Young Blonde Girl With A Water Pipe Bong Wearing A Red Necklace On The Old Fashioned Couch

The use of a water pipe for smoking was introduced in China during the late Ming Dynasty (16th century), along with tobacco, through Persia and the Silk Road. By the Qing Dynasty, it became the most popular method to smoke tobacco, but became less popular since the Republic era. While typically employed by commoners, the water pipe is known to have been preferred by Empress Dowager Cixi over snuff bottles or other methods of intake. According to the Imperial Household Department, she was buried with at least three water pipes; some of her collections can be seen in the Palace Museum.
The water pipe employed since the Qing dynasty can be divided into two types: the homemade bamboo bong commonly made and used by country people, and a more elegant metal version employed by Chinese merchants, urbanites, and nobility. Metal utensils are typically made out of bronze or brass, the nobility version of silver and decorated with jewels. Typically, the metal version is made out of the following components:
• The water pipe itself, a single-piece construct consisting of the bowl-stem, the water container, and a drawtube at least 12-inches in length bent to resemble a crane. The size of the bowl is analogous to a one-hitter, typically the width of a thumbnail or smaller.