The
National anthem of Manchukuo
was one of the many
national symbols
of
independence
and
sovereignty
created to foster a sense of legitimacy for
Manchukuo
in both an effort to secure international
diplomatic recognition
and to foster a sense of
nationalism
among its inhabitants.
During Manchukuo's 13-year existence, two
national anthems
were used.
The National anthem of Manchukuo was widely taught in schools and used in ceremonies in Manchukuo.
[1]
1932 proposed version
[
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]
It is unclear when Manchuria began its first national anthem production, but it seems that preparations had already begun around the Manchuria National Declaration on March 1, 1932. On May 21, 1932, the Manchuria Sports Association formally applied to the Organizing Committee of the Olympics to dispatch players to the Los Angeles Olympics (held in July 1932). The Organizing Committee urges the Manchuria country to apply to the International Olympic Committee as “participation is approved by the International Olympic Committee (IOC)” and informs the Organizing Committee to send the national flag and national anthem, they have done it. On the other hand, there is still a record that the Manchuria Sports Association sent a document stating that “the national flag and national anthem were sent to the organizing committee” to the secretary general of the Olympic organizing committee. Before May, the song was completed.
[2]
However, the line "a country good at defense uses humaneness, a country bad at defense uses military force." upset the
Kwantung Army
, and the lyrics written in
Classical Chinese
were too difficult to be understood by the ordinary citizens, the drafted anthem was not favored.
[3]
| Traditional Chinese
|
Pinyin
|
English translation
|
| 地闢兮天開
|
Di pi x? ti?n k?i
|
The
universe created
and opened up the heaven and ground
|
| 松之涯兮白之?
|
S?ng zh? ya x? Bai zh? w?i
|
Along the
Songhua River
and
Changbai Mountain
|
| 我伸大義兮繩於祖武
|
W? sh?n dayi x? sheng yu z?w?
|
The
righteousness
we advocate can be traced to the ancestors
|
| 我行博愛兮懷於九垓
|
W? xing bo'ai x? huai yu ji?g?i
|
The
fraternity
we conduct to the nive levels of heaven
|
| 善守國兮以仁
|
Shan sh?u guo x? y? ren
|
A country good at defense uses
humaneness
|
| 不善守兮以兵
|
Bushan sh?u x? y? b?ng
|
A country bad at defense uses military force
|
| 天不愛道地不愛寶
|
Ti?n bu ai dao di bu ai b?o
|
(With that virtue) the heaven would present its
principle
and the ground would present its treasure
|
| 貨惡其棄於地兮獻諸蒼昊
|
Huo wu qi qi yu di x? xian zh? c?nghao
|
Goods would be presented to the universe, instead of being left on the ground
|
| 孰非橫目之民兮視此洪造
|
Shu f?i hengmu zh? min x? shi c? hong zao
|
Isn't the ordinary people who have witnessed this grand grace
|
1933 version
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]
滿洲國國歌
 Sheet music
|
National anthem of
Manchukuo
|
| Lyrics
| Zheng Xiaoxu
|
|---|
| Music
| Takatsu Toshi, Sonoyama Minpei, Muraoka Gakud?
[4]
|
|---|
| Adopted
| March 1, 1933
|
|---|
| Relinquished
| September 5, 1942
|
|---|
|
|
National Anthem of Manchukuo
|
|
|
The first national anthem was declared by State Council Decree No.4,
[5]
dated 24 February
Datong
2 (1933)
[5]
but publicized on March 1. The lyrics were written by Manchukuo's first
Prime Minister
Zheng Xiaoxu
,
[6]
[7]
who was a devout
Confucianist
and
Qing
loyalist in addition to being an accomplished
poet
and
calligrapher
.
| Traditional Chinese
|
Pinyin
|
English translation
|
| 天地內，有了新滿洲。
|
Ti?n di nei, y?u li?o x?n m?nzh?u.
|
(Now) there is the
new Manchuria
on Earth.
|
| 新滿洲，便是新天地。
|
X?n m?nzh?u, bian shi x?n ti?n di.
|
The new Manchuria is our new land.
|
| 頂天立地，無苦無憂，造成我國家。
|
D?ng ti?n li di, wu k? wu y?u, zao cheng w? guoji?.
|
Let us make our country to be upright and free of sadness.
|
| 只有親愛?無怨仇，
|
Zh? y?u q?n'ai bing wu yuanchou,
|
With only love and no hatred,
|
| 人民三千萬，人民三千萬，
|
Renmin s?n qi?n wan, renmin s?n qi?n wan,
|
Thirty million people
, thirty million people,
|
| 縱加十倍也得自由。
|
Zong ji? shi bei y? de ziyou.
|
at ten times more we should still be free.
|
| 重仁義，?禮讓，使我身修；
|
Zhong renyi, shang l?rang, sh? w? sh?n xi?;
|
With virtue and
li
, rectified am I;
|
| 家已齊，國已治，此外何求。
|
Ji? y? qi, guo y? zhi, c?wai he qiu.
|
with family in order and with the state well-ruled, there are nothing I want.
|
| 近之則與世界同化，
|
Jin zh?, ze y? shijie tonghua,
|
For now, may we assimilate with the world;
|
| 遠之則與天地同流。
|
Yu?n zh?, ze y? ti?ndi tong liu.
|
for the future, may we follow the ways of the Heaven and Earth.
|
Midi rendition of the 1933 version.
1942 version
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]
滿洲國國歌
 Sheet music
|
National anthem of
Manchukuo
|
| Lyrics
| The national anthem committee
|
|---|
| Music
| Kosaku Yamada
,
Kiyoshi Nobutoki
|
|---|
| Adopted
| September 5, 1942
|
|---|
| Relinquished
| August 9, 1945
|
|---|
|
|
National Anthem of Manchukuo (Japanese)
|
|
|
The national anthem was changed on 5 September
K?ngde 9
(1942), by State Council Order No. 201.
[8]
Prime Minister of Manchukuo
Zhang Jinghui
cited the 1933 version of the anthem was
unsuitable for the current situations of the Empire
[9]
as the reason for the change. The new anthem, with Manchurian (i.e.
Mandarin Chinese
) and
Japanese
lyrics, was written by a committee, according to Zhang.
[10]
The 1933 anthem was renamed the
Manchukuo Independence Song
(滿洲國建國歌,
pinyin
:
M?nzh?uguo jian guog?
,
Japanese
Hepburn romanization
:
Manshukoku-kenkoku uta
).
Lyrics
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]
| Traditional Chinese
|
Pinyin
|
English translation
|
| 神光開宇宙 表裏山河壯皇猷
|
Shen gu?ng k?i y?zhou, bi?ol? sh?nhe zhuang huang you
|
With the
Universe
created in God's Light, the
vast land
strengthens the
Emperor
's rule;
|
| 帝德之隆 巍巍蕩蕩莫與?
|
Di'de zh? long w?iw?i dangdang mo y? chou
|
So full is His virtue, so wide that it is beyond compare
|
| 永受天祐兮 萬壽無疆薄海謳
|
Y?ng shou ti?n you x?, wanshouwuji?ng bo h?i ?u
|
May He always receive divine guidance, with his years surpassing the
sea
;
|
| 仰贊天業兮 輝煌日月?
|
Y?ng zan ti?n ye x?, hu?huang ri yue mou
|
[Let us] worship the divine work, its glory equals the
sun
and
moon
.
|
| Japanese
|
Hepburn romanization
|
English translation
|
| 大
御
光
り
天地
に
滿
ち
|
?mi-hikari ametsuchi ni michi
|
Filling the world with
Divine light
,
|
| 帝德
は
貴
く
尊
し
|
Teitoku wa takaku t?toshi
|
The Emperor's virtue is noble and worshipped.
|
| ?榮
の
萬壽
言
祝
ぎ
|
Toyosaka no banju kotohogi
|
Let us salute him with long life and prosperity
|
| 天
つ
御
業
仰
ぎ
祭
らむ
|
Amatsu-miwaza aogimatsuran
|
and we revere the Emperor's deeds
|
Official Interpretation
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]
According to the official interpretation of the anthem issued on the same day of its adoption, the "
God
" in the first line of the Chinese version refers to
Amaterasu
,
[11]
the sun goddess in
Shinto
, referring to Manchukuo's adoption of
State Shinto
as its
state religion
in 1940. Also,
God's Light
is interpreted as
Arahitogami
, i.e.
Emperor of Japan
. The whole of the first line is interpreted as
with this Divine Light, the Universe is created, and the bright and peaceful
(it used the
kanji
昭和,
cognate
of
Sh?wa
, for
bright and peaceful.
)
Light fills and shines over our Manchurian land and rivers, and with that we have our independence and our successes after independence.
His Majesty the Emperor
(i.e.
Kangde
) received this Divine Light to rule our country and to love our citizens. The first line [...] is an ode to our state.
[12]
"
The Divine Work
" in the fourth line came from
Kangde
's
Imperial Rescript on the Tenth Anniversary of the Nation
on 1 March 1942, in which he mentioned,
We should sharpen our mind and spirits to sacrifice to the holy
Greater East Asia War
and help in the Divine Work of our Parent Nation...
and hence interpreted as:
This line describes the determination of our citizens. The Imperial Message on March 1 stated "[to] help in the Divine Work of the Parent Nation," and the Divine Work of Japan, our Parent Nation, is to revitalize East Asia and to create the
Co-prosperity Sphere
[...] Our country is the pioneer in the prosperity of East Asia[...] Our citizens should revere this Divine Work of our Parent Nation and to help it in all our endeavors, to finalize the goal of our independence, to rebuild the world, and that the Divine Work maybe as large and permanent as the sun and the moon.
[13]
References
[
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]
- ^
"School children practicing national anthem"
. Archived from
the original
on 2014-08-26
. Retrieved
2012-07-23
.
- ^
"近代日本における植民地?育政策の?究（第３報） : 帝政への移行と日?ファシズム?育?制の?化"
. Archived from
the original
on 2022-09-08
. Retrieved
2020-08-29
.
- ^
(Japanese) "王道?土の交響? ?洲-知られざる音?史" by Iwano Yuichi(岩野裕一), 1999, ISBN 4276211247
- ^
『王道?土の交響? ?洲-知られざる音?史』（岩野裕一著、1999年、
ISBN
4276211247
）
- ^
a
b
Page 9,
Manchukuo Government Notices Extra
, March 1, Tatung 2 (1933)
- ^
Chinese wikipedia
- ^
http://david.national-anthems.net/mch.htm
david.national-anthems.net
- ^
Page 1,
Manchukuo Government Notices
No. 2493, September 5,
Kangde
9 (1942). Reprinted 1990 by Shenliao Publishing House, Shenyang.
- ^
Page 3, Annex,
Manchukuo Government Notices
No. 2493, September 5, Kangde 9 (1942). Reprinted 1990 by Shenliao Publishing House, Shenyang.
- ^
The Prime Minister Talks About the Composition of the National Anthem
, Page 3, Annex,
Manchukuo Government Notices
No. 2493, September 5, Kangde 9 (1942). Reprinted 1990 by Shenliao Publishing House, Shenyang.
- ^
Explanation of the National Anthem
, Head of the Propaganda Office of Manchukuo, Page 3, Annex,
Manchukuo Government Notices
No.2493, September 5, Kangde 9(1942). Reprinted 1990 by Shenliao Publishing House, Shenyang.
- ^
Explanation of the National Anthem
, Head of the Propaganda Office of Manchukuo, Page 3, Annex,
Manchukuo Government Notices
No.2493, September 5,
Kangde
9(1942). Reprinted 1990 by Shenliao Publishing House, Shenyang.
- ^
Explanation of the National Anthem
, Head of the Propaganda Office of Manchukuo, Page 4, Annex,
Manchukuo Government Notices
No.2493, September 5,
Kangde
9(1942). Reprinted 1990 by Shenliao Publishing House, Shenyang.
External links
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]