Coined in The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons, this concept means to euphemistically and subtly express the authors’ thoughts using objects to demonstrate their sorrowful and despondent mood. This is the general mood and artistic characteristics of the “Nineteen Old Poems,” and illustrates poetry’s aesthetic characteristics of depicting objects in order to express feelings in a soul-stirring way.

In terms of poetic structure and textual presentation, the “Nineteen Old Poems”are simple yet not vulgar. Euphemistically and subtly expressing the authors’thoughts through objects to demonstrate their sorrowful and despondent mood, these are indeed outstanding five-character verses. (Liu Xie: The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons)

Du Fu’s “A Farewell to Wei Zanshan” is a poem with subtle language, showing infinite sentiment, and it can be said that every word contains tears. (Qiu Zhao’ao: Du Fu’s Poetry with Detailed Annotations)