Tie Yuan, a national-level Chinese composer known for his beloved military songs Photo: IC

Tie Yuan, a national-level Chinese composer known for his beloved military songs, passed away at the age of 93 in Shenyang, Northeast China's Liaoning Province on Monday, as reported by the Shenyang Daily. 

Tie was born in 1932 in Dalian, Liaoning Province. He enlisted in the military in 1947 and once served as the artistic director of a Song and Dance Ensemble of the PLA Shenyang Military Region. Throughout his prolific career, Tie created over 1,000 songs and many of them became popular and timeless.

One of his most popular songs is "Shiwu de yueliang" (lit: The Moon of the Fifteenth). The song was jointly composed by him and another composer Xu Xiyi and lyricist Shi Xiang. 

Tie once told media that the song expresses praise for the wives of military personnel. After receiving the draft lyrics from Shi Xiang, he said that: "I could not sleep all night. Images of a bright moon shining over countless pairs of military husbands and their wives kept recurring in my mind, accompanied by memories of the stories I had learned about soldiers and their families," Huanqiu.com reported.

He then drew inspiration from the musical elements of the Yimeng Mountain area of East China's Shandong Province, capturing the core musical motif and imbuing it with a pure, beautiful emotional quality to portray the deep love, mutual support, and the noble spirit of soldiers and their wives jointly safeguarding the nation. Another of his popular songs that shares such military sentiments is called "Zai na taohua shengkai de difang" (lit: Where the Peach Blossoms). 


Apart from being shown through his music, Tie's patriotic spirit was also reflected in his real-life actions. On November 8, 2017, he donated his lifelong collection of 4,570 precious archival items to the Shenyang Municipal Archive for permanent preservation. Among such donations are his original drafts of "The Moon of the Fifteenth" and "Where the Peach Blossoms." 

After his passing, netizens took to China's X-like platform Sina Weibo to offer their condolences. Some shared that they had "grown up listening to his songs," while others noted that these songs were the favorites of their parents' generation. "Tie Yuan left behind so many familiar, wide-spread, classic and beautiful songs. He was truly a remarkable artist! May Tie Yuan rest in peace," posted a netizen on Sina Weibo. 

Global Times