songs of the Second Sino-Japanese War.[1]
History
Unity is Strength was jointly written in June 1943 by Mu Hong, also the composer of I Love the Eighth Route Army and a major contributor to the production of the Yellow River Cantata, and Lu Su, another well known Chinese communist musician. Allegedly, the song was written in only three days after the lukewarm reception of an opera they had produced under the same name. After facing criticism that the opera ended too abruptly, the two wrote Unity is Strength as a finale act.[2]
The piece was written in a small mountain village in Shaanxi Province, with the lyrics reportedly inspired by the harsh treatment of local peasants by their landlords, and the song was used by the peasants in attempts to appeal for lowered rent. The song quickly became popular throughout Western and Northern China, and was adopted by the Chinese Communist Party as one of their most frequently used pieces both during and after the Chinese Civil War. The song remains a popular piece to this day, and has been performed at numerous significant points in Chinese history, being used during the Bao Jia Weiguo Campaign during the Korean War, during the 1998 Chinese Flood relief, and being sung at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Lyrics
Simplified Chinese | Traditional Chinese | Pinyin | English Translation |
---|---|---|---|
团结就是力量 重复 | 團結就是力量 重複 | tuán jié jiù shì lì liáng Chóngfù | Unity is strength Repeat |
See also
- Maoism
- "Solidarity Forever"
- "Ode to the Motherland"
- "Sailing the Seas Depends on the Helmsman"
- "Without the Communist Party, There Would Be No New China"
References
External links
- A modern recording of the piece
- v
- t
- e
1912–1949
- How Great is Our China!
- China Heroically Stands in the Universe
- Song of Five Races Under One Union
- Song to the Auspicious Cloud
- March of the Volunteers
- National Anthem of the Republic of China
- National Flag Anthem of the Republic of China
- 800 Heroes Song
- The Sword March
- Along the Songhua River
- The Great Wall Ballad
- Guerrillas' Song
- In the Taihang Mountains [zh]
- Marshal Training Soldier Song
- Song of the National Revolution
- Gong Xi Gong Xi
People's Republic of China
- March of the Volunteers
- Workers, Peasants and Soldiers, Unite [zh]
- The East is Red
- The Internationale
- Military Anthem of the Eighth Route Army
- Nanniwan
- Ode to the Motherland
- Song of the Military and Political University of Resistance Against Japan
- Three Rules and Eight Notices
- Unity Is Strength
- Osmanthus Flowers Blooming Everywhere in August
- The Sky Above the Liberated Zone
- When the Motherland Calls Upon Us
- Yellow River Cantata
- To the Rear of the Enemy
- I Love Beijing Tiananmen
- March of the People's Liberation Army
- I Love the Motherland's Blue Skies
- My Motherland
- Long Live Comrade Mao for Ten Thousand Years
- Red Star Shines
- Socialism is Good
- I Am a Soldier [zh]
- Learn from Comrade Lei Feng
- Sailing the Seas Depends on the Helmsman
- Without the Communist Party, There Would Be No New China
- My Chinese Heart
- My People, My Country
- Bloodstained Glory
- Loyalty to the Country
- Story of Spring
- When That Day Comes
- Towards Revival
- I Love You, China
- On the Great Road
since 1949
- National Anthem of the Republic of China
- National Flag Anthem of the Republic of China
- Ode to the Republic of China
- The Plum Blossom
- 800 Heroes Song
- Night Raid [zh]
- Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Song
- Chiang Ching-kuo Memorial Song
- Go and Reclaim the Mainland
- Taiwan Is Good
- The Anti-Communist and Anti-Russian Aggression Song