1959年，一部反映军垦战士建设边疆、保卫边疆的纪录片《绿色的原野》在新疆伊犁河谷兵团四师六十四团驻扎地——可克达拉农场开始拍摄。艰苦的环境虽然给军垦战士的生产劳动造成了一定的困难，但战士们的内心却充满着希望和柔情。在与军垦战士们朝夕相处一段时间后，纪录片的导演张加毅发现了这种强烈的反差，因此他觉得应该在宏伟壮观的电影画面中，插入一首温情的歌曲，以表达战士们的心声 。 在纪录片拍摄接近尾声的某日，张加毅与体验军垦农场生活的田歌一次外出散步，看到了一群年轻人在篝火旁烤着打来的猎物。缕缕炊烟升起，一个维吾尔族小伙弹奏着民族乐器，唱起了关于劳动和爱情的颂歌，动人的歌声在美丽的草原上飘荡。此情此景，深深触动了张加毅，他当即掏出一个纸烟盒，借着落日的余晖，提笔写了起来。不到一刻钟，就写出了几句歌词。当晚，田歌谱好了曲，给战士们试唱。于是，歌曲《草原之夜》创作完成。

Background of Creation In 1959, the documentary “Green Wilderness,” depicting the construction and defense of the border by military reclamation soldiers, began filming at the KeKedala Farm, the station of the 64th Regiment of the Fourth Division of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, located in the Ili River Valley of Xinjiang. Although the harsh environment posed certain challenges to the production labour of the military reclamation soldiers, their hearts were filled with hope and tenderness. After spending some time closely with the military reclamation soldiers, the director of the documentary, Zhang Jiayi, discovered this strong contrast. Therefore, he felt that a tender song should be inserted into the grand and spectacular film scenes to express the voices of the soldiers. On a certain day near the end of the documentary filming, Zhang Jiayi and Tian Ge, who experienced life on the military reclamation farm, went for a walk and saw a group of young people roasting game by the campfire. Wisps of smoke rose, a young Uighur man played a traditional musical instrument, and they sang a song praising labour and love. The moving melody echoed across the beautiful grassland. Touched deeply by the scene, Zhang Jiayi immediately took out a cigarette box and, under the twilight of the setting sun, began to write. In less than a quarter of an hour, he wrote a few lines of lyrics. That night, Tian Ge composed the music, and the soldiers tried singing the song. Thus, the song “Night on the Grassland” was created. Dao Lang covered this song on the album “The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing,” released on April 19, 2006.