Historical Chinese anthems comprise a number of Chinese official and unofficial national anthems composed during the early 20th century. "Chinese national anthem" may refer to:
Quasi-official In 1896, for purposes of diplomatic missions to Western Europe and Russia, Li Hongzhang employed in political lyrics combined with classical Chinese music to create a song later known as "The Tune of Li Zhongtang".
''Praise the Dragon Flag''
Quasi-official After the Department of the Army was established in 1906, Praise the Dragon Flag became the army song, and has been played at formal occasions overseas. ¹ 兆 usually means one trillion, but it could mean one million, and should have that value here in the song for factual accuracy. See Chinese numerals for details.
''Cup of Solid Gold'' (1911–1912)
Official The Cup of Solid Gold became the official national anthem of the Qing Empire in less than a week when the Wuchang Uprising occurred in 1911. It lasted for about one year until the end of the empire and the establishment of the republic. It is in classical Chinese.
''Song of Five Races Under One Union''
Provisional After the establishment of the provisional government in Nanjing, the Ministry of Education under Cai Yuanpei asked the public for possible anthems, and "Song of Five Races under One Union", with lyrics by Shen Enfu and music by Shen Pengnian, was released as a draft in the newspaper.
''How Great is Our China!''
Unofficial Also called "Patriotic Song", "How Great is Our China!" has lyrics written by Liang Qichao and music by overseas Chinese at Datong School, Yokohama. Released in 1912, it became quite popular, especially among students.
''Song to the Auspicious Cloud'' (1913–1926)
Official The Song to the Auspicious Cloud has two versions, one used in 1913 and another after 1920.
First version
On April 8, 1913, this national anthem was used in the opening ceremony of the 1st Regular Council; the last line was added by Wang Baorong, with other lines from Shang Shu; it was set to music by Jeans Hautstont.
Second version
In November 1919, Duan Qirui established the National Anthem Research Committee, which adopted:
The lyrics by Zhang Taiyan from the classic "The Song to the Auspicious Cloud" from Shang Shu.
The anthem was released in July 1921 by the Department of National Affairs. ¹糺 is sometimes written as 糾 or 織
''China Heroically Stands in the Universe'' (1915–1921)
Official After general Yuan Shikai became head of state, the Ritual Regulations Office issued the new official anthem, China Heroically Stands in the Universe in June 1915. Its lyrics were written by Yin Chang and music by Wang Lu.
