Yang Zhishui, a culture expert, said the series provides a grand database from various perspectives and offers not only a history of silk and of arts, but also information about ancient Chinese society and literature.

The books recount how the Qin and Han dynasties valued Taoism, so many cloud and cloud-like animals featured in patterns, and how Western images such as peacocks, elephants and camels began to appear on Chinese silk between the fifth century and the ninth century.

"Patterns travel," said Lu Jiande, an expert with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

"Patterns show the interaction of different civilizations and their fluidity, and some very foreign design we found from the ancient times were actually very native ones."