A common form of entertainment for elite Chinese was invite a few men over to the house and show them the various precious objects of art owned by the host. The guests would then admire the objects and make appropriately sophisticated comments about them. Notice the two women at left attending to the tea pouring and other such duties. They are maids in the household, and their presence is hardly remarkable, but this is another obvious circumstance in which the strict male-female separation ideal break down slightly.

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