It is unusual to find inscribed teabowls using jade material as a number of these were of porcelain, either decorated in underglaze-blue or iron-red, and with additional design on the interior depicting finger citron, prunus and pine. The poem, composed by the Qianlong Emperor, is a eulogy on tea and known by the title, San Qing Cha, 'Tea of Three Purities'. Compare with two ceramic bowls similarly decorated, the first included in the exhibition, The Wonders of the Potter's Palette, Qing Ceramics from the Collection of the Hong Kong Museum of Art, 1984-5, p. 127, no. 76; and the other in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, included in the exhibition, Empty Vessels, Replenished Minds: The Culture, Practice and Art of Tea, 2002, p. 152, no. 129. An underglaze-blue teabowl in the National Palace Museum is also illustrated op. cit., 2002, no. 130.

It has been mentioned that Emperor Qianlong was an avid drinker of tea, and in the 11th year of his reign (1746) on his return from visiting Mount Wutai, Shanxi province, his entourage sojourned to make tea using fallen snow. In the brew, as well as Longjing tea leaves, were the additions of prunus, pine nut kernels and finger citrus, op. cit., 2002, p. 152. It was this concoction that inspired the Emperor to compose the present poem.