The Chinese National Anthem

The Chinese National Anthem The official national anthem of China is titled, March of the Volunteers (ä ¹â€°Ã¥â€¹â€¡Ã¥â€ â€ºÃ¨ ¿â€ºÃ¨ ¡Å'æ› ², yà ¬yÇ’ngjÃ… «n jà ¬nxà ­ngqÇ”). It was written in 1935 by the poet and playwright, Tian Han, and the composer, Nie Er. Origins The song  honors soldiers and revolutionaries who fought the Japanese in northeast China in the 1930s. It was originally written as a theme song to a popular propaganda play and movie that encouraged the Chinese people to resist the Japanese invasion. Both Tian Han and Nie Er were active in the resistance. Nie Er was influenced by popular revolutionary songs at the time, including The Internationale. He drowned in 1935. Becoming the Chinese National Anthem Following the Chinese Communist Partys victory in the civil war in 1949, a committee was set up to decide on a national anthem. There were nearly 7,000 entries, but an early favorite was March of the Volunteers. It was adopted as the provisional national anthem on September 27, 1949. Anthem Banned Years later during the political turmoil of the Cultural Revolution, Tian Han was jailed and subsequently died in 1968. As a result, March of the Volunteers became a banned song. In its place, many used The East is Red, which was a popular Communist song at the time. Restoration March of the Volunteers was eventually restored as the Chinese national anthem in 1978, but with different lyrics that specifically praised the Communist Party and Mao Zedong. After the death of Mao and the liberalization of the Chinese economy, Tian Hans original version was restored by the National Peoples Congress in 1982. The Chinese anthem was played in Hong Kong for the first time in the 1997 handover of British control of Hong Kong to China, and in the 1999 handover of Portuguese control of Macao to China. They were subsequently adopted as the national anthems in Hong Kong and Macao. For many years until the 1990s, the song was banned in Taiwan. In 2004, the Chinese constitution was officially amended to include March of the Volunteers as its official anthem. Lyrics of the Chinese National Anthem è µ ·Ã¦  ¥Ã¤ ¸ Ã¦â€ž ¿Ã¥ Å¡Ã¥ ¥ ´Ã©Å¡ ¶Ã§Å¡â€žÃ¤ º ºÃ¤ » ¬ Stand up! Those who are unwilling to become slaves! 把我ä » ¬Ã§Å¡â€žÃ¨ ¡â‚¬Ã¨â€šâ€°Ã§ ­â€˜Ã¦Ë† Ã¦Ë†â€˜Ã¤ » ¬Ã¦â€" °Ã§Å¡â€žÃ©â€¢ ¿Ã¥Å¸Å½! Take our flesh, and build it to become a new Great Wall! ä ¸ ­Ã¥ Å½Ã¦ °â€˜Ã¦â€" Ã¥Ë† °Ã¤ ºâ€ Ã¦Å"ی  ±Ã©â„¢ ©Ã§Å¡â€žÃ¦â€" ¶Ã¥â‚¬â„¢ The Chinese people have reached a most dangerous time, æ ¯ Ã¤ ¸ ªÃ¤ º ºÃ¨ ¢ «Ã¨ ¿ «Ã§ â‚¬Ã¥ â€˜Ã¥â€¡ ºÃ¦Å"ی Å½Ã§Å¡â€žÃ¥  ¼Ã¥ £ °Ã£â‚¬â€š Every person is being compelled to send issue a final roar. è µ ·Ã¦  ¥Ã¨ µ ·Ã¦  ¥Ã¨ µ ·Ã¦  ¥ Arise! Arise! Arise! 我ä » ¬Ã¤ ¸â€¡Ã¤ ¼â€"ä ¸â‚¬Ã¥ ¿Æ' We are millions with one heart, 冒ç â‚¬Ã¦â€¢Å'ä º ºÃ§Å¡â€žÃ§â€š ®Ã§  «Ã¥â€° Ã¨ ¿â€º Braving our enemy’s gunfire, march on! 冒ç â‚¬Ã¦â€¢Å'ä º ºÃ§Å¡â€žÃ§â€š ®Ã§  «Ã¥â€° Ã¨ ¿â€º! Braving our enemy’s gunfire, march on! å‰ Ã¨ ¿â€ºÃ¥â€° Ã¨ ¿â€ºÃ¨ ¿â€º! March on! March on! Charge!

Megapiranha - Facts and Figures

Megapiranha - Facts and Figures Name: Megapiranha; pronounced MEG-ah-pir-ah-na Habitat: Rivers of South America Historical Epoch: Late Miocene (10 million years ago) Size and Weight: About five feet long and 20-25 pounds Diet: Fish Distinguishing Characteristics: Large size; powerful bite About Megapiranha Just how mega was Megapiranha? Well, you may be disappointed to learn that this 10-million-year old prehistoric fish only weighed about 20 to 25 pounds, but you have to bear in mind that modern piranhas tip the scale at two or three pounds, max (and are only truly dangerous when they attack prey in large schools). Not only was Megapiranha at least ten times as big as modern piranhas, but it wielded its dangerous jaws with an additional order of magnitude of force, according to a recently published study by an international research team. The largest variety of modern piranha, the black piranha, chows down on prey with a biting force of 70 to 75 pounds per square inch, or about 30 times its own body weight. By contrast, this new study shows that Megapiranha chomped with a force of up to 1,000 pounds per square inch, or about 50 times its own body weight. (To put these numbers into perspective, one of the most fearsome predators that ever lived, Tyrannosaurus Rex, possessed a biting force of about 3,000 pounds per square inch, compared to a total body weight of about 15,000 pounds, or seven to eight tons.) The only logical conclusion is that Megapiranha was an all-purpose predator of the Miocene epoch, chowing down not only on fish (and any mammals or reptiles foolish enough to venture into its river habitat) but also large turtles, crustaceans, and other shelled creatures. However, theres one nagging problem with this conclusion: to date, the only fossils of Megapiranha consist of bits of jawbone and a row of teeth from a single individual, so a lot more remains to be discovered about this Miocene menace. In any event, you can bet that somewhere right now, in Hollywood, an eager young screenwriter is actively pitching Megapiranha: The Movie!