The piece was written in a small mountain village in Shaanxi Province, with the lyrics reportedly inspired by the harsh treatment of local peasants by their landlords, and the song was used by the peasants in attempts to appeal for lowered rent. The song quickly became popular throughout Western and Northern China, and was adopted by the Chinese Communist Party as one of their most frequently used pieces both during and after the Chinese Civil War. The song remains a popular piece to this day, and has been performed at numerous significant points in Chinese history, being used during the Bao Jia Weiguo Campaign during the Korean War, during the 1998 Chinese Flood relief, and being sung at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.