Page 105 - J. C. Turner - History and Science of Knots

94 History and Science of Knots

The development and application of knotwork in China may best be viewed
from the following two perspectives:
1. Knotwork as Symbolic Icon in Art
Rich in symbolic content, the Shuang-ch'ien Chieh (Double Coin Knot) is the
knot that has the longest application history, insofar as our knowledge goes.
The earliest artifact upon which the Shuang-ch'ien design can be found is a
piece from the Warring States era (403-221 B.C.).

Fig. 3. Intertwining of Four Dragons
Yet, in those days this design was simply a decorative pattern, and it was not
related in any way to the knot itself [14]. The emergence of the Shuang-ch'ien
motif in the form of a knot is believed to be in the Han Dynasty (202 B.C. to
A.D. 220), as many stone sculptures and brick inscriptions from the 1st century
show the intertwining of either the tails of two dragons or the bottom halves
of the semi-human, semi-bestial deities Fu-hsi and Nu-wa (Fig. 1) [4]. Fu-hsi
was the god who `tied knots in rope to make nets in order to hunt and farm'
[6], and Nu-wa, as noted earlier, was the creator of humanity.
As soon as the goddess had established the system of marriage and was
depicted joined to Fu-hsi, she was clearly his wife. It is in this connection that
the author believes the Shuang-ch'ien Chieh is in fact the T'ung-hsin Chieh
(True lover's knot) to which ancient Chinese poets had referred in their works.
On the other hand, while the dragon is the earliest mythological beast in China,