There is some suggestion that it was the custom for such figures to paste colored paintings on their window paper. When this was appreciated by their European customers they would present it to them as a gift. It was only when this was widely admired that it became one of the goods that captains in the East India Companies shipped back as private trade for sale to royalty and aristocracy.
也有人認為廣東商人原有以彩畫糊窗紙的習慣，在歐洲客戶的讚賞下，於是私下送給外商作為禮物，後來廣受歡迎，才發展成東印度公司船長們賣給王公貴族的私貨。