When the Founding Ceremony was about to begin on Oct. 1, 1949, Zhang Zhixiang stood on the west side of the Tiananmen Square Citadel and waved a red silk to the conductor of the military band as Chairman Mao stepped onto the last flight of steps, and the music of "The East is Red" was played to start the Founding Ceremony. He then led the slogans with the loud-voiced Rong Gaotang.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he served as deputy director of the political department of the North China Military Region, deputy minister of the Ministry of Culture, deputy director of the Foreign Cultural Liaison Committee and secretary of the party group, deputy minister and adviser of the Foreign Liaison Department of the Central Committee of the People's Republic of China***, and vice president of the China Association for International Exchanges. He is a member of the Standing Committee of the Sixth National People's Congress and a member of the Third National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
He served as deputy editor-in-chief of Jinchahi Daily (predecessor of People's Daily) and propaganda minister of the political department of the North China Military Region; he was one of the conductors of the Founding Ceremony personally named by Premier Zhou, mainly responsible for the square layout and orchestra conductor; he was responsible for the design of Tiananmen Square and presided over the design of the Gate of Heavenly Peace, the observation platform and the flagpole for flag-raising, and so on. The movie "Tiananmen" in Minister Zhang prototype.
Formation of the Oriental Song and Dance Troupe: In 1960, on the airplane on the way home from Burma, Premier Zhou, according to the international situation and the needs of diplomatic work, agreed to the director of the Foreign Cultural Affairs Commission Zhang Zhixiang proposed the formation of the Oriental Song and Dance Troupe concept. After nearly a year of preparation, with the "Oriental Dance Music Class" as the basis, from the Central Song and Dance Troupe, a number of business backbone, from all over the country to draw a number of talented performers, the Oriental Song and Dance Troupe was announced on January 13, 1962 was established.
Suggested that the German hospital be renamed Beijing Hospital.
Suggested to Marshal Nie Rongzhen that the Rongzhen School be renamed the Bayi School, now the Bayi Middle School in Beijing.
Participating in the Leading Group of the Song and Dance Epic "The East is Red"
On July 24, the third day of Zhou Enlai's "breathlessness", Zhou Yang wrote a report in the form of a request for instructions from the Central Propaganda Department to Lu Dingyi, Kang Sheng, and Zhou Enlai and Peng Zhen, proposing to create a large-scale song and dance project that would summarily express the history of the Chinese revolution under the leadership of the Chinese ****anufacturing Party. The Chinese Revolution under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) was summarized in a large-scale song and dance for performance on the National Day.
Zhou Enlai carefully scrutinized and revised the report and finally made a final decision, deciding that the large song and dance should be launched immediately to ensure that it would be staged on the National Day. The leading group with Zhou Yang as the leader, Liang Bieye, Lin Mo Han and other deputy leader, Qi Yan Ming, Zhang Zhixiang, Chen Yading, Zhou Wei Zhi, Xu Ping, Lv Ji and other members; organization and command of the working group with Chen Yading as director, Zhou Wei Zhi, Xu Ping and other deputy director.
On the question of the name of the song and dance, taking into account Shanghai's "singing under the banner of Mao Zedong" is too long a title, some people at the meeting suggested using "Oriental Red". Zhou Enlai raised his eyebrows and smiled appreciatively, and immediately expressed his approval, saying that the title was very good, both concise and relevant.
In the creation and rehearsal of "The East is Red", Zhou Enlai is a real director, from the establishment of the theme of the work to the artistic expression to the principles of the grasp of proportion, from the handling of certain details to the use of props to the choice of clothing colors, Zhou Enlai personally asked.