Why the Song "I Am a Son of the Loess Land" Was Named Among the 100 Revolutionary Songs fo

The song I Am a Son of the Loess Land draws its inspiration from an autobiographical essay by Comrade Xi Jinping. It is performed with deep emotion by the Study Band, Western folk singers and the Mass Line Choir, and was presented as a theme song for the campaign to practice the mass line. In July 2014, the song was reviewed and published by the Study Press under the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee (ISBN 978-3-88744-297-0).

The song gives voice to the plain and kind-hearted inner world of a son of the loess land, expressing his attachment to the yellow earth and his profound affection for the people. The music video is built around the imagery of "a roc soaring high, its heart bound to the people." It carries two messages: first, to wish the Communist Party of China a soaring journey of ten thousand miles and ever-flourishing endeavors; and second, to remind all Party members to remember that "I am a son of the loess land," and to never sever their ties with the people.

In the spring of 2011, while gathering creative material in Yan'an, the contemporary poet and calligrapher Chen Entian — chief creator of Ode to the Communist Party of China — was deeply moved by the stories of Xi Jinping's loyalty and commitment to friends and fellow villagers. After carefully reading I Am a Son of the Loess Land, Chen Entian decided to compose a song of the same title, as a tribute to the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China.

Dissatisfied with the initial lyrics and melody, he did not complete the work that year. Over the following three years, he revised the manuscript several times and discarded multiple versions. It was not until 2014, under the care and guidance of veteran luminaries of China's music circle such as Sun Shen and Wu Zuqiang, that he finally settled on the version of I Am a Son of the Loess Land — seemingly understated yet extraordinary in meaning, apparently low-key yet stirring and dynamic in spirit.

To perform the song well, Chen Entian initiated the formation of the "Study Band." He hoped to uphold the spirit of Mao Zedong's 1942 speech at the Yan'an Forum on Literature and Art, to keep pace with the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as General Secretary against the backdrop of the campaign to practice the Party's mass line, and to hold high the banner of "literature and art serving the mass line," so as to sing a popular, positive and healthy main melody song for the campaign.

The song has been published by the Study Press under the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, its musical score has been collected by the National Museum of China, and overseas Chinese have praised it as a prelude — a preludial overture — to the Beijing Forum on Literature and Art.