The East Is Red was originally a folk song called "Sesame Oil" or 麻油歌 from the Northwestern Shanxi Province of China. It was a love song with unknown authorship or exact date. In 1938, after the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War, the song was rewritten as "White Horse Tune" to inspire people in the fight against occupation by the Empire of Japan. After the rise of Mao as the leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1942 it was rewritten as "The Immigrant Song", until 1945 when it formally renamed into "The East in Red". This musical evolution illustrates a systematic alignment of traditional art with state ideology. The adaptation was not a passive aesthetic choice, but a deliberate political recontextualization. By stripping the original regional melody of its secular, private romantic meaning and replacing it with grand political praise, the production co-opted existing oral traditions. This transformation functioned as a powerful cultural apparatus designed to foster a mass personality cult and prime public consciousness for upcoming political campaigns.
Background
Historical context The East Is Red was originally a folk song called "Sesame Oil" or 麻油歌 from the Northwestern Shanxi Province of China. It was a love song with unknown authorship or exact date. In 1938, after the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War, the song was rewritten as "White Horse Tune" to inspire people in the fight against occupation by the Empire of Japan. After the rise of Mao as the leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1942 it was rewritten as "The Immigrant Song", until 1945 when it formally renamed into "The East in Red". This musical evolution illustrates a systematic alignment of traditional art with state ideology. The adaptation was not a passive aesthetic choice, but a deliberate political recontextualization. By stripping the original regional melody of its secular, private romantic meaning and replacing it with grand political praise, the production co-opted existing oral traditions. This transformation functioned as a powerful cultural apparatus designed to foster a mass personality cult and prime public consciousness for upcoming political campaigns.
Inspiration and creation After Zhou Enlai saw "Revolutionary History Songs Singing" and "Singing Forward under the Banner of Mao Zedong", on July 30, 1964, Zhou convened the relevant officials at a meeting in Xi Hua Hall, Zhong Nan Hai, and made the final decision about launching the musical concert project, and this concert was named as "The East Is Red" during the meeting. Zhou Enlai served not only as the producer of The East Is Red but also as the chief political leader of the project. According to the oral history by director Huang Weixing, Zhou personally convened meetings with military and cultural officials to guide the structure, ideological tone, and even the naming of the performance. He emphasized that all members of the creative team should study the writings of Mao Zedong in order to ensure ideological consistency throughout the film, from choreography and set design to performance style and script. On October 2, 1964, The East is Red was performed for the first time in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on the 15th anniversary of National Day. Wang Ping produced and directed the film. The East is Red was performed by little egret folk dance troupes.
While the massive 1964 stage performance successfully localized the production for political elites in Beijing, the immediate transition to a feature-length film directed by Wang Ping was a deliberate effort toward mass distribution. To function as an effective tool for national enlightenment, the production required a medium that could bypass geographical limitations. Adapting the stage play into a film allowed the state to broadcast this unified, ideological template to millions of viewers across rural China, establishing a nationwide collective consciousness.
According to the published articles by the main producers of The East Is Red, including Chen Yading, An Bo, etc., the individuals who took responsibility for drafting the basic format of the epic were required to learn about Mao's works first and use Maoism as a red line of the project. Performers of the epic hung up quotations from Mao at rehearsal venues. This rigorous political discipline and demand for ideological consistency translated directly into the film's visual language. The thematic requirement to prioritize the collective over the individual manifested as an aesthetic of strict visual order. Personal artistic expression was secondary to highly disciplined, symmetrical, and geometric mass choreography. On screen, the individual performer's body was effectively integrated into uniform, mechanized group formations to serve as a powerful visual symbol of an aligned and cooperative state apparatus.
Summary The East Is Red traces the history of the Chinese Communist Party under Mao Zedong from its founding in July 1921 to the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949. The musical details key events in CCP history, including the introduction of Communism to China through the October Revolution in Russia and the May Fourth Movement, the Northern Expedition, the KMT-led Shanghai Massacre of 1927, the Nanchang Uprising, and the formation of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), the Long March, guerrilla warfare of the PLA during the Second United Front during the Second Sino-Japanese War, the subsequent overthrow of the National Government of the Republic of China on Mainland China by the PLA in the decisive phase of the Chinese Civil War, and the founding of the People's Republic on October 1, 1949.
The East Is Red is divided into the following named acts: Prelude: Sunflowers Face the Sun Act I: Dawn of the East Act II: A Spark Ignites a Prairie Fire Act III: Overcoming a Thousand Rivers and Mountains Act IV: The Flames of Anti-Japanese Resistance Act V: Burying the Chiang Dynasty Act VI: The Chinese People Have Stood Up Two additional acts were omitted from the final version under Mao's suggestion. Act VII: The Motherland Moves Forward Act VIII: The World Moves Forward Act VII, The Motherland Moves Forward (祖国在前进, lyrics by Wang Jian, composer Gu Jianfen Jianfen), includes a song that is not mentioned, Chairman Mao, the Sun in our Hearts (毛主席，我们心中的太阳), by Shen Yawei.
Film adaptation Not long after its premiere, Zhou Enlai proposed a film adaptation of the production. In December 1965, Zhou invited the film artists of the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), as well as members of the director group of The East is Red, to the Great Hall of the People to hold a symposium on film shooting.
At this symposium, it was confirmed that the film would be a national-level production under close political supervision. Zhou oversaw choreography, costumes, and set design, while Jiang Qing personally reviewed every visual element, mandating that "costumes and props and each detail of the film were to be examined" under her direction. At the same meeting, Jiang Qing expressed her concern: "I am very worried about turning this large-scale music and dance epic into a film because The East is Red is not cohesive and coherent enough, the artistic effect is flat, and the revolutionary optimism is not prominent enough."
Despite these concerns, production proceeded and three movie companies came together to film it: Wang Ping, co-director Li Enjie, and August First Film Studio. Principal cinematography finished on September 18, 1965. The film was released on National Day of 1965. The original play's six main sections depicting the history of the CCP remained, while some scenes were cut. The film was released on October 2, 1965. The 1965 film adaptation of the original stage production expanded the reach by turning the original stage production at the great hall into a cinematic film medium. It allowed people who were unable to attend the live performance to witness the show again. Scholar Xiaomei argues that the film version allowed to reach a much wider audience the than the theatrical performance in 1964.
Soundtrack Orchestra, ensemble and choirs – Overture: "The East is Red" (with dance) Orchestra, ensemble, and choirs – "Northern October Winds" Orchestra, ensemble, and choirs – "Over The Snowy Meadows" Orchestra, ensemble, and choirs – "Workers, Peasants and Soldiers, Unite!" Orchestra, ensemble, choirs and lady duettists – "(For the Red Army) Wooden Hunan Shoes" Orchestra, ensemble, and male choir – "Three Rules of Discipline and Eight Points for Attention" (Adaptation of the military anthem of China) Orchestra, ensemble, and choirs – "Looking At The North Star" Orchestra, ensemble and choirs – "Crossing the Dadu River" (with dance) Orchestra, ensemble, and lady soloist – "Song of the Yi People" Orchestra, ensemble, and male choir – "The Armies Have Reunited (Long Live the Red Army)" Orchestra, ensemble, choirs, and male soloist – "Long March" Orchestra, ensemble, and soloists – "Along the Songhua River" (Ballad of the Northeasters) Orchestra and ensemble- "March of the Volunteers" (1st performance) Orchestra, ensemble, and choir – "Song of the Military and Political University of Resistance Against Japan" Orchestra, ensemble, and choir – "Song of Guerrillas" Orchestra, ensemble, ladies choir, and soloist – "Nanniwan" Orchestra, ensemble and choirs – "Defend the Yellow River" from the Yellow River Cantata Orchestra, ensemble and choirs – "To the Rear of the Enemy" Orchestra, ensemble and choirs – "Unity is Power" Orchestra, ensemble and male choir – Military Anthem of the People's Liberation Army Orchestra, ensemble, choirs and duettists- "The Occupation of Nanjing by the Chinese People's Liberation Army" (One of Chairman Mao's poems) Orchestra and ensemble – "March of the Volunteers" (2nd performance) (National Anthem of the People's Republic of China, played at the beginning of Act 6, in the Tiananmen Square scene) Orchestra, ensemble and choirs – "Without the Communist Party, There Would Be No New China" Orchestra, ensemble, and male soloist – Paean Orchestra, ensemble, ladies choir and soloists – "Chairman Mao's Radiance" Millions of Serfs Stand Up Orchestra, ensemble and choirs – Finale: "Ode to the Motherland" Orchestra, ensemble, choirs and audience – "The Internationale" (Words by Eugène Pottier, music by Pierre Degeyter, Chinese translation by Qu Qiubai) Only the first verse is sung at the finale scene.
In the film, these songs are accompanied by exaggerated acting and dancing. Many scenes involve dancing girls pointing AK-47s. Singers featured in the film include Wang Kun, Tseten Dolma, Hu Songhua, and Guo Lanying.
The major songs of The East is Red continue to be popular in contemporary China, especially at concerts commemorating the anniversaries of the founding of the CCP, of the People's Liberation Army, and of the People's Republic of China.
Analysis The East is Red contains more than 30 songs in over two hours, mostly adapted from folk songs. "Deep Feelings" is adapted from the folk tune of the Yi nationality, the song of the Yueqin. In the prelude "Sunflowers Face the Sun", the sunflower motif represents Chinese people of all ethnic groups, with Mao Zedong as the sun. This is partly because starting in the 1940s, cultural workers took local rural love songs and "sanitized" them, replacing romantic or rustic themes with political lyrics to make them fit state standards.