Zhang Han-Hui  and "On the Songhua River" Born in the Year of the Tiger, Zhang Han-hui is perhaps the most  celebrated composer for popular patriotic songs in this century.  In 1936 he wrote "On the Songhua River" (Songhua Jiang Shang). To date  no other song has surpassed its popularity among the  generations of the 20th Century.

Many of us remember "On the Songhua River" as a young person. The Songhua River runs through the Northeast of China and signifies the large area that was taken from the Chinese people by Japanese invaders in the beginning of the Japanese Invasion. In 1936, Zhang Han-hui wrote "On the Songhua River" (Songhua Jiang Shang). "Wo di Jia . ... zai Dongbei Songhua Jiang Shang ...." (My home .... is on the Songhua River in the Northeast....) is the perpetually popular phrase from "Songhua Jiang Shang" (On the Songhua River). As we review music of the 20th Century, "On the Songhua River" puts modern patriotic songs on the map among the common people. There are many patriotic songs by Liu Xue-an, Nie Er, Xian Xinghai, Huang Zhi, and numerous others. But Zhang Han-hui's "Songhua Jiang Shang" has its special position.

The best known song of the 1930s and the 1940s to all Chinese of that generation was "Songhua Jiang Shang" (On the Songhua River), written for vocal solo, and set in the backdrop of the Japanese invasion of the Chinese Northeast. Using the famous lead phrase of "My home - is on the Songhua River", Zhang Han-hui (1092-1946) composed this all-time favorite patriotic song. There were a huge number of vocal compositions during the contiguous periods of the Sino-Japanese War, the Second World War, and the Chinese civil war. "Songhua Jiang Shang" is one that left imprints on everyone. Even after 1949, it was sung and loved by ordinary people and music lovers both on the Chinese mainland and on Taiwan. The generation that moved from the Chinese mainland to Taiwan remembered vividly this popular song’s impact on their generation. For a while (the 1950s through the 1970s) the song was altered a bit and sung on Taiwan. Later the original version was approved for public performance on Taiwan. This story shows the vitality of a truly popular song which left imprints on every citizen!

"On the Songhua River" sings about the enormous natural resource in the Chinese Northeast, and describes the huge pain Japanese occupation of Shenyang on the Eighteenth of September ("Jiu Yi Ba") had inflicted on the Chinese population. It sings about love for parents and love for one's country. In a plain but dramatically articulated language, Zhang Han-hui captured the moment and the spirit of t he generation.

What kind of a musician was Zhang Han-hui? Zhang Han-hui learned and played the erhu (the python-skin second fiddle), the pipa (the pear-shaped grand lute played with five-finger strum), the sanxian (the long-necked finger-board python-skin lute) and other traditional instruments with his father in Dingxian County of Hebei Province (You may recall that Dingxian County is home to a number of fairly well known traditional instrumental ensembles, such as the Ziwei Village Chuige Ensemble), during the formative period of his musical training in his youth. "Songhua Jiang Shang" benefitted from his other training. In college, Zhang Han-hui formally studied theater, at the Beijing Arts Academy during the years 1925-1929. After the Academy he worked as an actor, composer, and writer. His strong musical, literary, and theatrical background allowed him to effectively write patriotic songs (He usually wrote both the lyrics as well as the music for each vocal composit ion). "On the Songhua River" has highly dramatic impacts on its listeners. The singer needs to be a good singer and an excellent theatrical performer at the same time, to grasp its emotional content. Zhang Han-hui's musical talents and his theatrical training and experience both contributed to the success of this vocal masterpiece. The backdrop of the war years also shaped its display of national pride and enormous strength and integrity.

During his life, Zhang Han-hui composed a total of more than fifty songs. Good recording of many of these songs of the first half of this century are hard to come by any more. But a good recording of "Songhua Jiang Shang" appears in the film "The East is Red" which is widely available in the U.S. and in Europe. §

 
 

Chinese Music International Journal (CM) 

The Name of Zhang Han-Hui

What is in a name? Composer Zhang Han-hui's name has a special meaning. "Han" means "cold". "Hui" means "brightness and warmth". The combination probably implies he would bring brightness and warmth to a cold environment, or that in cold periods one saw light and warmth.

His name is certainly fitting. During the low points in recent Chinese history, his songs and music brought life and strength to the Chinese people.

Chinese culture is one in which parents embody their hopes into a child's given name. There are also frequent changes of names, and the adoption of an academic or scholarly name, or a sign. n