Fudan's Multilingual Anthem — A Global Celebration

Adapted from Fudan University Newsroom.

On 21 May, to mark Fudan University’s 120th anniversary, the multilingual version of the Fudan anthem was released. Faculty, students, and alumni from China and around the world perform the anthem in Chinese, English, French, Spanish, German, Russian, Japanese, and Korean.

“The anthem has been reimagined through new rhythms, harmonies, and contemporary musical influences,” says Jin Ke, music director of the multilingual anthem. “The vocal arrangement also incorporates elements of a cappella, soul, and rap.”

A bright melody, a fluid rhythm, a leaping cadence, and lingering harmonies bring to life the youthful vigour of the Fudan community. The Fudan anthem is now a century old. Across those hundred years, it is the singing voices of Fudaners that have kept the anthem forever young.

A youthful tribute to our alma mater

“Pretty fired up!” says Shang Wenjie, a musician and 2001 alumna of the French Department, College of Foreign Languages and Literatures. Upon receiving the invitation from her alma mater, she agreed to participate without hesitation, bringing a distinctive charm to the project through her fluent French and expressive delivery.

To achieve the best possible result, the faculty, students, and alumni participating in the multilingual anthem project all arrived early to prepare. Feng Lin, an SMG host and 2022 alumna of the School of Journalism, was one of them. To capture scenes at Fudan’s main gate, she arrived on campus shortly after six in the morning before heading straight to the recording studio to complete multiple takes.

“The whole shoot was a joy — like creating, together with the team, a youthful poem dedicated to our alma mater.”

Several leading scholars also appeared in the video to convey their wishes for Fudan’s 120th anniversary: Nobel laureate Michael Levitt, Honorary Dean of the Institute of Multiscale Research in Complex Systems; Marie Harder, recipient of the Chinese Government Friendship Award and Professor at the Department of Environmental Science and Engineering; Gunter Schumann, computational neuroscientist, Distinguished Professor at the Institute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence and member of the Academia Europaea; and Peng Huisheng, member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Also notable: Jiang Changjian, Associate Professor at the School of International Relations and Public Affairs, and Xiong Hao, Associate Professor at the Law School, contributed heartfelt performances to the project. Zhang Cheng, one of Fudan’s youngest doctoral supervisors and a young researcher at the Institute of Quantum and Nano-Photonics, and Song Hong, a young professor at the School of Economics, joined the shoot, adding extra energy to the performance.

Voices united across cultures

To achieve the best possible result, members of the Fudan University Student Choir refined every detail, combining the prosody of different languages with the texture of the new arrangement during a marathon recording session that lasted from dusk until two o’clock in the morning, continuously refining and adapting their performances throughout the process.

Qi Hanwen, an undergraduate in Law (class of 2021) and a member of the Fudan University Student Choir, says that to overcome the language hurdles he and his teammates spent considerable time studying the essentials of pronunciation and adjusting their vocal placement — “study, adjust, study again” — in pursuit of perfection.

Feng Zhe, president of Fudan’s Hip-Hop Society and an undergraduate in Communication Engineering (class of 2021), wrote a rap verse for the project, expressing his feelings for his alma mater through a more contemporary musical idiom for today’s young people. In the lyrics he distils iconic motifs from Fudan’s history and uses the language of music to convey the attitude of Fudan’s young people towards the future.

A highlight of the project is the participation of international students from across the humanities, sciences, medicine and engineering. Audrey Jennifer Stucke, a German undergraduate (class of 2022) at the School of Computer Science and Technology, says she felt “a sense of mission” when invited to record the multilingual anthem, and hoped to convey Sino-German friendship through song.

The translation of the lyrics was led by students from the College of Foreign Languages and Literatures, with teaching staff serving as final reviewers. The translations span seven languages — English, French, Spanish, German, Russian, Japanese, and Korean — each version reflecting the collective care and collaboration of both students and teachers.

Zhang Yang, an undergraduate in Translation (class of 2022) who took part in the English translation, says he hopes to use his modest skills to help convey and shape Fudan’s international image, so that more people can come to understand the spirit of Fudan.

Wherever Fudaners go, the anthem remains an emotional bond between them and their alma mater. This cross-lingual chorus is not only a heartfelt tribute to Fudan’s 120th anniversary, but also a youthful message from Fudan to the world.