中國結 / Chinese Flower Knot

“Knot” in Chinese has the meaning of “warm”, ”love” and other good meanings. Therefore the Chinese knot can be used to express good wish such as prosper, love, good luck no evil and so on. It can be traced back to the ancient times when people use the knots to record the data, and then developed to be a kind of decoration in Tang and Song dynasty and in Ming and Qing dynasty.

During the late 19th century and early 20th century, fanciful knots made of silk cords decorated tobacco pouches, eyeglasses cases, sachets and other items. The knots, whether simple or intricate, would decorate other works of art. With the arrival of mass production, the knot works along with other handmade crafts lost its value and nearly disappeared as an art form.

Chinese knotting is decorative in nature even when making useful objects like buttons or curtain tie-backs. Tracing the evolution of this art form is difficult because little, if any, written reports exist on this subject. Figures of knotting objects appear in painting and sculpture that date back to ancient times.