Cups of this type are based on earlier Qianlong, and prior to that Chenghua, doucai prototypes such as the pair of cups of similar shape, but decorated with chickens only, included in the Illustrated Catalogue of Chinese Government Exhibits for International Exhibition of Chinese Art in London, vol. II, Porcelain, 1948, p. 130, no. 171.

The poem is in praise of well-known works of art from earlier periods and in particular to Ming dynasty chicken cups. As with most of Qianlong's poems, there are many archaic references. In this instance, the Emperor mentions the child prodigy, Jia Chang (b. AD713), as depicted by the image of the boy on the present cup. At the age of thirteen, Jia Chang was such a talented trainer of fighting cocks that the Tang dynasty emperor Xuanzong (r. AD 713-56) employed him to train the imperial fighting cocks. The design on these cups is therefore often known as 'the precocious boy'.