Cup of Solid Gold
| English: Cup of Solid Gold | |
|---|---|
| 鞏金甌 | |
 Sheet music in Gongche notation | |
Former national anthem of China | |
| Lyrics | Yan Fu |
| Music | Bo Tong |
| Adopted | 4 October 1911 |
| Relinquished | 12 February 1912 |
| Audio sample | |
"Gǒng Jīn'ōu" | |
| Cup of Solid Gold | |
|---|---|
Hanyu Pinyin | Gǒng Jīn'ōu |
| Wade–Giles | Kung3 Chin1-ou1 |
| IPA | [kʊ̀ŋ tɕín.óʊ] |
"Cup of Solid Gold", adopted by the
Background: non-official anthems
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Qing diplomats were one of the first to suggest adopting an official anthem. Zeng Jize (1839–1890) — eldest son of statesman Zeng Guofan — was the Qing envoy to France, Britain, and Russia for several years starting in 1878. Around 1880, he composed a song called Pu Tian Yue to be played as China's anthem in various state ceremonies and suggested the Qing adopt it as its official anthem, but the court did not approve. That song's lyrics and melody have both been lost for a very long time. However, an instrumental version of the anthem has been found and a part of what is seemingly the lyrics.[2]
When
Another non-official anthem was written for the new Qing ground forces that were established in 1906. Entitled Praise the Dragon Flag, it was played on ceremonial occasions, but like the songs promoted by Zeng Jize and Li Hongzhang, was never officially adopted as the Qing national anthem.[2]
A Chinese version of the Japanese national anthem
The Cup of Solid Gold
On 25 January 1911, an official from the
The Qing government adopted Gong Jin'ou as its national anthem on 4 October 1911.
Title
Ou (甌) was a kind of wine vessel. Jin'ou (金甌／金瓯), or golden wine vessel, symbolized an "indestructible country".[11] The Qing emperor used such a vessel for ritual purposes. Inlaid with pearls and gems, it was known as the "Cup of Eternal Solid Gold" (Jin'ou Yonggu Bei 金甌永固杯).[11] Because gong 鞏 means "to consolidate" or "to strengthen," the entire title may be translated as "strengthening our hold on the golden cup."[11]
Yan Fu, who wrote the lyrics, glossed the title and first line of the anthem as "Firm and stable be the 'golden cup' (which means the empire)."[12]
Music
The person who was nominally put in charge of the anthem's music was Putong, an imperial relative.[13] Aided by assistants in the Imperial Guard, he composed the music based on the models found in the Complement to the Treatise on Pitch Pipes (Lülü Zhengyi Houbian 律呂正義後編／律吕正义后编; 1746), an imperial compilation that complemented a much shorter 1724 work on ceremonial music commissioned by the Kangxi Emperor.[8]
-
European notation -
Government document with Gongche notation
Lyrics
The lyrics, composed by Yan Fu, are in Classical Chinese.
Traditional Chinese |
Simplified Chinese |
Hanyu Pinyin | Wade–Giles | IPA transcription | English translation[14] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
鞏金甌， |
巩金瓯， |
Gǒng Jīn'ōu |
Kung chin'ou |
[kʊ̀ŋ t͡ɕín.óʊ̯ |
Solidify our golden empire, Qing rules.May the enlightened empire, And its vast boundaries be protected. The sky is high, The sea is turbulent. |
In the second line, tian chou 天幬／天帱 (literally, the "canopy of Heaven") referred to the
Answering a request transmitted by
Firm and Stable be the "golden cup" (which means the empire) domed by the Celestial concave. In it, men and things happily prosper. Glad are we who live in the time of Purity. May Heaven protect and secure us from enemies and help us to reach the truly golden age! Oh! The Blue firmament is infinitely high and the seas flow everlastingly.
The character qīng 清 that Yan rendered as "Purity" was also the name of the Qing dynasty.[19]
References
Citations
- ^ Ye & Eccles 2007, p. 440, note 24.
- ^ a b c d Ye 2006.
- ^ a b Ye & Eccles 2007, p. 440.
- ^ Ye 2006; Ye & Eccles 2007, p. 441.
- ^ Ye & Eccles 2007, p. 441.
- ^ Ye & Eccles 2007, pp. 451–52.
- ^ Ye & Eccles 2007, p. 452.
- ^ a b Ye & Eccles 2007, p. 442.
- ^ Ye & Eccles 2007, pp. 442–43.
- ^ Ye & Eccles 2007, p. 457.
- ^ a b c Ye & Eccles 2007, p. 443.
- ^ Ye & Eccles 2007, p. 453, citing a letter by Yan to Sir Edward Grey dated 16 March 1912.
- ^ Rhoads 2000, p. 146.
- ^ Site of the Imperial Qing Restoration Organization
- ^ Ye & Eccles 2007, p. 446.
- ^ Ye & Eccles 2007, p. 446, note 39.
- ^ Ye 2012, p. 265.
- ^ Ye & Eccles 2007, p. 453, citing Lo Hui-min, ed., The Correspondence of G. E. Morrison, Vol. 1, 1895–1912 (Cambridge University Press, 1976), pp. 768–69.
- ^ Yan Fu renders the two lines "xi tong pao, qing shi zao yu 喜同袍，清時幸遭" as "Glad are we who live in the time of Purity". Other sources translate the same lines as "United in happiness and mirth, As long as the Qing rules" (see table above) and "Blest compatriots, the Qing era encounters prosperity" (Ye & Eccles 2007, pp. 446–47)
Works cited
- Rhoads, Edward J. M. (2000), Manchus & Han: Ethnic Relations and Political Power in Late Qing and Early Republican China 1861–1928, Seattle and London: University of Washington Press, ISBN 978-0-295-97938-0.
- Qian 钱, Renkang 仁康 (2010), World National Anthem Encyclopedia New Edition 新编世界国歌博览, Shanghai: Shanghai Music Publishing House 上海音乐出版社, ISBN 978-7-807-51549-4.
- Ye, Xiaoqing 葉小青 (2006), "Da Qing guo de guoge 大清國的國歌 [The Qing National Anthem]", Xungen 尋根, 2006 (3): 90–91, doi:10.3969/j.issn.1005-5258.2006.03.010, archived from the originalon 6 September 2017, retrieved 6 September 2017.
- ——— (2012), Ascendant Peace in the Four Seas: Drama and the Qing Imperial Court, Hong Kong: The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press, ISBN 978-962-996-457-3.
- ———; Eccles, Lance (2007), "Anthem for a Dying Dynasty: The Qing National Anthem through the Eyes of a Court Musician", T'oung Pao, 93 (4/5): 433–58, JSTOR 40376331.
