Where did the Chinese knot come from? Who was the first to compile it?

The Chinese knot, the sentiment and wisdom shown on it is one of the sides of the ancient Chinese civilization. It is from the Paleolithic era of sewing knotting, extended to the Han Dynasty rituals and records, and then evolved into today's decorative crafts. Zhou Dynasty people wear jade often decorated with Chinese knots, and the Warring States period bronze also have Chinese knot patterns, continued to the Qing Dynasty Chinese knot really become a popular art, contemporary mostly used for interior decorations, gifts between friends and relatives and personal accessories. Because of its symmetrical and delicate appearance, can represent the long history of the Chinese nation, in line with the traditional Chinese decorative customs and aesthetic concepts, it is named the origin of the Chinese situation Chinese knot, it shows the sentiment and wisdom is precisely the ancient Chinese civilization of a cultural knowledge; is a metaphor for the reproduction of mankind from generation to generation; but also the mathematical mystery of the game presented.　It has complex and delicate curves, but can be reduced to the simplest two-dimensional lines. It has an ethereal and elegant flavor, and comes from the basic tools of human life in the beginning of time.

1, knotted rope to remember things

People often discuss the knotted rope to remember things, in fact, "knot" in the history of human development has had another important role. According to the "Yi - Department of Rhetoric", "the ancient knot rope and rule, the sages in later generations to the Shu Muqi." Zheng Xuan of the Eastern Han Dynasty said in his "Notes on the Zhou Yi", "The knotting of a rope is a record, and when things are big, big knots its rope, and when things are small, small knots its rope." It can be seen in the ancient Chinese land, "knot" was given by the ancestors of the "deed" and "about" the legal ideological function, but also the role of recording historical events. "The knot is therefore highly respected by the people.

Thousands of years have passed since the beginning of time, and human beings have experienced the baptism of knots and oracle bones, pens and paper, lead and fire, light and electricity. Now, in the square inch of the laptop, touch the keyboard, the history of the next five thousand years can be in front of you. A small colored rope has long since ceased to be a tool for people to remember things, but when it is tied into a variety of knots, it resurrects an ancient and beautiful legend.

2, there are a thousand knots

Song Dynasty lyricist Zhang Xian wrote "heart like a double silk net, there are a thousand knots". It describes the state of a girl's heart after a breakup, when she misses the old man and her mind is entangled. In classical literature, "knot" has always symbolized the entanglement of young men and women, human emotions are so colorful, "knot" is so varied.

"Knot" has been endowed with a variety of emotional desires by sentimental people in the long process of evolution. To knot meaning, in the Chinese language, many of the important things with centripetal polymerization almost all use the word "knot" as a metaphor, such as: the knot righteousness, association, worship, alliance, unity, etc. The marriage between a man and a woman is a big deal. And the marriage between men and women, are also "knot" expression, such as: marriage, hair, marriage, union and so on. Knot is the beginning of things, there is a beginning, there is an end, so there is a "result", "end", "end". "Concentric knot" since ancient times has become a token of love between men and women to express the oath of eternal love, and "embroidered belt with a happy knot, brocade clothes Lianliwen", knot decoration has been recognized by the folk is up to the emotion of the fixed love thing. And the "married couple" also originated in the ancient cave night, men and women each take a handful of long hair knot to swear eternal love behavior, a poem "cross silk knot dragon and phoenix, openwork color knot clouds, an inch of concentric strands, a hundred years of long-life flowers," is a vivid depiction.

3, the dress of the knot

Let's look at the five thousand years of history of Chinese dress. From the pioneers to civilian knots coiled into an "S" shape decorated in the waist, after the Zhou "ribbon", the North and South Dynasties, "the waist of the double belt, dreaming of concentric knots," to the Shengtang "Ribbons" in the Zhou Dynasty, "double silk belts at the waist, dreaming of concentric knots" in the North and South Dynasties, "silk ribbons" in the Sheng Tang Dynasty, "jade ring ribbons" in the Song Dynasty, and "disk buttons" on the cheongsam in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, as well as heirloom purses (scented sachets), jade pendants, fan pendants, hairpins, etc., have shown that The "knot" in the traditional Chinese dress has been applied for a long time, including a wide range.

4. Auspicious "sound knots"

The Chinese knots, like other Chinese arts, make use of forms and harmonies to take their meanings, for example, "auspicious knots", "warm knots", "fish knots", "fish knots", "fish knots", "fish knots", "fish knots", "fish knots", "fish knots", "fish knots", "fish knots", and so on. "and "Fish Knot" combine to become the knot jewelry of "Auspicious Celebration", "Bat Knot" plus "Money Knot The "Bat Knot" and the "Money Knot" can be combined to form the "Blessings Before Your Eyes" and so on. By analogy, it also extends "long life and well-being", "wealth and abundance", "reunion", "happiness and good fortune", "happiness and good fortune", "happiness and good fortune", "happiness and good fortune", "happiness and good fortune", "happiness and good fortune", "happiness and good fortune", "happiness and good fortune". ", "happy and auspicious", "happy and joyful" and other connotations of blessings, is used as a symbol of folk prayers, and has become an auspicious ornament passed down from generation to generation.

5, the knot of the gods

Chinese knot there is a class is considered to be through the spirit of the gods of the law, can be achieved to ward off evil spirits, suppressing the evil and good luck, but the yin to protect the efficacy of yang, such as the "auspicious knot", "disk long knot" and so on, this kind of "knot" as the "knot" as the folk blessing symbols of prayer, has become a symbol of good luck passed down from generation to generation. As a talisman cohesive with mysterious religious concepts, the "knot" has been widely used in folklore and has formed a certain inheritance mechanism. This is probably one of the reasons why the "knot" culture is still alive and well.

Historical evolution Chinese knots are as easily recognized by foreigners as Chinese paintings, calligraphy, carvings, ceramics, and cuisine, which shows the representativeness of Chinese knots to the Chinese nation.

Chinese knotting is a unique folk art of hand-knitting in China, which fully reflects the wisdom of the Chinese people and its deep cultural heritage with its unique oriental charm and colorful variations. In the process of Beijing's bid to host the Olympic Games, the Chinese knot, as a symbol of traditional Chinese culture, was loved by friends from all over the world.

Chinese people learned to tie knots quite a long time ago. One of the main reasons why knots are so important is also because they are a very practical technique. This can be seen in a number of historical sources and traditional customs: the earliest record

Bone needles were found as early as the end of the Paleolithic period, in the remains of the Zhoukoudian caveman culture. Since there were needles, there must have been thread, so it is inferred that simple knotting and sewing techniques were already in place at that time.

1, the predecessor of writing

Yi system of rhetoric: "the ancient knotted rope to remember things, and the sages of the later generations to the book of deeds", and Zheng Xuan Zhouyi and the note that; "big things big knotted its rope, small things small knotted its rope," and the symbols of the numbers on the Bronze State of the Warring States are still left on the shape of the knotted rope, from the point of view of these historical data, the knots were indeed used as aids to memory, which can be said to be a predecessor to the written word. The knot has been used as an aid to memorization, and can be considered the precursor of writing.

2. Wearing habits

1) Clothing

The earliest clothing did not have the buttons, pulls, and other accessories that we have today, so if you wanted to tie your clothes securely, you could only do so with the help of knots in the sash.

2) Jade

The Chinese have always had the habit of wearing jade, and the jade pendants of the past dynasties were in the form of jade juan, jade long, jade □, etc. On them were drilled with small circles. There are small round holes drilled in them to facilitate the passage of jade cords, which are tied to the clothes. In addition, there is a complete set of jade pendant, is a combination of several different kinds of jade pendant into a long string, and its method of linking is of course not rely on the string knot not.

3)Application

Indian button and mirror button

Ancient people had the habit of hanging the seal supervisor on their bodies, and the Han seals that have been handed down to us are all equipped with seal buttons. And ancient bronze mirror back center cast mirror buttons, can tie the rope in order to hold. It is not difficult to see from these two places, the knot in ancient Chinese life is widely used.

Concentric Knot

Ancient people liked to express their love for each other by braiding brocade ribbons into a series of iambic pentameter knots, which were beautifully called concentric knots. In the poem of Emperor Wu of the Liang Dynasty, there is a poem that reads: "The two beautiful belts around the waist, dreaming of the same heart knot", and in the music of the Tang Dynasty, there is still the name of the phrase "the same heart knot".

4) Women's decorations

The scroll of "The Lady's Guide" painted by Gu Kaizhi, a great painter of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, reflects the social situation at that time quite realistically, and we can understand one of the spots of women's decorations at that time from the painting. For example, on the belts of the women in the painting, there are simple bows with a single wing as a practical decoration. In addition, in the mural paintings of the tomb of Princess Yongtai in the Tang Dynasty, the knot on the waistband of one of the ladies was already what we now call a bow. By the Qing Dynasty, knots were already regarded as an art, with many styles and ingenious patterns. At that time, the use of knots as decorations was quite extensive, and there were often beautiful decorative knots underneath the small and large items in daily life, such as palanquins, curtains, tent hooks, shoulder pendants, flutes, incense pouches, hairpins, necklaces, eyeglass pouches, and tobacco pouches, which were often woven with auspicious meanings.

3. The modern era: the art of knotting

The modern era: the art of knotting

4, the present Chinese knot art

Since the Republic of China, due to the Western concepts such as science and technology imported in large quantities, so that the original social form and way of life in China has produced significant changes, coupled with many inherent cultural heritage has not been preserved and promoted, so that many of the practical value of the production of time-consuming and laborious traditional culture and technology will be gradually declining, and even in the continuous transformation of modernization of society. As a result, many traditional cultural and technical skills with little practical value and time-consuming production have gradually declined or even disappeared in a society that is constantly changing towards modernization. One of the best examples is the traditional Chinese art of knotting. Another reason for the decline of the art of knotting is that the material it uses, whether it is made of animal fibers or plants rolled into a rope, are subject to the innate conditions of the limitations of the end can not withstand the years of physical and chemical erosion, and can not be handed down to future generations for a long time, and now can be found attached to the artifacts on the knots, the oldest is only a relic of the Qing Dynasty.