In a history-changing find, Chinese archaeologists have discovered well-preserved textiles in a mysterious tomb dating back to almost 2,500 years in eastern Jiangxi Province. This is, by far, the oldest historical breakthrough in China.

The ancient textiles, 20 pieces in all unearthed from 47 coffins in Lijia village of Jing'an county, feature breath-taking dyeing and weaving technologies which can re-script the history of China's textile industry. Portions of fine silk, flax and cotton cloth were carefully removed from the coffins.

According to Wang Yarong, an archaeologist who has been following the findings in the textile sector for more than three decades, most of the discovered pieces are fine fabrics. The largest of them is 130 cm long, 52 cm wide and woven with complicated techniques.

She added that Chinese anthropologists had, for long, suspected that the country had a flourishing textile past; this find concretizes their hypothesis.

A Peking University professor used infrared devices to detect a piece of cotton that was found dyed red and black, suggesting that people in that age knew the technique of colouring cloth. The tomb, where these fabrics were found, is believed to date back to the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770-221 BC).

Sources said seven of the coffins contained human skeletons, four of which were identified as healthy females aged around 20.