- Sun, 08/15/2004 - 12:00 URUMQI (Xinhua) - A garment made of
fabrics with dazzling gold foil sewn on applique work, dating
back to the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC - AD 24), was recently
unearthed from a tomb in Lop Nur, a desolate area in Northwest
China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Chinese archaeologists
believe this is the earliest woven material with gold patterns
ever found in China. The discovery pushes the history of fabric-
making with gold back 1,000 years earlier than previously
believed," said Li Wenying, an archaeologist participating in
the excavation. The gold foils were sewn by two different
methods. One was to cut coloured silk in the shape of flower
buds, petals, stamen and fruits, which were then pinned to the
collar, sleeves, lower hem, and back of the garment. Then gold
foils were pasted on the silk designs. The other way was to
spread gold powder onto the design. One archaeologist, Zhou
Jinling, described the embroidery as distinctive, dazzling and
harmonious in colour." This garmen