Information on Chinese knots

the history of Chinese knots

China people learned to tie knots quite a long time ago. Moreover, "knot" has always played an important role in people's lives in China. One of the main reasons why knot is so important is that it is a very practical technology. This can be seen from many historical materials and traditional customs: the earliest record was as early as the end of the Paleolithic period, that is, the remains of the cave people's culture in Zhoukoudian, and the existence of "bone needles" was found. Since there is a needle, there must be a rope at that time, so it is inferred that the simple knotting and sewing technology should have taken shape at that time. The predecessor of the written language, The Book of Changes, contains the following words: "In ancient times, it was recorded by knotting a rope, and later saints used it to write a book", which was also noted with Zheng Xuan Zhouyi; As the saying goes, major events are tied with their ropes, while minor events are summed up with their ropes. However, the figures and symbols seen on bronze wares in the Warring States period still have the shape of knots. Judging from these historical data, knots have indeed been used as an auxiliary memory tool, which can also be said to be the predecessor of characters.

Habitual clothes to wear

The earliest clothes didn't have today's buttons, zippers and other accessories, so if you want to fasten your clothes, you can only use the method of tying the belt.

Jade matching

People in China have always had the habit of wearing jade. In the past dynasties, Yu Pei was shaped like Jade Huang, Jade Long, Jade□, etc., and small round holes were drilled in it, so that it was convenient to pass through the string and tie these Yu Pei on the clothes. In addition, there is a complete set of Yu Pei, which is composed of several different Yu Pei in a long string in Langlang, Linlin, and its connection method is of course not by tying a rope. The ancients had the habit of hanging the seal and supervision department on their bodies, compared with the Chinese seal handed down, all of them had seal buttons. In ancient bronze mirrors, mirror buttons were cast in the center of the back, which could be tied for hand-holding. From these two places, it is not difficult to see that rope knots were widely used in China's ancient life. Concentric knot

The ancients liked to weave ribbons into a series of palindrome knots to express their love, and named them concentric knots. In Liang Wudi's poems, there is a saying: "The waist is double and the dream is concentric knot", while in the music of Jiaofang in the Tang Dynasty, there is also the epigraph "concentric knot".

Women's Decoration The scroll of "Women's History Prose" painted by Gu Kaizhi, a great painter in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, quite truly reflects the social appearance at that time, and we can learn one thing about women's decoration at that time from the painting. For example, on the belt of a lady in the painting, a simple bow with a single wing is found as a practical ornament. In addition, in the murals of Princess Yongtai's tomb in the Tang Dynasty, there is a knot on the belt of a lady, which is what we now call a bow. By the Qing Dynasty, knots had been regarded as an art, with many styles and ingenious patterns. At that time, knots were widely used as decorations. In daily life, large and small items such as sedan chairs, curtains, curtains, shoulder pendants, flutes, sachets, hairpins, necklaces, glasses bags and cigarette bags were often decorated with beautiful knots, which often had auspicious meanings in modern times. In Cao Xueqin's thirty-fifth story "White jade tastes lotus leaf soup, Huang Jinying skillfully ties plum blossoms" in the Red Chamber, there is a dialogue that describes Baoyu and Yinger talking about knitting collaterals (collaterals are one of the applications of knots), which explains the purpose of knots at that time, the deployment of ornaments and knots, and the style and name of knots. Knots were very useful at that time, for example, the blessings given by relatives and friends, and each piece was decorated with intricate and varied knots and tassels. Beautiful decorative knots are also woven on the daily articles such as sedan chairs, window blinds, curtain hooks, fan pendants, flutes and flutes, sachets, hairpins, lockets, glasses bags, cigarette bags, wind town under the hanging shaft of calligraphy and painting, and sometimes these knots have auspicious meanings. Today's Chinese knot art

Since the Republic of China, due to the massive import of western concepts such as science and technology, China's original social form and lifestyle have undergone major changes. In addition, many inherent cultural heritages have not been well preserved and spread, resulting in low practical value, and the traditional culture and skills that are time-consuming and laborious to make have gradually declined, and even disappeared in the society that is constantly changing towards modernization. China's traditional knitting technique is a best example. Another reason for the decline of knitting art is that the materials it uses, whether it is rope made of animal fibers or plants, are all limited by innate conditions, and can't withstand all kinds of physical and chemical erosion over the years, so it can't be passed down to later generations for a long time. The oldest knots attached to utensils can only be found in the Qing Dynasty.

Long-standing Chinese Knots

Seventy thousand to one hundred thousand years ago, at the end of the Paleolithic Age, cavemen at that time already knew how to sew up skins and put them on their bodies to protect them from the cold. That is to say, cavemen already knew how to tie ropes together and tie knots, and since then, various knots have gradually developed. In China's early literature, knots were recorded, such as the Book of Changes: "Knotting knots in ancient times was recorded, and later sages also signed them with books. "Han Zheng Xuan Zhouyi Note:" Major events are bound by their ropes, while minor events are bound by their ropes.

Chinese knots were made by sewing clothes in the Paleolithic age, extended to the ritual records of the Han Dynasty, and then evolved into today's decorative techniques. The jade worn by people in the Zhou Dynasty was often decorated with China knots, while the bronze wares in the Warring States period also had patterns of Chinese knots. It was not until the Qing Dynasty that Chinese knots really spread in folk art, and they were mostly used for interior decoration, gifts between relatives and friends and personal accessories. In 69 (198) of the Republic of China, a group of friends in Taiwan Province who loved the art of knotting were widely collected and studied. Because of its symmetrical and exquisite appearance, it can represent the long history of the Chinese nation and conform to the customs and aesthetic concepts of traditional decoration in China, so it was named Chinese knot.

Chinese knots have to go through the process of knitting, drawing and repairing. The knitting method of various knots is fixed, but drawing can determine the tightness of knots, the length of ears and wings, and the smoothness and neatness of lines, which can fully show the artistic skills and cultivation of editors. Repair is the final modification of the knot, such as beading and sizing. Because the knot ornaments are varied and elegant, besides cotton, linen, silk, nylon and leather thread, there are also metal wires such as gold and silver that can be matched, which further enhances the function and application scope of Chinese knot ornaments. Whether it is the beautification of all kinds of jewelry, clothing accessories and gift packaging, or the decoration of all kinds of indoor furnishings, Chinese knots can be used to add beauty.

Chinese knots are not only beautifully shaped and colorful, but also the names of the works, such as "Double Birthday", "Double Happiness", "Prosperity in the Forest", "yue longmen of Carp", "Blessing both life and happiness", "Good luck" and "Fang Sheng Ping An", etc., all have special symbols of good luck and happiness for the Chinese nation.

At present, there are more than ten basic knots in China, and their names are named according to their shapes, uses, or original origins and meanings. For example, 1. Double Money Knot: It is shaped like two ancient copper coins in China, so it is named. 2. Button knot: commonly used to fasten clothes, named for its function. 3. Oxalis Knot: Its three outer ears are like the leaves of Oxalis, hence the name. 4. Tuanjin knot: It looks like a flower, hence the name. 5. Cross knot: There are two sides of the knot, one is the mouth and the other is the cross, which is called the cross knot. 6. Auspicious knot: the knot is beautiful, hence the name. 7. Swastika: The lines of the knot are like the symbol of Buddhism, hence the name. 4. Long knot: The basic shape is like the length of one of the eight treasures of Buddhism, which symbolizes the implementation of the circle, is the origin of all things, is one of the most important basic knots, and is often the main knot of many varied knots. Because Chinese knots have the characteristics of close symmetry, they are easily loved by ordinary people in sense and vision.

Like China's paintings, sculptures, ceramics and dishes, Chinese knots are easily recognized by foreigners, which shows that China is representative of the Chinese nation. After studying these five teaching activities, students can easily make up their own ideas, beautify their lives, experience the essence of China knots, and strengthen their national consciousness.