In the Han dynasty book Yiwen Zhi (Chronicle of the Arts), it is recorded that at least 138 examples of popular verse were collected at the time, leaving behind a rich resource for the study of folk culture in Han full of vitality and emotion. Some describe departure and death in wartime; others movingly bemoan lives of grinding poverty.
根據《漢書．藝文志》記載，當時採集的樂府至少有一百三十八篇，為漢代留下豐富的民間資料，這些民歌，情感真摯、生命躍動，有的描寫戰亂的生離死別，有的描寫下層社會的貧病孤苦，比如〈孤兒行〉中身無衣食還要汲水收瓜看馬燒飯的孤兒，一首首血淚交迸，深中人心。