Page 98 - Lydia Chen - The Complete Book of Chinese Knotting

06 Good Luck Knot (81–114) 3/24/07 9:01 AM Page 95

Buddha Knot

The Buddha knot is a primitive religious symbol or ornament in the shape of a
Greek cross, usually with the ends of the arms bent at right angles in either a clock-
wise or anticlockwise direction. In Chinese Buddhist symbolism, the arms of the
symbol are bent anticlockwise. The Buddha knot represents the Buddha’s heart and
has come to stand for the accumulation of good fortune and complete virtue, a
symbol of Buddhahood and of the Buddha himself.

Modified Knots

The Buddha knot is made by hooking up two flat knots and pulling them tightly out-
wards from the center. A simple knot is tied and then another, with the second knot
hooking through the loop of the first. The cord between the simple knots becomes the
top loop as each of the linked loops is drawn through the center of its opposite knot.
When the knot is pulled tight, first horizontally and then vertically, the cross-like
shape will appear naturally. Because it is a very simple knot, even when the left and
right flat knots are interchanged and/or the loops are pulled to different lengths, there
is very little difference in the appearance of the knot.

Modified Knot Bodies
The weave direction and tightening method of the flat knot can produce different
knots, such as the strap knot and the loopless Buddha knot shown below, although
these do not vary a great deal from the basic Buddha knot.

Strap knot (see page 96). Loopless Buddha knot (see page 97).

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The Complete Book Of Chinese Knotting
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