Based on the popular poem Changhen Ge (Song of Everlasting Sorrow) by Bai Juyi in 807, Huang Zi composed China's first cantata of the same name.

Huang Zi, a composer of overflowing brilliance, graduated from the Music Conservatory of Yale University and became a faculty member of Shanghai State Music College in 1930. While teaching, he composed a number of songs, with Changhen Ge being one of his masterpieces. Changhen Ge includes 10 movements, describing the tragic love story of the Tang Ming Emperor and his imperial concubine Yang Yuhuan.

The work left a precious treasure to the later generations in terms of artistic penetration and composing ploy. It is the first cantata in China.