According to Hao, lujin became a daily necessity for commoners with the introduction of herbaceous cotton into the Central Plains of China since after the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220).

One of the five most famous brocades in China (the others are yunjin from Nanjing in Jiangsu province, shujin from Sichuan province, songjin from Suzhou in Jiangsu province and zhuangjin from the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region), lujin is the only brocade made of cotton while the others of silk.