Revolutionary songs from China

Revolutionary songs from China - keys to understanding Chinese culture since 1940s

With over thousands of years of accumulation Chinese culture is like a house full of priceless treasures. There are numerous ways to get into the treasure house and one of them is the songs and poems of difference eras. What I am presenting here are songs from the communist era. By reading (or listening to) these songs, “outsiders” can get a peep at the Chinese culture and learn to understand the words and deeds of contemporary China better.

There are English translations of some of these songs, but since I am introducing the songs my way, I am doing the translation myself, in an almost word-for-word literal way, so as to present an unpolished version to the readers. The primary purpose is not to show how accurately the translation is, but how much political rhetoric has been applied in the songs to carry out the tasks of propaganda. After reading the lyrics of about twenty to thirty “revolutionary” or red songs, you will discover that there are actually only two key words in all of the songs: Mao Zedong, or Chairman Mao, and Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

I will offer brief explanations or analysis to most of the songs, but I will leave some of them for the readers.

[1] Sailing in the oceans depends on the helmsman

大海航行靠舵手	Sailing in the oceans depends on the helmsman
万物生长靠太阳	All things depend on the sun to grow
雨露滋润禾苗壮	Seedlings need rain to nourish to be robust
干革命靠的是毛泽东思想	Doing revolution depends on Mao Zedong Thought
鱼儿离不开水呀	Fish cannot be separated from water
瓜儿离不开秧	Melons cannot be separated from the vine
革命群众离不开共产党	Revolutionary masses cannot be separated from the Communist Party
毛泽东思想是不落的太阳	Mao Zedong Thought is the sun that does not set

In this song, various figure of speech techniques such as simile, metaphor and other analogies were used to highlight the importance and significance of Mao Zedong Thought and the Communist Party.

The two rhetorical techniques, bi (比, use one thing to compare to another) and xing (興, mention something else as a stimulator so as to mention the thing in question) in classical Chinese poetry are used in the song. 

[2] Respectfully bless Chairman Mao with an eternal life

敬爱的毛主席	Beloved Chairman Mao
我们心中的红太阳	You are a red sun in our heats
敬爱的毛主席	Beloved Chairman Mao
我们心中的红太阳	You are a red sun in our hearts
我们有多少贴心的话儿要对您讲	How many intimate words we want to speak to you
我们有多少热情的歌儿要给您唱	How many passionate songs we want to sing to you
哎，千万颗红心在剧烈地跳动	Hey, ten million hearts are violently pounding
千万张笑脸迎着红太阳	Ten million smiling faces are greeting the red sun
我们衷心祝福您老人家	We give heartfelt bless to you elderly
万寿无疆，万寿无疆，万寿无疆	May you have a long, long and long life