The late-Qing author Huang Zunxian, who advocated literary innovation, described Hakka tea-picking songs as follows: "Lads and lasses sing to each other from neighboring hillsides. The hills reverberate continually with the sound of their singing, for they can hold a single note for the longest time.
清末提倡文學改良的黃遵憲在《人境廬詩草》描述客家山歌︰「瑤峒月夜，男女隔嶺唱和，興往情來，餘音裊娜，猶存歌仙之遺風，一字千回百折，哀厲而長，稱山歌。」