在将近上千年的时间里，中国无论在经济上还是文化上，都遥遥领先于世界其他国家，以至于伏尔泰曾经这样赞颂中国：“中国人在道德和政治经济学、农业、生活必需的技艺等等方面已臻境地。”古人所取得的巨大成就，既是中国人无上的荣誉，也成了中国人甜蜜的负担。事实上，几乎后来所兴起的任何一种新的思想，都可以在更早的古人那里找到类似的说法，甚至在很多时候，古人说得更为清晰和透彻。这种独特的情形，逐渐造就了中国人重继承而不重开创的品格。中国的人文学者，更看重“言必有据”，“字字皆有出处”，强调自己的思想是溯源于古代的某位学者，而轻视那种标新立异、违背古人原则的理论。当贵古贱今成为一种社会风气时，即使要阐述一种全新的思想，也往往要先披上一层古人的外衣，借助于对古代典籍的再诠释而实现。也正因为如此，

The cloth art of China refers to cloth handicrafts made by Chinese people using traditional cloth and threads as raw materials. These are tailored， sewand adorthe different cloths. Cloth handicrafts e isuch forms as embroidery， Gesi tapestry， hand stitching ，embroidery paste，barbola，brocade and batik. Chinese people were the first to raise sklkworms and from the cocoons they made silk thread which was used to weave silk fabrics. Yuanfei，the concubine of the Yellow Emperor，personally raised silkworms and called oall other wometo do likewise. The emperor himself personally took part itilling and popularized silkworm raising technology among the people. Ithis way a traditional system was introduced for the raising of silkworms.this，plus the sysem introduced some 4，000years ago for people of different social strata to wear garments with different colours and designs，prompted the fast devel-opment of the weaving and embroidering technologies iChina. Using only needle and thread the Chines

In the long process of Chinese history a lot of symbolic designs with auspicious meanings have been created.People use these designs to exorcize evil spirits,ask for blessing of various deities,and express their high hopes for life as well. Themed on good fortune,high rank,longevity,happiness,wealth,and prosperity,which represent all desires of those living in an agricultural society,the symbolic designs have been widely used either for festival celebrations or in people'Sdaily life such as house decorating,furniture carving and painting,handicrafts making,dress and personal ad ornment,etc. All in all,the symbolic designs and human activities involved constitute the elements of an“auspicious culture-an interesting cultural phenomenon peculiar to Chinese society.