type
status
date
slug
summary
tags
category
icon
password
何以 這土地 淚再流
何以 令眾人 亦憤恨
昂首 拒默沉 吶喊聲 響透
盼自由 歸於 這裡
何以 這恐懼 抹不走
何以 為信念 從沒退後
何解 血在流 但邁進聲 響透
建自由 光輝 香港
在 晚星 墜落 徬徨 午夜
迷霧裡 最遠處 吹來 號角聲
捍自由
來齊集這裡
來全力抗對
勇氣 智慧 也永不滅
黎明來到 要光復 這香港
同行兒女 為正義 時代革命
祈求 民主 與自由 萬世都 不朽
我願 榮光 歸香港
We pledge: No more tears on our land,
In wrath, doubts dispell’d we make our stand.
Arise! Ye who would not be slaves again:
For Hong Kong, may Freedom reign!
Though deep is the dread that lies ahead,
Yet still, with our faith, on we tread.
Let blood rage afield! Our voice grows evermore:
For Hong Kong, may Glory reign!
Stars may fade, as darkness fills the air,
Through the mist a solitary trumpet flares:
Now, to arms! For Freedom we fight, with all might we strike!
With valour, wisdom both, we stride!'
Break now the dawn, liberate our Hong Kong,
In common breath: Revolution of our times!
May people reign, proud and free, now and evermore,
Glory be to thee, Hong Kong!
Link to this banned song: https://youtu.be/y7yRDOLCy4Y?si=ovHu7xqUiuCJ60gj
I still remember the first time I used a VPN in high school to access YouTube for AP study materials. That was also the first time I heard this song and learned about the events surrounding it. I was moved to tears. This song has given me immense encouragement in my pursuit of democracy and freedom.
On June 5 of this year, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) government applied to the court for an injunction to completely ban the dissemination, performance, and reproduction of this song, citing its alleged violation of the "Anti-Secession Law." However, on July 28, the Hong Kong High Court ruled against the government's request, temporarily preserving the song’s right to exist on the internet.
So, what is the story behind this song? It originated during the 2019 "Anti-Extradition" movement. While overseas audiences may be more familiar with this event, many in mainland China remain unaware of the details. The incident traces back to 2018 when a young Hong Kong man named Chan Tong-kai murdered his girlfriend while they were traveling in Taiwan and then fled back to Hong Kong. Because there was no extradition agreement between Hong Kong and Taiwan, he could not be sent back for trial, sparking public outrage.
In 2019, the Hong Kong government proposed amending the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance to allow Hong Kong citizens who committed crimes in Taiwan to be extradited. However, the amendment also included China, which alarmed many Hong Kong residents. Unlike Hong Kong, mainland China has a different judicial system, and Hong Kong had long maintained its own legal framework and judicial independence. The fear was that, once the amendment passed, Hong Kong residents could be sent to China for trial. For example, in Hong Kong, people could publicly commemorate the Tiananmen Square protests, but if the amendment passed, could they be extradited to China for doing so? This fear triggered a massive wave of protests, which became known as the "Anti-Extradition" movement.
Initially, the protests focused on repealing the amendment, but as the movement continued, demands escalated to include calls for universal suffrage—the ability for Hong Kong citizens to elect their own Chief Executive. The movement’s slogan evolved from “Anti-Extradition” to the broader “Five Demands, Not One Less.” The protests began peacefully but escalated into violent clashes between demonstrators and the police. It was in this context that Glory to Hong Kong was born.
The song was created by an anonymous Hong Kong musician known as "T." In June 2019, he felt that the movement needed an anthem of its own. At the time, protestors often sang Boundless Oceans, Vast Skies by Beyond, but he thought that song was too difficult to sing in large crowds and lacked a strong marching rhythm. Drawing inspiration from national anthems and military songs, he spent two months composing a song with a strong, classical-style melody. The first lyric that came to him was "Glory to Hong Kong," and from there, he developed the rest of the song. He then posted the lyrics online for public feedback. Protestors suggested adding the phrase "Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of Our Times," which became a defining lyric of the song.
On August 30, 2019, T gathered volunteers to record the song in a studio. The next day, August 31, the song was uploaded to YouTube—coincidentally the same day as the Prince Edward Station Incident, where Hong Kong police violently subdued protestors in a subway station. The brutality of that night fueled even more anger, and the song quickly spread.
By early September, Glory to Hong Kong was being spontaneously sung in shopping malls, subway stations, and on the streets. Within just two weeks, its YouTube view count had reached 700,000. On September 12, the pro-Beijing Wen Wei Po newspaper condemned the song, calling it "violent" and "pro-independence propaganda." The Chinese government viewed lyrics like "Liberate Hong Kong" and "Revolution of Our Times" as direct challenges to its authority, making the song a target for suppression.
The crackdown followed swiftly. People who played the song in public were arrested—whether it was a driver playing it in his car, a street performer playing it on the erhu, or students broadcasting it through speakers. Yet, despite this repression, the song became an unshakable symbol of resistance. When police surrounded the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2019, students sang Glory to Hong Kong in defiance. The song was translated into multiple languages, inspiring solidarity around the world.
Even in international sporting events, the song made unexpected appearances. In November 2022, at a rugby match in South Korea, the Hong Kong team won, and during the medal ceremony, organizers mistakenly played Glory to Hong Kong instead of the Chinese national anthem, March of the Volunteers. This led to a diplomatic outcry, and Hong Kong authorities later instructed athletes to immediately stop any event if the wrong anthem was played. The government even pressured Google to remove the song from search results, but Google refused, stating that search rankings are determined algorithmically and cannot be manually altered without legal justification. This prompted the Hong Kong government to seek a court injunction to ban the song entirely.
On July 28, 2023, the Hong Kong High Court rejected the government's request, citing concerns over free speech and questioning the practical enforcement of such a sweeping ban. The ruling noted that Hong Kong already had the National Security Law, which was being used to prosecute those who performed or disseminated the song. The court’s decision temporarily safeguarded the song’s presence online.
However, the future of Glory to Hong Kong remains uncertain. The government could still appeal to China’s National People’s Congress for a legal interpretation or push through new legislation via the pro-Beijing-dominated Legislative Council. Given its control over the legal system, the government could outlaw the song entirely if it wished.
Regardless of its legal status, Glory to Hong Kong has already cemented itself as an enduring symbol. I hold no particular stance on Hong Kong independence, but I deeply admire the spirit of freedom and the rule of law that once defined the city. These values are among the most precious legacies in the Chinese-speaking world, and they deserve to be cherished. No matter what happens in the future, Glory to Hong Kong will be remembered in history.
Postscript: Author's Note
Since the pandemic and the enactment of the Hong Kong National Security Law, the relationship between Mainland China and Hong Kong has deteriorated. When Deng Xiaoping oversaw the handover of Hong Kong in 1997, he promised that the "One Country, Two Systems" framework would remain unchanged for 50 years. Yet, less than 30 years later, Hong Kong is no longer what it once was.
Sometimes, while browsing Twitter (formerly X), I see how Hongkongers’ complaints about the Mainland have gradually turned into hostility toward Mainland visitors, and in extreme cases, outright discrimination against people born in the Mainland. As a Mainland Chinese, I often find myself experiencing a sense of guilt similar to "White Guilt." However, this guilt does not stem from personal wrongdoing but rather from a sense of powerlessness in the face of a much larger historical process. While White Guilt in Western societies often arises from reflections on colonial history and racial oppression, my own guilt feels more like frustration with political realities—Hong Kong’s evolving relationship with the Mainland was not shaped by ordinary people, yet ordinary people are the ones who bear the consequences.
When I see Hongkongers’ initial discontent gradually morphing into anger and even outright hostility, I find it difficult to entirely blame them. For those who lived through the Anti-Extradition Bill protests and the implementation of the National Security Law, their anger is understandable. Yet for many Mainlanders, we have never truly experienced what they have gone through, yet we are still subjected to the resentment and hostility that emerge from it, making empathy and mutual understanding exceedingly difficult.
I sometimes wonder—if I had been born in Hong Kong in 1997, witnessing the gradual erosion of "One Country, Two Systems" and experiencing firsthand the upheavals in society, would I also be angry? Would I also project that anger onto the entire Mainland?
And yet, I still believe that understanding between individuals is more important than political slogans. History has shown that emotional polarization breeds conflict, but it does not offer real solutions. I don’t know what the future holds for the relationship between Hong Kong and the Mainland, but at the very least, in this complex emotional landscape, I hope to remain calm—to understand, to listen, and to resist being consumed by guilt and powerlessness.
- 作者:Xlens
- 链接:https://www.xlens.online/article/18cdecdd-9dc2-8054-8a64-f628f8a691ed
- 声明:本文采用 CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 许可协议,转载请注明出处。