Note: Screens such as the present piece were seldom created before the Qianlong period due to the rarity of large flawless pieces of jade. Such screens were fashioned from carefully chosen highly-translucent stones, which would enhance the differing depths of the carved pictorial scene. The particular challenge presented to carvers of jade table screens was to compose two different designs for each side that would not interfere with but rather enhance the other when light was shone through. Thus the viewer could easily be transported into the tranquil and inviting landscapes such as the present.

 The Qianlong Emperor advocated that jade mountains and carved panels should carry the spirit of paintings by famous past masters. It is recorded that a number of classical paintings from the emperor's own collection were ordered to be reproduced in jade, such as the celebrated painting Travellers in the Mountains, by the eminent Five Dynasties painter Guan Tong (907-960). The sense of harmony between the figures and the vast landscape in this panel is a good example of the type of carving the Qianlong Emperor envisioned.