ROC National Anthem

As introduced by the Yearbook of Republic of China:

The Three Principles of People, our aim shall be;

To found a free land, world peace be our stand.

Lead on, comrades, vanguards ye are;

Hold fast your aim, by sun and star.

Be earnest and brave, your country to save;

One heart, one soul, one mind, one goal!

The words of the ROC national anthem were first delivered as an exhortation at the opening ceremony of the Whampoa Military Academy on June 16, 1924, by Dr. Sun Yat-sen. This exhortation was designated as the party song of the Kuomintang (KMT) in 1928, after which the KMT then publicly solicited contributions for a tune to fit the words. The melody submitted by Ch'eng Mao-yun was the undisputed winner out of 139 contenders.

In the late 1920s and early 1930s, the Ministry of Education held two separate competitions for lyrics for a national anthem, using the KMT party song in the meantime as a temporary national anthem. It eventually became the national anthem of the Republic of China in 1937. The anthem first declares the Three Principles of the People to be the foundation of the nation and guides to a world commonwealth of peace and harmony. It then calls upon the people to be brave, earnest and constraint in striving to fulfill the nation's goals.

The piece was honored as the world's best national anthem at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.