The first edition of the musical score for “Song of the Seven Sons” is unveiled in Wen Yiduo’s hometown.

On December 20th, at the “Song of the Seven Sons” Centennial Poetry and Music Concert held at the Wen Yiduo Memorial Hall in Xishui, Hubei, a musical score believed to be the earliest for this poem was publicly unveiled. The compiler was revolutionary martyr Liu Zhan’en, a native of Hubei, drawing widespread attention.

In March 1925, while studying abroad in the United States, Wen Yiduo, moved by the bullying of his homeland by imperialist powers due to national poverty and weakness, poured his grief and indignation into writing “Song of the Seven Sons.” In the poem, he metaphorically referred to the seven territories seized by foreign powers—Macau, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Weihaiwei, Guangzhouwan, Kowloon, Lüshun, and Dalian—as seven children forced to leave their home, aiming to inspire his countrymen to rise up. After returning to China on June 1st that same year, he was shocked by the May Thirtieth Massacre that had occurred two days prior. With the purpose of “arousing some indignation among compatriots,” he published this series of poems ahead of schedule in “Modern Review” on July 4th, even though they were already scheduled for publication in “The Great River Quarterly.”

It was introduced that “Song of the Seven Sons” caused a tremendous反响 upon its initial publication. In June 1926, scholar Liu Zhan’en included it in his compiled work “Citizen Poetry.” This book collected 90 poems solicited from across the nation, accompanied by musical scores to facilitate singing, with the aim of “developing citizens’ patriotic spirit and fostering健全的人格.” Another of Wen Yiduo’s poems, “A Patriotic Heart,” was also included. When Macau returned in 1999, renowned musician Li Haiying composed music for “Song of the Seven Sons · Macau,” making the poem known throughout the country. Subsequently, several other musicians have composed music for “Song of the Seven Sons.” However, Liu Zhan’en’s version is currently the earliest discovered musical score for the poem, a full 73 years earlier than Li Haiying’s version.

Liu Zhan’en was a native of Yangxin, Hubei. He studied in the United States in his early years and, upon returning to China, devoted himself to saving the nation through education. In 1938, as the first Chinese president of the University of Shanghai, he refused to serve as the “Minister of Education” for the Japanese puppet regime and was assassinated by secret agents in Shanghai at the age of 43. He was posthumously recognized as a revolutionary martyr in 1985. He and Wen Yiduo resonated through poetry and music, jointly sounding a powerful note of the era to awaken national consciousness with their lives.

It was stated that the discovery of the earliest musical score is not only a piece of academic research but also a spiritual溯源. It allows people today to touch upon the concrete efforts made by patriotic intellectuals of that time to save the nation from peril. It also reminds us that one of the seven children has not yet truly returned, and the final chapter of the “Song of the Seven Sons” awaits to be written by all Chinese people together.

Somewhat regrettably, according to research by several musicians, this musical score may contain printing errors and cannot yet be performed. Currently, musicians are continuing to study this score in an effort to enable it to be performed on stage soon.