According to the length of the song.
The long songs and short songs in Han Yuefu poetry are based on the length of the syllables of the lyrics. It is believed that "long songs" and "short songs" refer to the length of songs.
The characteristics of long songs are generally warm and unrestrained.
The characteristics of tanka are short songs with short rhythm and low bass, which are used to express inner sorrow and depression.
The language is simple and natural
Han Yuefu folk songs mostly use vivid spoken language, are friendly and simple, combine narrative with lyricism, and have real and moving emotions. For example, "Orphan's Journey" describes an orphan who is abused by his brother and sister-in-law. Although the poems are uneven, the emotion and situation are consistent, and the orphan's words and scheming are vividly reflected in the writing. The poems vary in sentence length, ranging from two to eight words. There are neat poems with neat sentences, and there are also intricate poems with mixed words.
The rhymes of Han Yuefu folk songs are free and flexible. There are sentences that rhyme, such as "Ping Lingdong": "Ping Lingdong, pines and cypresses, I don't know who robbed the righteous public", "My heart is full of pity, and the blood is dripping. I will accuse my family of selling yellow calves." There are other sentences that rhyme. Some are rhyming, such as "Dongmen Xing", "Yan Ge Xing", "Liang Fu Yin", etc.; there are also two or three sentences that rhyme, such as "Sunrise in the Southeast Corner" and "Named Himself as Luofu" in "Mo Shang Sang" "It rhymes with two lines apart, and "Lights up my Qin family building" and "Guizhi is a cage hook" rhyme with five lines apart. This all shows the variety of rhymes.