Among the plant fibres used in the production of textiles, ramie, hemp, and the vine-creeper, bean-creeper possessed the greatest economic and cultural importance in pre-Yuan China; fibrics of banana fibre were highly esteemed among Chinese literati and upper-class people. At that time, cotton had not yet gained its dominant position in the central parts of China as a plant for providing textile fibres. All four plants had been known in China for many centuries. However, though their characters are not found on Shang oracle-bones and Chou bronze inscriptions, they are mentioned in various literary sources of the Chou period; with the exception of banana fibres which occur in Han times.

To obtain the fibre material, the Chinese peasants used similar processing techniques for all these long staple bast fibres, and knotting or glueing with saliva was a common way of splicing them to make a continuous yarn.

Hemp belongs to the family of the Moraceae and was grown, as we have seen, to provide textile fibres, to obtain oil from its seeds and to give a psychotomietic drug. Most likely the plant originated somewhere in the temperate regions of Central Asia.

The density of the plants when sown depended on whether hemp was for spinning or for making ropes. When harvesting, the Chinese pulled out the whole plant; the leaves, roots and tops were then chopped off. To separate the textile fibres, the peasants soaked the stems in water for 12 to 24 hours; after this they heaped up the stems and covered them with matting to ferment. After about one day, the raw fibres (including the cortex) were peeled from the stem and underwent a cooking process in water and alkaline ashes. During this process bark particles were removed from the fibres mechanically. Fibre preparation was completed by drying the material.

Ramie belongs to the family of the Urticaceae, the nettle plants, and a wide range of Boehmeria has been used in Chinese textile production. In terms of the productivity of the ramie plant. Chhen Fu states that three to four crops can be harvested in one year. Other sources agree on three crops a year harvested in the fifth, in the middle between the sixth and the seventh month, and in the eighth month, or in the fifth seventh, and eight month, or in the sixth, seventh and eighth month. Obviously the month for the harvest depended on the region and the weather. The ramie fibes of the first harvest are coarse and strong, fit for coarse cloth. The fibres of the second harvest are slightly softer and finer in quality. Only the fibres of the third harvest are excellent and fit for fine cloth.

The bean-creeper belongs to the Fabaceae, should be regarded as a plant native to East Asia. Its history as a textile fibre plant in China started earlier than hemp. As is the case with so many plants either gathered or cultivated in early times by the Chinese, the bean-creeper could be exploited in various way.

Method of working the bean creeper. After having collected the plant fibre material, to produce fishing nets, is boiled in how water over a fire. The fibres are peeled off with the fingernails. The fibres are white as those of the hemp, but do not adhere to the green parts of the plant. Then the peeling is completed. The fibres are rinsed in running water at river banks, beaten with a beater, washed clean and dried in the open air. Exposed to the moisture for one night, they become whiter. Afterwards, they should be put to a shady place to avoid the sunlight. Then they are ready for spinning and weaving.

The leaf sheath of the banana plant pa-chiao contains a highly esteemed fibre material which is commonly known under the name Manila hemp or abaca. In the 19^th and 20^th centuries, the fibres were commonly obtained by cutting the stems of the banana plant which could reach a height of 3.5m and a diameter of 30cm. The cut stems were spread on the ground so that the surface skin and the deeper layers would start to decompose rapidly. Thereafter the rotten stems were pounded in running water, after which the fibres could be collected, cleansed, rinsed and hackled or combed. Another method was to cut open the stems in a lengthwise direction to get access to the fibres.