Chinese knotting

File:Eight chinese knots.jpg{{More citations needed|section|date=July 2023}}

Chinese knots come in a variety of shapes and sizes. They are made from a single cord and are often double-layered and symmetrical in all directions.{{Cite web |last=He |first=Gu |date=2016-11-01 |title=The Chinese Knot |url=http://www.chinatoday.com.cn/english/culture/2016-11/01/content_729663.htm |url-status= |access-date=2024-01-05 |website=CHINA TODAY}}{{Cite web |title=Chinese Knotting Home Page |url=https://chineseknotting.org/ |access-date=2023-07-28 |website=chineseknotting.org}} Satin cording is the most widely used material, especially when the knotting is done for clothing and jewellery; however, cotton, parachute cord, and other materials are frequently used as well. Knots are often paired with tassels, which are created separately and then incorporated into the main work.Image:Chinese Butterfly Knot.jpg

Chinese knots are created in a variety of colors such as gold, green, blue, or black, though the most commonly used color is red, which symbolizes good luck and prosperity.

Chinese knot scholar Lydia Chen lists eleven basic types of Chinese decorative knotwork. Complex knots are constructed from repeating or combining basic knots.{{Cite book |last=Chen |first=Lydia |title=Chinese Knotting |year=2003 |isbn=978-1-4629-1658-0 |pages=63–114}}

Archaeological studies indicate that the art of tying knots dates back to prehistoric times. Discoveries include 100,000-year-old bone needles used for sewing and bodkins used to untie knots. Due to the delicate nature of the medium, little evidence of prehistoric Chinese knotting exists today. Some of the earliest evidence of knotting has been preserved on bronze vessels from the Warring States period (481–221 BCE), Buddhist carvings from the Northern dynasties period (317–581), and on silk paintings from the Western Han period (206 BCE – 9 CE).

Archaeological and literary evidence indicate that knots were used in China as a method of keeping records, especially to assist in governance.{{Cite web |last=Mair |first=Victor |date=2021-04-17 |title=Prehistoric notation systems in Peru, with Chinese parallels |url=https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=50819 |access-date=2023-07-31 |website=Language Log}} The practice had some similarities to the Incan practice of quipu.{{Cite web |last=Sutherland |first=A. |date=2017-03-15 |title=Ancient Chinese Version of Quipu -Tradition of Tying Knots Dates Back To Antiquity |url=https://www.ancientpages.com/2017/03/15/ancient-chinese-version-of-quipu-tradition-of-tying-knots-dates-back-to-antiquity/ |access-date=2023-07-31 |website=Ancient Pages}} Several works of classical Chinese literature make reference to it. The Tao Te Ching (ca. 400 BCE) alludes to the practice in chapter 80. As translated by Wing-tsit Chan:{{Cite book |title=The Way of Lao Tzu (Tao Te Ching) |publisher=The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc. |year=1963 |isbn=0-02-320700-0 |pages=238}} Explanatory parenthetical added by the translator.{{Blockquote|text="Let the people again knot cords and use them (in place of writing)" [使民復結繩而用之]}}

The Yi Jing, Xi Ci II (ca. 168 BCE{{Cite journal |last=Ames |first=Roger T. |title=The Great Commentary (Dazhuan 大傳) and Chinese natural cosmology |year=2015 |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40636-015-0013-2 |access-date=2023-07-29 |journal=International Communication of Chinese Culture |volume=2 |pages=1–18 |doi=10.1007/s40636-015-0013-2 |s2cid=256393751 |archive-date=14 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220814100927/https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40636-015-0013-2 |url-status=bot: unknown |doi-access=free }}), describes the practice:{{cite web |title=Book of Changes:《系辞下 – Xi Ci II》 |url=https://ctext.org/book-of-changes/xi-ci-xia/ens |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200924170601/https://ctext.org/book-of-changes/xi-ci-xia/ens |archive-date=24 September 2020 |access-date=13 July 2020 |website=ctext.org }}

{{Blockquote|text="In the highest antiquity, government was carried on successfully by the use of knotted cords (to preserve the memory of things). In subsequent ages the sages substituted for these written characters and bonds. By means of these (the doings of) all the officers could be regulated, and (the affairs of) all the people accurately examined."|title=|source=}}

The Eastern Han (25–220 CE) scholar Zheng Xuan, who annotated the {{Transliteration|zh|Yi Jing}}, wrote that:{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/327183583 |title=Zhou yi zheng yi |date=2001 |publisher=Tai wan gu ji |others=Wang, Bi (Sanguo); Kong, Yingda; Li, Xueqin; Lu, Guangming; Li, Shen |isbn=957-9402-28-0 |location=Tai bei shi |script-title=zh:周易正義 |oclc=327183583}}{{Rp|page=9}}{{Clarification needed|reason=This description seems to suggest this was written in a commentary on the Yi Jing, but it's unclear. The sources are not easily accessible online, so this can't be easily verified and made clear.|date=July 2023}}

{{Blockquote|text="Big events were recorded with complicated knots, and small events were recorded with simple knots." [事大，大结其绳；事小，小结其绳].}}

The chapter of Tubo (Tibet) in the New Book of Tang says:{{cite web |title=Xin Tangshu/ juan 216 shang |script-title=zh:新唐書/卷216上 |trans-title=New book of Tang/ Volume 216 |url=https://zh.wikisource.org/zh/新唐書/卷216上 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200714164037/https://zh.wikisource.org/zh/%E6%96%B0%E5%94%90%E6%9B%B8/%E5%8D%B7216%E4%B8%8A |archive-date=14 July 2020 |access-date=14 July 2020 |website=Wikisource}}

{{Blockquote|text="The government makes the agreement by tie cords due to lack of characters." [其吏治，无文字，结绳齿木为约].}}

File:Mawangdui silk banner from tomb no1.jpg

In addition to their use in recording, knots became a totem and belief motif.{{Cite journal|last=Zhiyuan|first=Zhang|date=1993|title=A Brief Account of Traditional Chinese Festival Customs|journal=The Journal of Popular Culture|volume=27|issue=2|pages=13–24|doi=10.1111/j.0022-3840.1993.1354684.x|issn=1540-5931}} A double coin knot pattern painting on a silk banner was discovered by archaeologists in the Mawangdui tombs (206 BCE – CE 9).{{cite web |date=2017 |title=T-Shaped Painting on Silk |url=http://www.hnmuseum.com/en/zuixintuijie/t-shaped-painting-silk |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200718165523/http://www.hnmuseum.com/en/zuixintuijie/t-shaped-painting-silk |archive-date=18 July 2020 |access-date=17 July 2020 |website=Hunan Museum}} The pattern is of intertwined dragons forming a double coin knot in the middle of the fabric painting. The upper part of the fabric painting depicts the ancient deities Fuxi and Nüwa, the initiators of marriage in China, from whom many ancient poems derive "love" as a meaning of the double coin knot.{{Rp|page=10}} There is evidence from the 3,000-year-old Yinxu oracle bone script that knots were recognized as symbols rather than for functional use.

According to Lydia Chen, the earliest tangible evidence of knots as a decorative motif is on a small high-stemmed square pot from the Spring and Autumn period (770–476 BCE), which is now displayed in the Shanxi Museum.{{cite web|title=高柄小方壶 High stem small square pot|url=http://www.shanximuseum.com/detail_collection/358.html|access-date=13 July 2020|website=shanximuseum.com|archive-date=13 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200713123347/http://www.shanximuseum.com/detail_collection/358.html|url-status=live}}{{Rp|page=5}} However, archaeology research has found that the earliest decorative knot artifact in China can be traced back to 4000 years ago, when a three-row rattan knotting of a double coin knot was excavated from Liangzhu ruins.{{Cite journal |last1=Yu [于] |first1=Weidong [伟东] |last2=Guo [郭] |first2=Yishu [乙姝] |last3=Zhou [周] |first3=Sheng [胜] |date=2016 |title=Lun "jie" de gongju qiyuanshuo |script-title=zh:论"结"的工具起源说 |trans-title=On the origin of "knot" as tool |journal=Journal of Silk |volume=53 |issue=8 |pages=80 |doi=10.3969/j.issn.1001-7003.2016.08.013}}{{Cite web |title=You Hemudu Wenhua faduan |script-title=zh:由河姆渡文化发端 |url=https://kuaibao.qq.com/s/20180320B07GY100?refer=spider |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200715153640/https://kuaibao.qq.com/s/20180320B07GY100?refer=spider |archive-date=15 July 2020 |access-date=15 July 2020 |website=看点快报}}

Knots gradually evolved into a distinct decorative art in China, beginning with the use of ribbon knotting and decorative knots on clothing during the Spring and Autumn period. This is attested in the {{Transliteration|zh|Zuo Zhuan}}, where it is written that:{{Cite web |title=Chunqiu Zuo Zhuan ·Zhao Gong |script-title=zh:春秋左传·昭公 |trans-title=Spring and Autumn Zuo Zhuan·Zhao Gong |url=https://zh.m.wikisource.org/wiki/春秋左氏傳/昭公 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200716233749/https://zh.m.wikisource.org/wiki/%E6%98%A5%E7%A7%8B%E5%B7%A6%E6%B0%8F%E5%82%B3/%E6%98%AD%E5%85%AC |archive-date=16 July 2020 |access-date=14 July 2020 |website=Wikisource}}

{{Blockquote|text="The collar has an intersection, and the belt is tied as knots." [衣有襘．帶有結]}}

Chinese knotting was thus derived from the {{Transliteration|zh|Lào zi}} culture. The Chinese word Lào is an ancient Chinese term for knots, and it was customary to tie a knot at the waist with silk or cotton ribbon.

The Sui and Tang dynasties (581–906 CE) saw the first peak of the Lào zi culture when basic knots, such as the Swastika knot and the round brocade knot, became popular adornments on garments, both among the nobility and the commoners.{{Rp|page=12}} Knots were cherished not only as symbols and tools, but also as an essential part of everyday life to decorate and express thoughts and feelings.

File:Traditional chinese wedding.jpg holding the Concentric knot.]]

In the Tang and Song dynasty (960–1279 CE), the love-based knot became an important symbol, as evidenced in many of the poems, novels, and paintings of the era. In the memoir {{Transliteration|zh|Dongjing Meng Hua Lu}} ({{Lang-zh|c=東京夢華錄|labels=no}}) written by Meng Yuanlao, it is observed that in the traditional wedding custom, a Concentric knot needed to be held by the bride and groom.{{Cite web |last=Meng [孟] |first=Yuanlao [元老] |title=Qinding siku quanshu Dongjing Menhua Lu Juan wu |script-title=zh:欽定四庫全書 東亰夢華録巻五 |url=http://skqs.guoxuedashi.com/wen_838d/20438.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200717131351/http://skqs.guoxuedashi.com/wen_838d/20438.html |archive-date=17 July 2020 |access-date=17 July 2020 |website=guoxuedashi}} Other ancient poems used the Concentric knot to portray love, such as Luo Binwang's poem:{{Cite web |last=王 |first=駱賓 |title=帝京篇 |url=https://fanti.dugushici.com/ancient_proses/3795 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200717171729/https://fanti.dugushici.com/ancient_proses/3795 |archive-date=17 July 2020 |access-date=17 July 2020 |website=dugushici}}

{{Blockquote|text="Knot the ribbon as the Concentric knot, interlock the love as the clothes." [同心结缕带，连理织成衣].}}

It was also mentioned in a poem written by Huang Tingjian:

{{Blockquote|text="We had a time knotting together, loving as the ribbon tied." [曾共结，合欢罗带].}}

The most famous poem about the Love knot was written by Meng Jiao in {{Transliteration|zh|Jie Ai}} ({{Lang-zh|c=结爱|t=|labels=no}} – {{Lit|Bond of Love}}).{{Cite web |title=Poems of Meng Jiao |script-title=zh:孟郊诗 |url=https://tangshi.tuxfamily.org/mengjiao/mj026.html |access-date=2022-07-02 |website=tangshi.tuxfamily.org}}

The phenomenon of knot-tying continued to steadily evolve over thousands of years with the development of more sophisticated techniques and increasingly intricate woven patterns. During the Song and Yuan dynasties (960–1368), the Pan Chang knot, today's most recognizable Chinese knot, became popular. Much artwork evidence has also shown the knots as clothing decoration during the Ming dynasty (1368–1644); for instance, in Tang Yin's artwork, a knotting ribbon is clearly shown.

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During the Qing dynasty (1644–1911), Chinese knotting evolved from folklore to an acceptable art form in Chinese society. The Lào zi culture again became popular during the Qing dynasty. During that time, basic knots were widely used to embellish everyday objects such as {{Transliteration|zh|ruyi}}, sachets, purses, fan tassels, spectacle cases, and rosaries, and the single knot technique was extended into complicated knots.{{cite book |last1=Chen |first1=Lydia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cndzBgAAQBAJ&q=the+complete+book+of+chinese+knotting+Ruyi,+sachets,+wallets,+fan+tassels,+spectacle&pg=PA14 |title=The Complete Book of Chinese Knotting: A Compendium of Techniques and Variations |date=2007 |publisher=Tuttle Publishing |isbn=978-1-4629-1645-0 |pages=5–16|access-date=28 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200813021147/https://books.google.com/books?id=cndzBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA14&lpg=PA14&dq=the+complete+book+of+chinese+knotting+Ruyi,+sachets,+wallets,+fan+tassels,+spectacle |archive-date=13 August 2020 |url-status=live}}{{Rp|page=14}}

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According to the Chinese classical novel Dream of the Red Chamber, the Lào zi was developed and spread between the middle and upper nobility, who used Lào zi as a way to express love and luck between family members, lovers, and friends.{{Cite web |title=紅樓夢/第035回 |trans-title=Dream of the Red Chamber·Chapter 35 |url=https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E7%B4%85%E6%A8%93%E5%A4%A2/%E7%AC%AC035%E5%9B%9E |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200714152907/https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E7%B4%85%E6%A8%93%E5%A4%A2/%E7%AC%AC035%E5%9B%9E |archive-date=14 July 2020 |access-date=2020-07-14 |website=Wikisource}} It was also a form of honorable craftsmanship studied and created by maids in the Imperial Palace. As written in the {{Transliteration|zh|Gongnü Tan Wang lu}} ({{Lang-zh|c=宫女谈往录|t=|labels=no}}), when knotting, the maids of Ci Xi were able to quickly produce many different knots.{{cite book |last1=Jin |first1=Yi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CGW-AQAACAAJ |title=Gong nü tan wang lu |last2=Shen |first2=Yiling |publisher=Zi jin cheng chu ban she |year=1991 |isbn=978-7-80047-055-4 |edition=1st |page=29 |access-date=14 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200813010205/https://books.google.com/books?id=CGW-AQAACAAJ |archive-date=13 August 2020 |url-status=live}}{{Rp|page=29}}

There was little development of knotting during the Republic of China (1912–1949). Simpler knots were popular, for example the pan kou, which had been developed before the Qing dynasty,{{Cite journal |last1=Li [李] |first1=Keyou [科友[ |last2=Zhou [周] |first2=Diren [迪人] |last3=Yu [于] |first3=Shaoxian [少先] |date=1990 |title=Jiangxi de an nansong zhou shu mu qingli jianbao |script-title=zh:江西德安南宋周氏墓清理简报 |trans-title=Brief report on the cleanup of Zhou's tomb in South Song, De'an, Jiangxi |url=https://wenku.baidu.com/view/10deeb36ee06eff9aef8071c.html |url-status=live |journal=文物 |volume=9 |pages=1–13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200718094015/https://wenku.baidu.com/view/10deeb36ee06eff9aef8071c.html |archive-date=18 July 2020 |access-date=17 July 2020}} used knot button ornaments designed particularly for the cheongsam in this period.{{Cite book |last=Guo |first=Jing |url=https://www.atlantis-press.com/proceedings/icelaic-14/12576 |title=Aesthetic Characteristics of Shanghai Qipao in Chinese Women's Dress Culture |publisher=Atlantis Press |year=2014 |isbn=978-94-6252-013-4 |series=Proceedings of the International Conference on Education, Language, Art and Intercultural Communication |volume=3 |pages=510|chapter=Aesthetic Characteristics of Shanghai Qipao in Chinese Women s Dress Culture |doi=10.2991/icelaic-14.2014.128 |access-date=17 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200716150854/https://www.atlantis-press.com/proceedings/icelaic-14/12576 |archive-date=16 July 2020 |url-status=live}}

File:HK 尖沙咀 TST 人文藝術購物館 K11 MUSEA mall exhibition 褀袍 Qupao May 2020 SS2 06.jpg|211x211px]]

Knowledge and interest in Chinese knotting had declined considerably by the 1970s,{{Cite book |last1=Chang |first1=Zonglin |title=Zhongguo wen hua dao du |last2=Li |first2=Xukui |publisher=Tsinghua University Press |year=2006 |isbn=7-302-12632-1 |edition=1st |location=Beijing |script-title=zh:中国文化导读 |trans-title=Aspect of Chinese culture |oclc=77167477}}{{Rp|page=64}} when Lydia Chen helped bring about a renewal of interest in the art form through the Chinese Knotting Promotion Center.{{Cite web |title=Chinese Knotting |url=https://english.visitbeijing.com.cn/article/47OMfn7ZCMG |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=english.visitbeijing.com.cn}} Chinese knotting has since become a popular symbol and souvenir in festivals and commodity markets.{{Cite journal |last=Yang |first=Yuxin |title=Unveiling and Activating the "Uncertain Heritage" of Chinese Knotting |url=https://papers.iafor.org/submission41803/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200715204010/https://papers.iafor.org/submission41803/ |archive-date=15 July 2020 |access-date=14 July 2020 |journal=Issn: 2187-4751 the Asian Conference on Cultural Studies 2018: Official Conference Proceedings|date=9 April 2018 }}{{Rp|page=64}}

The use of {{Transliteration|zh|pan kou}} on clothing and knots as a folk craft remains alive in China.{{Cite book |last=Hua [华] |first=Mei [梅] |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/60568032 |title=Zhongguo fu shi |date=2004 |publisher=Wu zhou chuan bo chu ban she |isbn=7-5085-0540-9 |edition=1st |location=Beijing |trans-title=Chinese clothing |oclc=60568032}}{{Rp|page=98}}

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File:MAP Expo Armure Honkozane XVII 06 01 2012 2.jpgThe knot-tying tradition in Japan is called {{nihongo3|||hanamusubi}}, a term composed of the words {{nihongo3|||hana}}, meaning "flower", and {{nihongo3|||musubi}}, meaning "knot".{{Rp|page=16}}

The {{nihongo3|||hanamusubi}} is a legacy of the Tang dynasty of China, when a Japanese Emperor in the 7th century was so impressed by Chinese knots which were used to tie a gift from the Chinese that he started to encourage Japanese people to adopt the practice.{{Rp|page=16}}

Japanese knots are more austere, formal, simple, and structurally looser than the Chinese knots.{{Rp|page=16}} In function, Japanese knots are more decorative than functional.{{Rp|page=16}} With a greater emphasis on the braids that are used to create the knots, Japanese knotting tends to focus on individual knots.{{Clear}}

{{Main|Korean knots}}

In Korea, decorative knot work is known as {{transliteration|ko|maedeup}} ({{Korean|hangul=매듭|hanja=|rr=|mr=|labels=|links=|lit=}}), often referred as Korean knotwork or Korean knots in English.{{Rp|page=16}}

The Korean knotting techniques is believed to originate from China, from which Korean knots evolved into its own culture in terms of design, color, and incorporation of local characteristics.{{Rp|page=16}} The origins of {{transliteration|ko|maedeup}} date back to the Three Kingdoms of Korea in the first century CE. {{transliteration|ko|Maedeup}} articles were first used at religious ceremonies.{{Cite book |last=Van Rensburg |first=Elsabe Jansen |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/796904799 |title=Knot another! : a step-by-step guide to 50 Korean maedeup knots and projects (as taught to me by Ms. Kim Mi Hae) |date=2009 |publisher=Bleho Media |isbn=9786119020405 |location=Bangkok |oclc=796904799}}{{Page needed|date=July 2022}}

A wall painting from 357 CE found in Anak, Hwanghae Province, now in North Korea, indicates that silk was the primary medium at the time. Decorative cording was used on silk dresses, to ornament swords, to hang personal items from belts for the aristocracy, and in rituals, where it continues now in contemporary wedding ceremonies. Korean knotwork is differentiated from Korean embroidery. {{transliteration|ko|Maedeup}} is still a commonly practiced traditional art, especially among the older generations.

The most basic knot in {{transliteration|ko|maedeup}} is called the {{transliteration|ko|dorae}} (or the double connection knot). The {{transliteration|ko|dorae}} knot is used at the start and end of most knot projects. There are approximately 33 basic Korean knots which vary according to the region they come from.{{Page needed|date=July 2022}} The {{transliteration|ko|bongsul}} tassel is noteworthy as the most representative work familiar to Westerners, and often purchased as souvenirs for macramé-style wall-hangings.

• Chinese art
• Chinese folk art
• Chinese paper cutting
• Chinese paper folding
• Endless knot
• China: {{Transliteration|zh|Pan kou}}; {{Transliteration|zh|Lào zi}}
• Japan: Mizuhiki
• Korea: Norigae
• List of Japanese tea ceremony equipment#Shifuku
• Macrame

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