The East is Red
"The East Is Red" (Chinese: 东方红, pinyin: Dōngfāng Hóng) is a song that was the de facto anthem of the People's Republic of China during the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s. During this period, Tien Han, the author of the official anthem "The March of the Volunteers," was out of power, and so that song was not used. It is also a musical promoting socialism and Communism, especially Maoism. The tune comes from the classical 'Yellow River Cantata', which itself was derived from traditional Northern Chinese folk music.
Because of its associations with the Cultural Revolution, the song has been rarely heard after the rise of Deng Xiaoping in the late 1970s. Today in China the song is considered a somewhat unseemly reminder of the
cult of personality associated with Mao and has largely been replaced by the March of the Volunteers which mentions neither the Communist Party or Mao.
It is also the name of a series of Chinese satellites. China's first satellite, Dong Fang Hong I consisted of a transmitter broadcasting this song.
Click to listen
Chinese lyrics
- 东方红，太阳升，
- 中国出了个毛泽东。
- 他为人民谋幸福，
- 呼尔海约，他是人民大救星！
- 毛主席，爱人民，
- 他是我们的带路人，
- 为了建设新中国，
- 呼尔海约，领导我们向前进！
- 共产党，像太阳，
- 照到哪里哪里亮。
- 哪里有了共产党，
- 呼尔海约，哪里人民得解放！
Hanyu Pinyin
- Dōngfāng hóng, tàiyáng shēng,
- Zhōngguó chū liǎo ge Máo Zédōng,
- Tā wèi rénmín móu xìngfú,
- Hū ěr hǎi yue, tā shì rénmín dà jiù xīng!
- Máo zhǔxí ài rénmín,
- Tā shì wǒmén dǐ dài lù rén
- Wèi liǎo jiànshè xīn Zhōngguó,
- Hū ěr hǎi yue, lǐngdǎo wǒmén xiàng qiánjìn!
- Gòngchǎndǎng xiàng tàiyáng,
- Zhào dào nǎlǐ nǎlǐ liàng,
- Nǎlǐ yǒu liao Gòngchǎndǎng,
- Hū ěr hǎi yue, nǎlǐ rénmín dé jiěfàng!
English translation
- The East is red, the sun has risen,
- China has made a Mao Zedong.
- He creates fortune for the people,
- Hu er hai yue, he's the savior of them all!
- Chairman Mao loves the people,
- He is our guiding leader,
- For developing a New China,
- Hu er hai yue, leading towards progress!
- The Communist Party is like the sun,
- It brightens up everything it shines.
- Where there is the Communist Party,
- Hu er hai yue, people are liberated!
