In those days, decorative knots were tied to wind chimes, palace lanterns, eyeglass cases, fan tassels, hair pins, and a multitude of other objects. They were in effect decorations of decorations, lending elegance and a subtle flavor to objects that would otherwise seem commonplace. The Chinese pursued this ornamentation as a serious art form, and devoted prodigious amounts of time and energy to the perfection of new and more intricate knots. What remains of their work is not only a marvel of technical ingenuity — it is the result of a people’s creative spirit searching for aesthetic expression.
To study the design of Chinese knots is to enter the world of Chinese folk symbols of good fortune. In the pages ahead, you will encounter designs fashioned after symbols of longevity, happiness, Buddhist treasures, prosperity, and the commonality of all being, to name just a few.
On a more personal level, it is impossible to look at one of the old knots without wondering about the life of the knotter. How many hopes and dreams worked their way into the interlaced loops and twists as the single strand of cord wound its way into a complete, perfect figure? The knots are almost a study of life itself.
In China, knotting was not only a fine art, but also a form of communication whereby people could express blessings, best wishes, and amorous sentiments.
Delicately knotted waist cords and sashes adorn these Tang Dynasty statues.
Knotwork decorating the handle of a Ching era jade scepter.
From the bone needles of a hundred thousand years ago to the paintings and statues from imperial China showing traditional flowing robes held shut with knotted sashes, it is clear that knots have long been an integral part of Chinese daily life. Unfortunately, the only complete knotting specimens that survive intact are less than a century old, from an era when knots were used to ornament other works of art — their beauty often unnoticed as they were merely meant to enhance the objects they adorned.
Clockwise from above: decorative knots adorning a woman’s sachet; knotting attached to a bed canopy; a grand ensemble from a Ching woman’s trousseau; and an eyeglass case with ornamental knotting from the Ching Dynasty.
During the late Ching Dynasty and the early Republican period, exquisite knots made of the finest silk cords graced tobacco pouches, eyeglass cases, sachets, and a host of other everyday items, adding a touch of gaiety and enchantment to a way of life which emphasized propriety and sobriety.
The human hand is a miraculous organ, and one would be hard pressed to find better proof of this than in the craftsmanship and ingenuity of Chinese decorative knotting. With nothing more than a simple piece of cord and two sensitive hands, generations of Chinese women have created unsung masterpieces of aesthetic expression.
Knotwork by Cecilia Chen.
Handmade decorations create a special aura of individuality however they are used. Chinese knots can lend a bit of Oriental delicacy to flutes, paintings, lamps, fans, seals, even the latest fashions — subtly enhancing the appeal of anything they grace.
Modeled by Shen Man-kuang.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR TYING THESE KNOTS ARE ON PAGES 98-99
INSTRUCTIONS FOR TYING THESE KNOTS ARE ON PAGES 114-115
Chinese knots are much more than mere eye-catchers; many are ripe with symbolic connotations. Borrowing from a rich trove of traditional decorative motifs, the knots can express wishes for good fortune and wealth, the joys of matrimony, and even the loftiest of religious ideals.
Decorative and imaginative clothes fasteners.
ORIGIN & HISTORY
The evolution of Chinese knotting has followed a long and elusive trail that leads back to the silence of remotest antiquity. Chinese culture and the numerous folk arts that thrive in this milieu reach to the dawn of recorded history and beyond. Here, in the valley of the Yellow River, was a cradle of civilization that gave birth to beliefs, customs, and traditions that survive to this day. Folk art, including decorative knotting, is no exception.
Unfortunately, Chinese knotting, ancient as it may be, was never the subject of scholarly treatises. Instead, it remained in the background, a marginal art that was often overlooked. All we have in our hands today are fine examples of knotting from the late Ching and early Republican periods, creations of our grandparents and their parents. The complexity of these knots and the ingenuity of their designs bespeak the culmination of a long, unbroken artistic tradition. Secondhand traces of this ancient folk tradition appear here and there, and the inferences drawn from these tantalizing bits of evidence suggest that the origin of Chinese knotting predates even the possibility of written record.
100,000-year-old bone needles and pierced objects unearthed at Choukoutien.
Bodkins used by men of the Chou Dynasty to untie knots.
The first hint of the earliest Chinese knots dates back to the late paleolithic age, seventy to a hundred thousand years ago. Artifacts found from that era in a cave at Choukoutien include several awl-shaped instruments with holes in one end. Archaeologists maintain that they were used for sewing, implying that thread and some rudimentary form of knotting must have existed at that time.
Tenuous as this remote and humble beginning may be, there is no doubt that later inhabitants of the Yellow River basin had need of highly developed knotting techniques. In a commentary on the trigrams of the Book of Changes, we discover that “in prehistoric times, events were recorded by tying knots; in later ages, books were used for this.” In the second century A.D., the Han scholar Cheng Hsuan expanded on this passage to say that great events were recorded with large knots, and smaller knots signified events of lesser importance. Of course, no samples from prehistory exist.
The only indigenous evidence of this practice consists of simple pictorial representations of the symbolic