Maybe many people have seen science fiction movies. In some of these movies, man-made robots look like real humans and can even have feelings as humans. These kinds of movies are from high-tech imaginations, but the ideas of humanistic robots from these modern movie makers might seem antiquated. If you have the opportunity to read a book entitled Liezi (列子), you will find that the ancient Chinese already had such ideas very early in time.

Ancient China was famed for fine silk. The silk was from the threads which were spun by silkworms. Silkworms were originally the special native animals of China. For the most profit, ancient Chinese government prohibited exporting silkworms. In the Silk Road, the Persian monopolized the silk selling to the Western world, so silk was very expensive in the markets of the Europe. Justinian I, the great emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, fought against Persia, but didn’t achieve his goal.