Nie Er was only twenty-three when he wrote the music for the March of the Volunteers.
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history
The words are by 田汉, and the song was written in 1935 for the film 《风云儿女》. Nie Er drowned while swimming in Japan that same summer; in 1949 the song became the national anthem.
memory
Born 聂守信, friends nicknamed him for his sharp ear, and he took 耳 'ear' as his name. The traditional 聶 is itself three 耳 stacked together, so his name holds four ears.
