The three are first recorded as appearing together in a ninth-century poem by the poet Zhu Qingyu (朱慶餘) of the Tang dynasty.

[8] Artists such as Zhao Mengjian (趙孟堅, c. 1199–1264) of the Southern Song dynasty and other contemporaries later made this grouping popular in painting.

[8] The earliest literary reference to the term "[Three] Friends of Winter" can be traced back to the Record of the Five-cloud Plum Cottage (五雲梅舍記) from The Clear Mountain Collection (霽山集) by the writer Lin Jingxi (林景熙, 1242–1310) of the Song dynasty:[2][10] For his residence, earth was piled to form a hill and a hundred plum trees, which along with lofty pines and tall bamboo comprise the friends of winter, were planted.

[11] They are particularly associated with the start of the Lunar New Year, appearing on greeting cards and as a design stamped into seasonal sweets.

[13][14] In a Korean poem by Kim Yugi [ko] (숙종; 肅宗; 1580–1658), the three friends are brought together in order to underline the paradoxical contrast: Peach and plum of springtime, don't flaunt your pretty blossoms; Consider rather the old pine and green bamboo at year's end.