There are many reasons for believing that the weaving of rugs was not indigenous to China, but was borrowed, perhaps a very long time ago, from Persia, or, possibly even earlier, from the Turkomans, to whom has generally been attributed the invention of the piled or upstanding knot. Recent investigations lead one to disbelieve in this, and to consider even these ancient Turkomans as more or less modern. But they nevertheless confirm the belief that rug weaving was an acquired art with the Chinese. This conviction is further sustained by the relatively small part rugs or rug weaving have had in the Chinese artistic tradition, the absence of reference to them in literature, and the fewness of fine Chinese rugs as compared with the multitude of wonderful pieces that have emanated from Persia, Turkestan, India, and Turkey.