Pictorial jades, such as these, became popular in the reign of the Qianlong Emperor as he sought to place jade work within the academic tradition of landscape painting and calligraphy. The Qianlong Emperor called these 'jade paintings'. This type of jade object often depicted images with literary themes. In this example, the plaques depict scholars meeting near a pavilion and scholars carrying a ruyi, both of which are common scenes in 'literati' painting popular in southern China at this time.