The earliest poem with this title is by the Han historian
班固. Later poets such as
左思,
鲍照 and
李商隐 used it for poems that look at the past to comment on their own times;
李商隐's has the line
成由勤俭破由奢 'success comes from thrift, ruin from extravagance'. Poems of this kind are called
咏史诗.
