Nanjing cloud-patterned brocade got its name from Yun that means clouds, since the fabrics is as beautiful as the splendid clouds in the sky, and has got a history of nearly one thousand years.

Among all the ancient fabrics, silk fabrics known as "Jin" represents the top industrial arts. Furthermore, Nanjing Brocade concentrates all the advantages of advanced silk fabrics arts and technology of ancient dynasties and ranks first in quality among the three well-known categories of silk fabrics. It had been used as tributes to the loyal families in the three dynasties of Yuan, Ming and Qing. Owing to its rich cultural and scientific connotation, it is honored by experts as "the last milestone in the technological history of Chinese ancient silk fabrics". It is acknowledged by public as "oriental treasure", "China's wonder" and is also one of the rarest historical cultural legacies in China and the world.

Nanjing Brocade evolved from Cai(meaning colorful) Silk Fabrics of Song Dynasty. In Yuan Dynasty, Mongolians conquered Central China. The rulers then had the tradition of decorating officer dress with gold. The boom of the Dynasty flourished gold mining, which facilitated the development of Brocade with gold and silver weaving as its main characteristics. The Brocade thus became much more well-known than all other silk products and surpassed the formers as a latecomer, and obtained a fame of "silk fabrics with highest rarity and technology" that won great favor of feudal kings and aristocrats and were also loved by minorities of Mongolia, Tibet and Uygur Nationalities. Henceforth, the three dynasties of Yuan, Ming and Qing all designated Brocade as the loyal tributes. The rulers of those dynasties set up official fabrics bureaus in Nanjing specifically for the administration and monopoly of Brocade production and marketing, which further promoted the fabrics' development and flourish. In the eras of Kangxi and Yongzheng Emperors in Qing Dynasty, the production of Brocade reached its primax. In the vicinity of Qinhuai River inhabited numerous fabrics trading households, weaving noise echoed day and night, the fabrics production volume became unprecedented. Four ancestors in three generations of the author of "Stories of Red Chamber" Cao Xueqin were appointed as executive officials of Jiangning Fabrics Bureau in Qing Dynasty for 65 years.

After the founding of New China, the Party and government paid great importance to the precious national culture and technology. Under the government's concern, Nanjing Brocade Research Institute (NBRI) was founded, and Nanjing Brocade was given great protection and development. Under the concern and support from the related central ministries and provincial and municipal departments in the past 40 years, NBRI has achieved lots of scientific results and supplied a number of technological gaps in China, making preeminent contributions to the inheritance and development of the fabrics. Having undertaken in-depth study and rectification of the historical archives, the Institute published 200 volumes of Brocade objects as well as the most comprehensive monograph on the its development history "Chronicle of Brocade". Large sized color pattern volume "Brocade Design" and black and white pattern volume "Nanjing Brocade" were also printed.