"The East Is Red" is a Chinese Communist Party revolutionary song that was the de facto national anthem of the People's Republic of China during the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s.
The lyrics of the song were attributed to Li Youyuan (李有源), a farmer from Shaanbei (northern Shaanxi), and the melody was derived from a local peasant love song from the Loess Plateau entitled "Bai Ma Diao" (《白马调》, White Horse Tune), also known as "Zhima You" (《芝麻油》, Sesame Oil), which was widely circulated in the area around Yan'an in the 1930s.
[2] The modern lyrics (attributed to Li Youyuan, a farmer from northern Shaanxi) were produced in 1942 during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
[4] The song was popular in the Communist base-area of Yan'an, but became less popular after the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) won the Chinese Civil War and established the People's Republic of China in 1949, possibly because some senior CCP leaders disagreed with the song's portrayal of Mao Zedong as "China's savior".
After Peng was purged, Mao accelerated his efforts to build his personality cult; by 1966, he succeeded in having "The East Is Red" sung in place of China's national anthem in an unofficial capacity.
During the Cultural Revolution, Tian Han, the author of China's official national anthem, "March of the Volunteers", was purged; as a result, that song was rarely used.
When she adapted the Cantata, Jiang added the tune to "The East Is Red" in order to connect the Concerto with the themes of the Cultural Revolution.
"The East Is Red" is still commonly heard in recordings played by electronic cigarette lighters bearing Mao's face that are popular with tourists.