[8] The yunjian could also be applied directly on garments, where it would fall around the collar of robes onto the chest and shoulder region,[1]: 51 or as a clothing appliqué.

[12] The yunjian also started to be worn by the Non-Chinese, the Tartars of northern China and Manchuria in the later medieval period.

[4] In Qing dynasty, this cosmological concept was maintained and could be seen in the cloud-studded upper part of the clothing, especially on the dragon robes.

[4] In the late Ming and Qing dynasties, the cosmological was largely forgotten as the people became more materialistic, and by then, the yunjian motif became mainly an ornamental design.

[6]According to Schuyler Cammann, the origins of yunjian motif is derived from the cosmological decorations which ornated the back of mirrors of the Han dynasty.

[1]: 69  The earliest forms of the yunjian motif appeared on the Chinese bronze mirrors found at the end of the Zhou dynasty (c. 4th and 3rd centuries BC).

[1]: 52, 79  In the Yuan dynasty painting Khubilai Khan Hunting, Empress Chabi is depicted wearing a white robe which is decorated with a cloud-collar motif on her chest and shoulders.

[1]: 51  The Yuan dynasty yunjian pattern consisted of a 4-lobed cruciform-shaped design and would be found around the robe's collar covering the chest and shoulders areas.

[1]: 52  The Yuan dynasty yunjian motif was the combination of ruyi-clouds, persimmon calyx motif and bo, which was used to protect the necks of northern nomads from winds and sand; this also developed into the yunjian pattern which was used to decorate the shoulder region of clothing and became widely used in the clothing of nobles.

[4] In Ming dynasty, the yunjian garment collar appears to have been popular in both China and Mongolia in this period.

In the 17th and 18th century AD, the yunjian was one of the most common Han Chinese women fashion in China, along with ruqun, taozi (绦子; i.e. a ribbon around the arm), beizi and bijia.

[4] In ceramics, the yunjian motif could also appear in the form of a ruyi-head border, which was derived from the head of the lingzhi, a sacred fungus for the Chinese people.

[23] In the Babur-náma, the cloud collar is referred as châr-qâb, which was either a garment or a shawl which was bestowed to its wearer as a mark of rank.

[3]: 47  The châr-qâb with four-lobed, either woven or embroidered with gold thread, was often seen as a garment motif in Timurid paintings and was associated with the Turkic rulers of Central Asia.

[24]: 340  The Chinese also sent a yunjian made of gold brocade with tiger design, as well as royal robes and garments, to Sharukh.

[25] The Chinese cloud collar was also introduced in the arts of Japan where it is depicted on the image of the bodhisattva Manjusri.

[16] In Burma, the Burmese officials used to wear court clothing which contained a tiered and peaked cloud collar.

[16] The Indonesian lengkung léhér (i.e. a ceremonial collar) worn by Palembang brides and court dancers, and similar cloud collars worn in the Malay peninsula appears to be a reflection of the historical presence of the Chinese brides in the Malay court.

[16] Some Mexican artists borrowed the cloud collar motif which was frequently used on the Chinese vases and adapted it in their own ceramic work.