Chinese Knot Pattern Guide (中国结图解)

The received texts put knot-records first. The Xici commentary to the Book of Changes says that in high antiquity people governed by knotted cords, and later sages replaced them with written tallies (上古結繩而治，後世聖人易之以書契). The same chapter has knotted cords made into nets for hunting and fishing.

Two of the basic knots are dated to Spring and Autumn ornaments. Taipei City's 2022 heritage registration says that of the 13 basic knots, the double coin and the flat knot appear on bronze and jade ornaments of the late Spring and Autumn period, nearly 2,500 years ago, and that the swastika knot (萬字結) can be seen on the sash of a Northern Zhou bodhisattva at the Maijishan grottoes.

The Endless Knot is one of the Eight Auspicious Symbols. The Palace Museum, Beijing, glosses the 盘肠 pattern as 回环贯彻，一切通明, "looping round and running through, everything made clear" (our translation), and says it was very widely used in the Qing. This tool grades it ★★★.

Most surviving knots are Qing, says Taipei City's heritage registration. In its words, most knotted objects that survive today are Qing-dynasty pieces. In the Qing a button knot of red velvet cord, the 紅絨結頂, topped the emperor's everyday hat and the princes' festive hat.

Thirteen knots in a 1976 magazine. Taiwan's heritage records say Echo (漢聲) sought out older people who remembered knotting in 1974–75 and settled on 13 basic knots, published with diagrams in its English-language magazine in 1976. Taipei City's registration says that article set off a new wave of people learning knotting in Taiwan.

Seven printings in 1981. Chen Hsia-sheng and Echo's book 《中國結》 came out in 1981 and was printed seven times before the year ended. Taipei City's Department of Cultural Affairs calls it the first book to explain traditional decorative knotting techniques, and says it made 中國結 the common name for traditional knots.

The Button Knot was one of the first two Chen Hsia-sheng learned. In 1971 王振楷, an old technician at the National Palace Museum in Taipei, taught her to tie knots, and she learned two traditional ones: the button knot and the good luck knot (Taipei City Department of Cultural Affairs).

Registered in Changhua (2013) and Taipei (2022). Taiwan's National Cultural Heritage Database lists 中國結 as a Changhua County traditional craft from 9 Oct 2013 and 繩結 as a Taipei City traditional craft from 18 Jan 2022. On the mainland we found Tancheng County's knot-weaving on Shandong's fifth provincial list (鲁政字〔2021〕197号), and no knotting item on the national list.

At the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics closing ceremony, a Chinese knot was woven into the giant snowflake as a sign of good wishes and unity, putting the old symbol on the international stage (Xinhua, 20 Feb 2022).

Some old "knots" are carved, not tied. The National Palace Museum in Taipei holds a jade ornament in the shape of a knot (玉如意結飾, Ming to Qing, 10.5 cm long). The Palace Museum in Beijing holds a Qing earring of gilt copper (铜镀金), despite the 金 in its name, whose half-ring ends in a double-layer 盘肠 knot.