There were some minority groups in ancient China that had reached a fairly high level in handicraft manufacture. Beautiful and elaborately-designed bronze drums were made by the Luoyues as early as the Han and Wei dynasties. Guizi, then known as an iron mining center, supplied metal products to 36 states throughout the "Western Regions." A people expert in mining copper, iron, lead, tin, gold, silver and cinnabar, the Xinanyis particularly showed advanced workmanship in making cast gold and silver articles and jade-inlaid objects. In the north, the warlike Xiongnus were noted for their skill in making weapons, as were the Wuhuan people known for their embroideries and carpet weaving. Brocades of the Zhuangs and Dongs became known nationwide, and the cloth of the Dai, Miao and Yao nationalities was on a high artistic plane. Just as the woolen fabrics of the Tufans of Tibet found their way into Bhutan, "Dali" knives of Yunnan enjoyed a brisk market both in China and abroad.

　　The Li people demonstrated a high skill in cotton spinning and weaving. It was by learning from the Li people that Huang Daopo, a famous weaver of the Yuan Dynasty, improved her weaving techniques and popularized them among the people of the Han people.