"Night Raid" (夜襲) is a patriotic military song of the Republic of China Armed Forces. The melody was composed by Li Jian, while the lyrics are by Huang Ying.
Lyrics Original in Taiwanese Mandarin 夜色茫茫 星月無光 只有砲聲 四野迴盪 只有火花 到處飛揚
腳尖著地 手握刀槍 英勇的弟兄們 挺進在漆黑的原野上
我們眼觀四面 我們耳聽八方 無聲無息 無聲無息 鑽向敵人的心臟 鑽進敵人的心臟
只等那信號一亮 只等那信號一響
我們就展開閃電攻擊 打一個轟轟烈烈的勝仗Pinyin Yèsè mángmáng, xīng yuè wú guāng Zhǐyǒu pào shēng, sìyě huídàng Zhǐyǒu huǒhuā, dàochù fēiyáng
Jiǎojiān zhuó dì, shǒu wò dāoqiāng Yīngyǒng de dìxiōng men, tǐngjìn zài qīhēi de yuányě shàng
Wǒmen yǎn guān sìmiàn, wǒmen ěr tīng bāfāng Wú shēng wú xī, wú shēng wú xī Zuān xiàng dírén de xīnzàng, zuān jìn dírén de xīnzàng
Zhǐ děng nà xìnhào yī liàng Zhǐ děng nà xìnhào yī xiǎng
Wǒmen jiù zhǎnkāi shǎndiàn gōngjī Dǎ yī gè hōnghōng lièliè de shèngzhàng English translationThe night is dark, the stars and the moon have no light There's only the sound of cannonballs echoing in the fields There are only sparks flying everywhere
Toes to the ground, arms in hand Brave men are marching on the dark ground
We look around We listen around
Silent and breathless, silent and breathless Drill into the enemy's heart Drill into the enemy's heart
Just wait for that signal to light up, just wait for that signal to ring
We will launch a swift attack and fight a vigorous victory
History In September 1962, the Ministry of National Defense established the Military Song Composition Group of the National Defense, which recruited seven executives who were talented in writing and composing while serving in their respective units. The Night Ride was created in collaboration with Huang Ying (黄瑩) and Li Chien (李健), who are seven members of the group. Huang and Li were classmates in the sixth semester of the music department of the political cadre school and had a good understanding of each other.
The lyrics of Night Raid vividly and realistically describes the atmosphere of the troops at night when they are on the verge of war. The melody also changes in strength in line with the lyrics, gradually building up from a weak strength to a strong strength; in terms of rhythm, the first verse is in 4:4, the middle verse is in 4:2, and the final verse ends in 4:4, making it a rare descriptive and varied military song in the ROC National Army.
In 2014, Night Raid is a military song promoted by the Political Warfare Bureau of the Ministry of National Defense in 2014. In the same year, students of Taipei Municipal Fuxing Senior High School interpreted the song in an alternative way, which attracted the attention of some Taiwanese internet users.
During the campaign for the 2018 Taiwanese local elections, Kuomintang (KMT) Kaohsiung mayoral candidate Han Kuo-yu once again brought the song to the limelight when he led his supporters into the stage singing Night Raid during a campaign evening on Nov. 8 in Flagstaff Hill. The argues that Night Attack embodies a hate consciousness of "exclusion of dissent, disregarding democracy, peace, the rule of law, and human rights", and stifling Taiwan's democracy. On November 20, 2020, a number of call-ups who participated in a National Guard educational call-up said that during the five-day call-up, the higher unit suggested that the five companies under their command should not choose to sing Night Raid for their military song competition, citing political pressure.
External links 夜襲 - Night Raid (YouTube)
References