It’s A Celebration!

A crowd waves the Chinese flag during the opening day of the 2008 Olympics.

Unlike in America where proud citizens show their patriotism with a bald eagle t-shirt, a lapel pin or ‘ the Calvin piss bumper sticker’, Chinese show their love for the country with flags. During last year’s Olympics I saw the red flags just about everywhere: hanging outside of store windows, in advertisements, even on peoples faces. Many are out now for the current round of National Day celebrations, but going to Tiananmen Square these past few days I saw less flag-waving than I expected. The most common flag bearers I saw were toddlers whose parents were taking their picture. They were probably more interested in how the red fabric was waving in the breeze than in any thoughts about the motherland. Adults were posing with the flag as well, usually not taking themselves too seriously while putting on their best face in front of the giant portraits of Sun Yatsen and Mao.

A scene from Tiananmen Square with a portrait of Sun Yatsen in the background.

The Chinese do have Americans beat in the song department though. I can count the number of American patriotic songs that I know on one hand. The one etched most deeply in my memory is “God Bless the USA” which I had to sing with my first grade class during that burst of patriotism that followed the first Gulf War. The others are all done by Toby Keith and country musicians I think. In China, the CPC puts our CMTV to shame. If not directly responsible for writing the songs, they do a great job of organizing, promoting and broadcasting them. And there are plenty to choose from. Putting a search in Baidu you can find lists of the 100 top patriotic songs and news about concerts organized for the singing of them.

My aversion to my own country’s patriotic fare makes hearing the occasional ‘red’ song a bit of a chore. Mostly because like in any propaganda simple messages and repetition abound. Chinese patriotic songs lyrics also have the tendency to go pretty far in their love for country too. See below lyrics for ‘Dongfang Hong’ (Red East) as an example:

东方红，太阳升，中国出了个毛泽东。
他为人民谋幸福，呼儿咳呀， 他是人民的大救星。
毛泽东，爱人民，他是我们的带路人。
为了建设新中国，呼儿咳呀， 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，呼儿咳呀， 哪里人民得解放

Red east, sun rises, China gives rise to Mao Zedong.
He seeks happiness for people, hu er hai ya, he is the peoples’ savior.
Mao Zedong, loved people, he is our guide.
In order to build a new China, hu er gai ya, guide us to advance.
Communist party, is like the sun, wherever it shines is bright.
Wherever the Communist party is, hu er gai ya, people are free.

Not bad right? And there are dozens and dozens more where that came from. To give a good idea of the song in action I’ll invite Hong Laowai (Red Foreigner) to sing a few bars.

People aren’t singing these songs in the streets but they will most likely be playing during the broadcasts on CCTV in the next coming days. These songs help to add to the atmosphere of National Day. A time for some to look at the country with pride and hum along in tune. Most others I’m sure will just be taking advantage of the long holiday break to rest and travel.

Tags: national day, patriotism