Page 14 - Lydia Chen - The Complete Book of Chinese Knotting

01 Chinese Knts inA nct (09-16) rp08 5/30/08 5:58 PM Page 11

The Poetic Use of Chinese Knots

According to the Ci Hai dictionary, a knot is the hook-up of two cords, and hence
the knot has always been euphemized as the love between a man and a woman.
The famous Tang Dynasty poet Meng Jiao wrote in his poem “Knotting Love”:
One knot after another
Knotting true and deep love
Upon my love’s departure
I make a thousand knots on his sleeve
I swear to wait faithfully
Hope these knots will prompt him to come home early
But what’s the use of tying knots on his garment?
It is better to knot our hearts together
We knot our hearts in whatever we do
We knot our hearts for eternity
The love knot has always been synonymous with true love. The Ci Hai goes on
to explain that “In ancient times, gold cords were intertwined countless times to
signify true love, and thus were appropriately euphemized as the love knot.”
Among Chinese knots, the double coin knot most resembles the love knot,
another reason for us to extrapolate that the love knot mentioned in ancient
poems is actually today’s double coin knot. Indeed, the love knot is the earliest
knot mentioned in ancient poems, such as “Yu So Si” by Emperor Liangwu of the
Rubbings of stone carvings from an ancient
Southern Dynasty, “Dao Yi” by one of China’s most renowned poets, Li Bai, tomb in Changsan, Shandong Province, show-
ing multiple double coin knots in the shape
“Willow” by Liu Yu Xi, “Farewell Song” by Wang Jian, “Spring in Wulin” by Ou
of intertwined dragons, Six Dynasties Period
Yang Siu and “To the Pipa Girl” by Li Qun Yu. In each case, the poet revealed his (CE 265–589).
love with the love knot. In Meng Liang, Wu Zhimu wrote that in ancient mar-
riages, the red cloth covering the bride’s face was graced with a double love knot,
as were the bride and bridegroom’s wine cups, which were quickly drained and
turned upside down under the bed for good luck.
Besides the love knot, there is the happy together knot mentioned in Emperor
Liangwu’s poem “The Autumn Song.” We do not know what the happy together
knot looks like. However, the History of the Liao
Kingdom mentions that every year, on May 5th,
the Liao people tied cords of five different colors
on their arms and called this the happy together
knot. Given that the Han and Liao used their
knots for different purposes, the two happy
together knots may be altogether different.
There is a third knot that is quite similar to the
love knot, the pair knot. In his poem “Jie Yang
Chang,” Jie Xi Si of the Yuan Dynasty mentioned
the pair knot. Also, Li Bai, in his poem “Dai Zheng
Yuen,”talked about another knot which he euphe-
mized as the huiwen knot. It is likely that this hui-
wen knot is actually the love knot, a case of a sin-
Detail of a painting, Five Dynasties Period Detail of a painting,“Li Gao Listening to
gle entity with two names.
(CE 907–960). Ruan,”Song Dynasty (CE 960–1279).

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