The "National Anthem of the Republic of China" is the national anthem of the Republic of China, commonly known as Taiwan. It was originally adopted in 1928 by the ROC as its national anthem and was used as such in mainland China until 1949, after which the central government of the Republic of China relocated to Taiwan. It replaced the "Song to the Auspicious Cloud", which had been used as the Chinese national anthem before. In mainland China, this national anthem serves a historical role, as the current national anthem of the People's Republic of China is the "March of the Volunteers". The national anthem was also adopted in Taiwan on 25 October 1945 after the surrender of Japan. The national anthem's words are adapted from a 1924 speech by Sun Yat-sen, via the partisan anthem of the Kuomintang in 1937. The lyrics relate to how the vision and hopes of a new nation and its people can be achieved and maintained. Informally, the song is sometimes known as San Min Chu-i from its opening line which references the Three Principles of the People, but this name is never used in formal or official occasions.
History
The text of was the collaboration between several Kuomintang party members: Hu Hanmin, Tai Chi-tao, Liao Zhongkai, and Shao Yuanchong. The text debuted on 16 July 1924, as the opening of a speech by Sun Yat-sen at the opening ceremony of the Whampoa Military Academy. After the success of the Northern Expedition, the Kuomintang party chose the text to be its party anthem and publicly solicited for accompanying music. Cheng Maoyun won in a contest of 139 participants. On 24 March 1930, numerous Kuomintang party members proposed to use the speech by Sun as the lyrics to the national anthem. At the time, the national anthem of the republic was the "Song to the Auspicious Cloud". Due to opposition over using a symbol of a political party to represent the entire nation, the National Anthem Editing and Research Committee was set up, which endorsed the KMT party song. On 3 June 1937, the Central Standing Committee approved the proposal, and in the 1940s, the song formally became the official national anthem of the Republic of China. For many Taiwanese the anthem carries a number of meanings, often conflicting. Some Taiwanese reject the anthem outright as an anachronistic symbol of the vanquished KMT dictatorship.
In this respect, the national anthem of the Republic of China stands in contrast to the People's Republic of China's "March of the Volunteers", which was written a few years later entirely in modern vernacular Chinese. As well as being written in classical Chinese, the national anthem follows classical poetic conventions. The ancient Fu style follows that of a four-character poem, where the last character of each line rhymes in -ong or -eng, which are equivalent.
