Nie Er

Early Life and Musical Talent

Nie Er was born Nie Shouxin, courtesy name Ziyi, on 14 February 1912 into a poor family of traditional Chinese medicine practitioners in Kunming, Yunnan (the family's ancestral home was Yuxi, Yunnan). His father died when he was young and the family lived in poverty, but he displayed exceptional musical ability from an early age: he could play multiple instruments and had unusually sharp hearing, earning him the nickname 'Mr Ears' among friends — the origin of the stage name 'Nie Er' ('Nie Ears') he later adopted. In 1918 he entered the primary school affiliated with the Kunming Normal School, and from 1927 to 1930 he studied at the Yunnan Provincial First Normal School, where he received systematic musical training. In 1928 he secretly joined the Communist Youth League. In July 1930 he travelled alone to Shanghai to seek his fortune, initially working as an apprentice at the Yunfeng trading firm; in April 1931 he was admitted as a violinist to Li Jinhui's Bright Moon Song and Dance Troupe (later absorbed into the Lianhua Film Company's music and dance school), marking his formal entry into the music profession.

Joining Lianhua and Pathé: The Golden Age of a Short Career

In November 1932, Nie Er formally joined the Lianhua Film Company, took part in the music group of the Society of Friends of the Soviet Union, and helped found the China New Music Research Society, while also joining the music section of the League of Left-Wing Dramatists — throwing himself into organising the left-wing music movement. In early 1933, introduced by Tian Han, he joined the Chinese Communist Party, and that same year became Director of the Music Department at Lianhua's Studio One. In April 1934 he moved to Pathé Records, where he headed the music department and founded the Pathé National Orchestra (also known as the 'Sensen Orchestra'); 1934 proved the most productive year of his short composing career.

Left-Wing Musical Composition

During this period Nie Er composed a series of songs depicting the lives of ordinary working people and voicing the urgency of the times — including Selling Newspapers (卖报歌), Dockworkers (码头工人), Road-Building Song (大路歌), Graduation Song (毕业歌), and Song of the Iron Hoof's Songstress (铁蹄下的歌女) — which circulated widely among workers and progressive students. His style blended Western compositional technique with Chinese folk music elements, characterised by direct, forceful, and memorable melodies. In early 1935 he composed the score for the patriotic film Children of Troubled Times, collaborating with lyricist Tian Han to produce the March of the Volunteers — the crowning achievement of his short career.

Death and Legacy

On 17 July 1935, while on his way to the Soviet Union via Japan, Nie Er drowned while swimming at Kugenuma Beach in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture. He was 23 years old. His sudden death shocked the left-wing arts community. In 1949 his March of the Volunteers was adopted as the provisional national anthem of the People's Republic of China, and he was posthumously recognised as one of the founding figures of the new state's musical culture. His tomb on Xishan Mountain in Kunming was constructed by the PRC government in 1954.