“The Great Journey” opens with this song: It was born in the Yimeng Anti-Japanese Base and sang throughout the country from Shandong

Tonight (July 1), the theatrical performance “The Great Journey” celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China is being broadcast. The first song of the performance “Follow the Communist Party” was impassioned and unrestrained, and sang the voice of countless people. According to the New Yellow River reporter, “Follow the Communist Party” is a representative piece of revolutionary music in the liberated areas of Shandong. The songwriter Wang Jiuming and the lyrics writer Sha Hongdu have deep ties with Shandong. This song was born in the Yimeng Anti-Japanese Base in Shandong.

In 1937, the Japanese army completely invaded China. Wang Jiuming also participated in the revolution that year and entered the Lu Xun Academy of Art to study music. The Eighth Route Army led by the Communist Party of China opened up the Yimeng Anti-Japanese Base in Shandong. In 1940, in Donggaozhuang Village of Yinan County, in order to present the party congress and the 19th anniversary of the founding of the party, the leaders decided to create a song that was both a tribute to the party and could be sung as a school song. The lyrics writer Sha Hong quickly wrote the lyrics, and the task of composing fell on the shoulders of the young composer Wang Jiuming. After getting the lyrics, Wang Jiuming chanted the lyrics as he walked, and completed the composition in ten minutes. “Follow the Communist Party”, also known as “You are a lighthouse”, was later passed on from Yimeng Mountain to the liberated areas of the country after being handwritten and sung until the liberation of the whole country. That year, Wang Jiuming was 22 years old and Sha Hong was 27 years old. Wang Jiuming became a representative of revolutionary music in the liberated areas of Shandong. Sha Hong later served as the leader of news newspapers in Shandong for a long time.

Today, Donggaozhuang Village, Yinan County, the birthplace of “Follow the Communist Party”, has become a red tourist attraction. A rock monument in Hongniya says “Birthplace of the song “Follow the Communist Party”, attracting wave after wave. Call visitors to come here admiringly.

According to Xinhua News Agency, 90-year-old villager Ma Junqin once recalled, “The two young men started writing next to the shack that looked after the crops. Sha Hong wrote the lyrics first, and Wang Jiuming wrote the music later. It only took 10 minutes for each. It spread at the time.”