https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1005177/a-brief-history-of-face-masks-in-china

..... Italian explorer Marco Polo recounted how servants in the Yuan dynasty court were required to cover their noses and mouths with a cloth of silk and gold thread when serving food to the emperor......

.....The surgical masks in use today are a Western import

......In cosmopolitan Shanghai, face masks were promoted as fashion accessories to encourage their use...

.....In late 1910, the legendary Malaysian-Chinese doctor Wu Lien-teh was serving as China’s chief medical officer when an epidemic broke out in Northeast China. Wu went deep into the affected areas to lead prevention and control work, and soon identified the epidemic as a form of pneumonic plague spread by droplets in the air. In addition to proposing now-familiar-sounding measures — including quarantining patients and cordoning off many cities — Wu also designed and invented a cheap sanitary face mask that promised some protection from the disease. Made of widely available surgical gauze folded around a 4-by-6 inch piece of cotton, it could be wrapped around the back of the head and tied in a knot. Simple and easy-to-make, it was affordable enough for almost anyone to buy.

China’s doctors and nurses continued using Wu’s design throughout the 20th century, improving it here and there but making no substantial changes. It wasn’t until the 2003 outbreak of SARS, which infected hundreds of medical workers and showed the limitations of traditional cotton masks, that the then-China Food and Drug Administration retired Wu’s mask in favor of newer, more effective models.

Woman: “Dear, why are you wearing a face mask today? Is it for epidemic prevention?” Man: “No! It’s for preventing your constant kisses.” Found in “Manhua Jie漫画界” magazine, published in 1936. From Shanghai Library