[1]: 324 The form emerged as part of palace-style poetry during the late fifth and the sixth centuries CE, that is during the final three Southern dynasties (Qi, Liang and Chen).
[1]: 325 According to Grace S. Fong, early yongwu poems generally present a series of the attributes, striking effects, and unusual properties of the object celebrated, often in florid and ornate diction with appropriate use of set associations and poetic figures.
Since the aim is display of wit and refinement, the majority of the poems are adroitly executed 'sensuous word-pictures' lacking any deeper emotional or intellectual significance that would truly involve the reader.
[3]: 335 As translated by Stephen Owen, one of his poems, on hibiscus, runs[3]: 480 風露淒淒秋景繁 可憐榮落在朝昏 未央宮裏三千女 但保紅顏莫保恩 The wind and dew are dreary and chill, it is full in the autumn scene, to be pitied, how it flowers and falls between dawn and dusk.
Zinan Yan has suggested that 'in conventional studies of yongwu poetry, the object is often assumed unchanging and detached from the real world, with no engagement with issues other than the poet's sentiments.