Smoke from the Humen shore tears through the morning mist
Three million catties of toxic opium writhe beneath the blazing sun
Lin Zexu's sword cuts through the web of the opium trade
But cannot sever the humiliation flowing through the Treaty of Nanjing
The reefs of Hong Kong Island are now etched with the marks of colonial rule
The guns atop Dinghai's walls redden the sky
Chen Huacheng's blood hardens into a monument at the Wusong forts
The waves of the Yellow Sea swallow the mast of the Zhiyuan
Deng Shichang's furious cries sink beneath the vast blue waters
The streets of Lushun are piled with blood and tears, frozen in place
Two hundred thousand souls lament in the cold winds of the First Sino-Japanese War
The blood of the Six Gentlemen of the Hundred Days' Reform nourishes the seeds of new ideas
The seventy-two heroes of Huanghuagang become the rosy dawn
Gunshots above Wuchang shatter a thousand years of imperial rule
The red boat on South Lake carries its faith through a blood-red sunset
Yet the shadow of warlord conflict has not yet lifted
When gunfire at Lugou Bridge tears open the heart of North China once more
The ambush at Pingxingguan makes the invaders tremble
The streets of Taierzhuang are soaked with the defenders' blood and sweat
The flames of the Hundred Regiments Offensive spread across the Taihang Mountains
Yang Jingyu's blood freezes into an ice sculpture in the Changbai Mountains
The smoke of the Chongqing negotiations has barely cleared
When the guns at Menglianggu proclaim the arrival of justice
News of the three great campaigns rolls like thunder
Child, do not weep, do not grieve
Because he once came
Because he has never left
The red giant rises into the sky, becoming an eternal blazing sun
This is a lament of blood and tears
And an epic of heroes
For the first time, the working class became the masters of this era
Needless to say, it's so beautiful