During the War of Resistance Against Japan, most of the bloody Chinese people threw themselves into the vigorous anti-Japanese struggle.
In order to enhance the people's enthusiasm for resisting Japan, a large number of literary and art workers created a large number of works of art during this period, calling on the people to rise up and resist.
Because the cultural level of the Chinese people at that time was not very high, the spread of literary works such as novels was relatively limited, and patriotic music became the most popular literary and artistic works at that time.
The musicians of that era created countless popular works, the most famous of which is the current national anthem, the March of the Volunteer Army.
March of the Volunteers
This work has been internationally famous during the War of Resistance Against Japan, thanks to the efforts and efforts of patriotic musician Ren Guang.
Later, he went deep into the New Fourth Army to live with the soldiers, and created a number of excellent military song works for them.
However, this musical genius, whom Nie Er called a mentor, was sacrificed on the battlefield, and it was not the Japanese who killed him but Chiang Kai-shek of the Nationalist government.
Patriotic musician Ren Guang
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="12" > musicians who come out of town</h1>
Ren Guang was born in Shengzhou, Zhejiang Province, a typical Jiangnan town.
His father was a stonemason, and although the family was not wealthy, it could provide a stable environment for Ren Guang to grow up.
After Ren Guang grew up, he was sent to Erdai Elementary School, which was built on the local Dai Gong Ancestral Hall.
Originally to commemorate the hermits of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Dai Kui and Dai Kui father and son, both of whom were famous hermits and had good achievements in piano, chess, calligraphy and painting.
Eastern Jin Dynasty hermit Dai Kui
After entering the school, the teacher would often tell their stories, which made Ren Guang yearn for the life of Dai Kui's father and son, and also ignited his strong interest in art.
Shengcheng is a place with a very strong musical atmosphere, where there are not only traditional lotus flowers, flat lake tones, but also the "small song class" that later developed into Yue opera, and the young Ren Guang will enjoy the performance in the streets and alleys whenever he has time.
When Ren Guang was in elementary school, he learned instruments such as flutes and brass in music classes, and he quickly became the best player in his class.
However, he was still not satisfied, and he made a homemade erhu at home, imitating the performance of the street violinist, and sometimes using the bench as a drum to match the erhu, which made his understanding of music to another level.
Lotus Fall Artist
After graduating from Erdai Primary School, Ren Guang was successfully admitted to Shengxian Middle School, and in order to respond to the aesthetic education requirements of the Republic of China government, this middle school purchased a brand new organ, which became Ren Guang's treasure, and he would go to the piano room to practice playing as soon as he had time.
Ren Guang's efforts have also been rewarded, he has mastered the method of playing the organ during middle school, his erhu skills have become very skilled, and his classmates are very sure of his musical talent, and they call him "little musician".
After graduating from high school, Ren Guang originally wanted to apply for Zhijiang University, but because he left his seat in the examination room to pick up pieces of paper that had been blown down by the wind and violated the examination discipline, Ren Guang eventually fell off the list.
After experiencing this, he wanted to give up going to college, but his middle school principal knew his talent and encouraged him to apply for Aurora University, and Ren Guang successfully passed the exam after re-reviewing and began his college time.
Aurora University
Ren Guang was studying at Aurora University at the peak of the May Fourth Movement, and Ren Guang was also exposed to advanced revolutionary ideas, which completely awakened ren Guang's patriotic feelings in his heart, and he was eager to make contributions to the country to the best of his ability.
On campus, he heard the "Internationale", which deeply shook Ren Guang's heart, so he chose to study music in France.
On August 25, 1919, Ren Guang took the ship "Antelepón" to France, where he first arrived in Marseille, and then through the arrangements of the Chinese-French Education Association, he first went to the Aphrod Piano Factory in Lyon, and then went to the University of Lyon to specialize in music theory and piano.
During this time in France, Ren Guang received a comprehensive education in music theory, which greatly improved his creative level.
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="33" > second, Ren Guang is famous at home and abroad</h1>
After graduating from the University of Lyon, Ren Guang did not stay in France to work, but was appointed by the French company to work as a technician and manager of the Aphrodite Piano Company in Hanoi, Vietnam.
At that time, Southeast Asia was still under French colonial rule, and Ren Guang, who had returned from studying in France, had a good life there.
However, Ren Guang always had the ideal of serving the motherland in his heart, and he wanted to return to China to engage in music creation.
However, his French wife was very opposed to Ren Guang's idea and expressed reluctance to leave French territory.
After careful consideration, Ren Guang's deep feelings for the motherland outweighed his attachment to his small family, and he finally resolutely left his wife and returned to the embrace of the motherland.
Synchronography Images
After returning to China, Ren Guang went to Shanghai, and his excellent musical talent allowed him to quickly find a new job.
At that time, China's recording industry was just beginning, and many foreign record companies were involved in this field, and Ren Guang was favored by EMI Records as the director of the music department.
In the beginning, EMI mainly sold foreign records, and its sales were very dismal. Later, they began to record the singing of famous opera artists and music from Guangdong, which put the business on the right track.
Neither type of music requires Ren Guang to be creative, so he has a lot of time to do his own thing.
While working at EMI, Ren Guang became acquainted with the left-wing dramatist Tian Han, and both of them had strong patriotic feelings, which gave them a deep revolutionary friendship.
After deliberation, they decided to establish the Southern Society and began to get involved in the left-wing music movement.
Nie Er and Tian Han
At that time, the Kuomintang government had many restrictions on left-wing cultural associations, which brought them great trouble, and Tian Han believed that Ren Guang worked in foreign-funded enterprises and had a very good life, and should not be concerned by the rulers, so he entrusted the important affairs of the association to Ren Guang.
This gave Ren Guang a deeper understanding of the revolutionary situation in China.
As the center of China's popular music at that time, Shanghai gave birth to a very representative musical style, which was popular in the Shili Yangchang and was recognized by the people of the whole country.
However, Ren Guang proposed that the real people's music should not be determined according to the number of people accepted, but should represent the cultural needs of the masses, which must have the correct value orientation and noble artistic pursuit.
In order to achieve this goal, Ren Guang, Tian Han and Nie Er often held seminars and studied the development trend of music together.
Ren Guang also took out his own high-end radio and used it to directly listen to the music programs of the Soviet Union, and they would summarize the experience of Soviet music creation in time and improve their composing level.
Nie Er admired Ren Guang's musical level and even regarded him as his mentor.
The bustling Ten Mile Ocean Farm
At that time, THE RECORD INDUSTRY OF EMI WAS STILL BOOMING, AND REN Guang, as the director of its music department, frequently attended major literary and art seminars, and many people heard about Ren Guang's background in studying abroad and his creative talent, so they invited him to compose songs.
In May 1934, Ren Guang scored the film "Fishing Light Song" at the request of director Cai Chusheng, and Ren Guang was very appreciative of this film that reflected the toiling masses, so he agreed to director Cai's request.
This has also become an opportunity for Ren Guang to become famous at home and abroad.
In order to create musical works close to the people, in the following period of time, Ren Guang went to the fishing village to live with the fishermen, rented a sampan at his own expense, and went to sea with the fishermen every day to feel their lives.
In the communication with the fishermen, Ren Guang experienced the complex emotions in their hearts, and the resonance of feelings aroused Ren Guang's creative inspiration.
On the night of his return to Shanghai, he wrote a melody, which is the theme song of the same name in "Fisherman's Song".
Stills from "Fisherman's Song"
Director Cai Chusheng was very satisfied after listening to this music, and he asked An E, who went to the fishing village with Ren Guang to find inspiration, to fill in the lyrics for this song.
At this time, An'e was still immersed in the state of fishermen's life, and her filler words also appeared simple and natural, full of life.
While depicting life, it also vividly describes the miserable life of fishermen, and abundant feelings jump on the paper:
The heavens are clear, the power is exhausted,
Looking at the fishing village road wanwei.
The waist is sore, the hands are swollen,
Fish caught empty belly.
The fish are not caught in the basket,
It's the eastern sun red again.
Grandpa left a broken fishing net,
Be careful and rely on it for a winter.
—— Excerpt from the lyrics of "Fishing Light Song"
fisherman
On June 14, 1934, "Fisherman's Song" was released at the Shanghai Jincheng Grand Theater, and people were not very optimistic about this movie, after all, in bustling Shanghai, this kind of film depicting the lives of the people at the bottom may not have an audience.
However, after the release of the film, it received unprecedented praise, and it was still difficult to find a ticket for 84 consecutive days.
In addition to lamenting its precise response to society, people also praised the gentle sound of this "Fishing Light Song".
The success of the film made Ren Guang famous at home and abroad, and the following year, "Fisherman's Light Song" represented China at the Moscow International Film Festival and won an honorary award, which was also the first international award for Chinese film.
Ren Guang's outstanding composition skills have been unanimously praised by musicians around the world.
General Su Yu
In China, the "Fishing Light Song" is also widely sung, because it depicts the lives of poor people, which resonates with soldiers in the army, who will sing this song after battle to ease tension.
Admiral Su Yu also has a special love for this song, often singing it improvised on the accordion, which also shows the popularity of the song from the side.
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="84" >3. Ren Guang's contribution to the War of Resistance</h1>
As Ren Guang's status increased, so did his prestige in the Shanghai area, which made him less watched, and his residence became a place for left-wing musicians to move.
On April 14, 1935, the day before Nie Er's departure, Nie Er and Ren Guang auditioned a sample of the "March of the Volunteer Army", and after arriving in Japan, he sent the final version of the remake to Ren Guang for distribution based on EMI.
Birthplace of the Volunteer March
After Ren Guang made this request, the senior management of EMI was entangled, and they were worried that this anti-war song would cause dissatisfaction in Japan and be very unfavorable to the development of the company. But Ren Guang proposed:
We don't mention Japanese imperialism in our lyrics, we don't mention anything, it should be possible.
Later, the French manager in the company decided that the song would have a good market prospect and finally decided to give it a go.
On May 9, Ren Guang organized several singers to complete the recording of the "Volunteer March", which quickly spread to every corner of China.
In addition to the "March of the Volunteer Army", Ren Guang also recorded more than fifty patriotic songs for left-wing musicians, and he himself participated in the creation, writing famous patriotic songs such as "Fight Back to His Hometown" and "Sorghum Red".
It played an effective role in promoting the situation of China's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, which made Ren Guang a patriotic musician admired by everyone.
In addition to promoting the release of patriotic songs in China, Ren Guang also attaches great importance to the external promotion of songs.
After the July 7 Incident, the domestic situation became extremely bad, and Ren Guang became the target of persecution by the Japanese army, and in order to ensure safety, he returned to France to continue to engage in music creation.
Choir organized by Ren Guang
At the Anti-Fascist Aggression Conference held in 1938, Ren Guang attended the conference as a Representative of China, at which he directed the Overseas Chinese Choir in Paris to sing "March of the Volunteer Army", and the exciting melody of the song deeply intoxicated the delegates.
They said that "China's modern song contains China's infinite hope." This also gave them a new understanding of the anti-war situation in China.
On weekdays, Ren Guang often led the overseas Chinese choir to roadshows in France and other places, and he sent all the property obtained from the performance back to China to support the cause of the War of Resistance, which made him have a high reputation in the overseas Chinese circle.
However, with the deterioration of the war situation in France, Ren Guang could not stay in France anymore, and with the help of local Chinese, he went to Southeast Asia to continue his anti-Japanese cause.
At that time, there were a large number of Chinese in Southeast Asia, but their enthusiasm for the cause of anti-Japanese resistance was not very high.
In order to publicize the anti-Japanese ideology, Ren Guang established a number of singing training classes in Singapore and other places, after which he led these students to sing patriotic songs such as "March of the Volunteer Army" in various places.
It is committed to arousing the patriotic enthusiasm of overseas Chinese in Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines.
The March of the Volunteer Army quickly became popular among the local Chinese community and played a great role in promoting the anti-Japanese cause in Southeast Asia.
In the spring of 1940, Ren Guang returned to Chongqing, and after hearing that he had returned to China, Ye Tingli, commander of the New Fourth Army, invited him to work in the New Fourth Army to improve the cultural construction of the army.
Ren Guang gladly accepted the invitation and arrived at the Headquarters of the New Fourth Army in Yunling, Jing County, Anhui Province, in August.
Statue of General Ye Ting
After arriving in the army, Ren Guang was quickly infected by the soldiers' enthusiasm for resistance, and created a "Gun Scraping Song" for them that reflected the life of the military, which spread quickly in the army, and everyone liked this musical talent.
Since he had previously composed a witty theme song "Wang Lao Wu" for a movie, the soldiers called him "Wang Lao Wu", and Ren Guang also liked this nickname very much.
At the end of 1940, the New Fourth Army received an order to cross the river north to resist the Japanese, and Ren Guang composed the "New Fourth Army's Eastward March" for this purpose.
At this time, Ren Guang was still full of infinite expectations for the subsequent battle. However, this transfer of the New Fourth Army was actually a trap planned by the Kuomintang reactionaries.
On January 6, 1941, the Anhui Incident broke out, and the New Fourth Army was besieged by the Kuomintang troops, and the situation was very critical.
The former site of the headquarters of the New Fourth Army
During the battle, Ren Guang always followed the soldiers, and he led the soldiers to sing the "New Fourth Army Eastward March" to boost their morale.
However, with the progress of the war, the New Fourth Army gradually became in a passive position, and Ren Guang's military headquarters was often attacked by stray bullets.
During the transfer process, Ren Guang was unfortunately hit in the abdomen by a bullet, and General Ye Ting knew about it and specially ordered a squad of soldiers to escort Ren Guang to evacuate.
As a result, in the process of transfer, they were found by the enemy, and the enemy thought that the wounded man must be a high-ranking general of the New Fourth Army, so he led the soldiers to shoot at them in a frenzy.
The warriors on the escort mission were shot and fell, and although they tried their best to protect Ren Guang, Ren Guang was still injured, which left him in a coma.
Later, the enemy came to Ren Guang's face and questioned his identity loudly, and Ren Guang said with his last strength
I am Ren Guang, the author of the theme song of the movie "Fishing Light Song".
After saying that, he swallowed his last breath.
Hearing this, the Kuomintang soldiers also fell into a deep sense of self-reproach, and they took off their hats and bowed deeply to Ren Guang to show respect and mourning.
Soldiers of the New Fourth Army who struggled to resist during the Anhui Incident
Although Ren Guang is not an official member of the New Fourth Army, his contribution to the cause of anti-Japanese resistance is unquestionable, and his patriotism is even more admirable, and this talented musician was also selected into the first list of anti-Japanese heroes in 2014.