The Chinese Knot
China Today, November 9, 2016 Adjust font size:
Early Chinese tied knots to keep records.
In ancient literature, a knot is a metaphor for despondence and melancholy, usually of a languishing lover. Zhang Xian (990-1078) of the Song Dynasty (960-1279) wrote the famous lines still widely cited today: “Like heaven, which never ages, my love will never fade. Like a net of thousands of knots, my heart twitches and twists.”
The Chinese knot has a myriad of applications in everyday life in China, as conspicuous as wall decorations and as delicate as jewelry. One prominent example is the emblem of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Bid Committee, which depicts a person doing Tai Chi in one continuous line, running in the same way a Chinese knot is tied. During the 2014 APEC meeting in Beijing many variations of the Chinese knot graced the venue and the buttons and brooches on staff uniforms.
The renewed popularity of the Chinese knot in modern times attests to the timeless charisma of this ancient art, as well as that of traditional Chinese culture. The inherent bond with traditional aesthetics is like a seed in the heart of every Chinese person, which may burst into life and blossom at any time.
(Selected from Monthly Digest by Zhonghua Book Company)