But just as the fruit itself originated beyond the borders of the Middle Kingdom so did its artistic representation. Pomegranate patterns, along with those of grape clusters, played a fairly important part in the history of artistic interchange between East and West and appeared in Chinese art more than a thousand years ago at least.
然而石榴的原產地不在中國，所以它的圖案源流也來自域外；石榴紋跟葡萄紋一樣，在中西藝術交流史上都擔任了一個相當重要的角色，前者出現在中國至少已有一千多年歷史。