"I can only see the cat in the middle, and the kneeling cats on the sides are a little far-fetched," said Jian Biao, 26, also from Beijing.

On Tuesday, the People's Bank of China released a statement saying the prints are not cartoon cats. According to the bank, the patterns are based on lacquerware dating back to the Warring States Period (475 - 221 BC). But the meaning of the prints remains unclear.

"From the prints on the 100-yuan bill, it is hard to tell what is the exact meaning of the figure," said Zhang Tian'en, a researcher with the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archeology.

Zhang said he has not seen similar patterns in his studies of ancient lacquerware and bronzeware.

"The artistic concept looks a little like the State of Chu during the Warring States period, but it is different," Zhang said.

"And the figure on the RMB only includes an independent part of the ancient design. Without the entire design, it is hard to tell where it is from."

Li Xueqin, a historian and expert in ancient writing at Tsinghua University, said it is hard to ascertain what the illustration is because it is not completely clear.

"But one thing for sure is that the figure has no relation to cats at all."

Wang Xiaotian contributed to this story.