Before the liberation, the tune of planting melons had been widely circulated in Lichuan city and Wangying, Baiyang, etc., and accompanied by percussion instruments in the singing. 1935 during the Spring Festival, Lichuan held an amateur recreational performance, and the members of Baiyang amateur troupe, such as Xie Yigun (female), Qu Tingsheng, Wu Qingye, He Gangqing, Ding Hongru, etc. sang the tune of planting melons, which had a good response and excellent results. County cultural cadres to organize and according to the original expression of the name of the Longboat tune.
In the Spring Festival of 1955, Lichuan held a county-wide amateur music, dance, opera performance, "planting melon tune" was well received. After processing and coloring, it was changed into a performance of "Longboat Song".
In February 1956, after the Lichuan County Cultural Center music cadres Zhou Suqing and dance cadres Huang Yewei in the Baiyangba collection of the "melon tune" in the form of the "Dragon Boat Dance", to participate in the "Enshi region's first folk songs and dances Arts and Cultural Performance," rated as an outstanding program.
March 1957, Wang Ying peasant singers Wang Guosheng, Zhang Shuntang in Beijing Huairen Hall, held in the "Second National Folk Music and Dance Competition Conference" on the first dedication to the capital audience "Dragon Boat Dance", won the leadership and the experts unanimously praised. Since then, the song has been widely circulated throughout the country and even spread to Southeast Asian countries.
On January 01, 1958, in the national "Tongmei Cup" Song Competition, Beijing and Hubei two groups were selected "Longboat tune" song of the moving scene.
In May 1962, it was included in the collection of folk songs of Hubei Province, and the Central People's Broadcasting Station made it into a record for distribution.
In 1979, it was included in the Collection of Chinese Folk Songs.
October 1991, "Long Boat Song" was listed by UNESCO as one of the world's 25 best folk songs.
In 1991, "Longboat Song" was selected as one of the "Chinese Folk Literature Collection" and "Lichuan Ethnic Folk Song Collection".
On May 30, 1994, the 30-minute program of the local CCTV station featured the Longboat Tunes sung by the old folk artists of Baiyang, and the birthplace of Longboat Tunes, Baiyangba of Lichuan, attracted the attention of the world.
In September 1998, the fourth Hubei Provincial Folk Games was held in Lichuan, and 5,000 people performed a large-scale song and dance called "The Hometown of Longboat Tune" at the opening ceremony.
In 1999, Hubei TV station traveled to Lichuan to shoot MTV for "Longboat Tune".
In August 2000, CCTV went to Lichuan to shoot a feature film under the name of "Hometown of Longboat Tune".
In 2001, "Longboat Tunes" was awarded the Gold Medal of the Century Ethnic Songs organized by the Ministry of Culture, the State People's Committee and the General Administration of Radio, Film and Television.
In October, 2002, CCTV came to Lichuan to record the feature film of "Dragon Boat Tunes of Qingjiang River".
In 2002, Wuhan Xinghai Chorus with more than 50 people in Busan, South Korea to participate in the "Second Olympic International Choral Competition", "Dragon Boat Song" won the silver medal.
December 20, the famous singer Song Zuying in Sydney, Australia, Sydney Opera House Concert Hall held a solo concert, the "Dragon Boat Song" will be sung around the world.
In June 2003, CCTV recorded and broadcast the TV special "Tujia Charm", and then pushed Lichuan "Dragon Boat Tunes". 08, Lichuan and CCTV jointly produced by the famous singer Tang Chan sang MTV "Lichuan Folk Song Dragon Boat Tunes" in the "Charm of the 12" and other columns to the country and the world. 11, November 23, Song Zuying sang "Dragon Boat Tunes" in a concert at the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall in Australia, won the Silver Prize. On November 23rd, Song Zuying sang "Dragon Boat Song" in the Golden Hall of Vienna, the hall of art.
In July, 2006, the Lichuan folk song "Longboat Song" was selected as a candidate song for China's moon exploration.
October 12, 2006, Song Zuying in the United States at the Kennedy Center for the Arts sang the "tune of the dragon boat", once again will be "sister to cross the river, which come to push me," the lyrics of the song to the world.
On June 21, 2009, "Dragon Boat Song" was awarded the top prize of Hubei's Golden Song.
In 2010, Hu Tingjiang of the China Conservatory of Music composed "New Longboat Song", which was sung by the fashionable folk song diva Tang Can. It was sung to the world in 2010 Tang Can Shanghai Concert.