The Complete Book of Chinese Knotting. Lydia Chen

Чтение книги онлайн.

Читать онлайн книгу The Complete Book of Chinese Knotting - Lydia Chen страница 5

Автор:
Серия:
Издательство:
The Complete Book of Chinese Knotting - Lydia Chen

Скачать книгу

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 euphemized as the huiwen knot. It is likely that this huiwen knot is actually the love knot, a case of a single entity with two names.

Image

      Rubbings of stone carvings from an ancient tomb in Changsan, Shandong Province, showing multiple double coin knots in the shape of intertwined dragons, Six Dynasties Period (CE 265–589).

Image

      Detail of a painting, Five Dynasties Period (CE 907–960).

Image

      Detail of a painting,“Li Gao Listening to Ruan,” Song Dynasty (CE 960–1279).

      Knots in Everyday Life

      Through China’s long history, knotting gradually developed into a distinctive decorative art, generating countless fashion, household and ritual items used in royal temples, palaces and in the homes of common folk, and also to make a special occasion even more wonderful. Knots were cherished not only as symbols, but also as an essential part of everyday life, and were used to decorate lanterns, musical instruments, fans, dresses, chopsticks, sachets and many other items.

      Prior to the Han Dynasty (206 BCE–CE 220), Chinese knots, though limited to the double coin knot and its derivative, the button knot, commonly graced the jade and copper ornaments (page 12) as well as mirrors (page 14) and seals. Long strings of jade secured with knots on an Eastern Zhou Period (770–256 BCE) wooden figure from the Chu tomb, Xinyang, Henan Province (page 14) testify to an even earlier decorative knot-making tradition in China.

      The decorative function of Chinese knots became more pronounced in the Six Dynasties Period (CE 265–589), as seen in the pillar depicting three consecutive double coin knots and a compound double coin knot comprising four interlocking dragons in the Southern Dynasty tomb in Changsan, Shandong (page 11).

      Chinese knotting peaked during the Sui and Tang dynasties (581–906), when numerous basic knots – sauvastika, cross, round brocade and tassel – and one that looks like a cloverleaf with two outer loops – were used to adorn palace objects. In the ensuing Song Dynasty (960–1279), these single knots were replaced by multiple knots. The true cloverleaf knot also appeared. Though none of the present day knots appeared in the late Song-early Yuan dynasties, this period had one very unique decorative knot which we do not yet know how to tie. We do not see a lot of knots adorning everyday objects in the Ming Dynasty (1369-1644), except for the pan chang, an early example being the strand of pan chang knots on the screens behind imperial portraits (page 6).

      The Qing Dynasty (1644–1911) witnessed a second peak in the use of knots. During this time, all present day basic knots became widely used. We can even see some outer loops being extended into complicated knots.

Image

      Buddhist statue, Western Wei Dynasty (CE 535– 556), from cave 102, Maiji Caves, Tianshui, Gansu Province.

Image

      Copper ornament, Han Dynasty 206 BCE–CE 220).

Image

      Right: Stone carving entitled “The Empress’s Devotee,” Northern Wei Dynasty (CE 386–534), in Bingyang Cave, Longmen Grottoes, Luoyang, Henan Province.

Image

      Far right: Portrait entitled “Seated Folks,” Southern Song Dynasty (CE 1127–1279). Photo courtesy Palace Museum, Taipei.

      Clothing

      Long robes with flowing sleeves, the traditional garb of both men and women in ancient China, had to be fastened at the waist with knotted sashes. Simple examples exist in paintings (pages 11 and 12). Gentlemen of the Zhou Dynasty (c. 1050–256 BCE) would carry a special device, a xi (page 9), tied to their waist sashes for untying knots. They were also fond of wearing elaborate belt ornaments hung from their sashes, composed of several small pieces of delicately carved jade with cord eyelets strung together with intricate knotwork.

      Tang sculpture has preserved the designs of a handful of knots, some quite complex, that have survived to the present day. The prototype of the good luck knot (with only one layer of overlapped ear loops) can be seen in a hanging tassel on a statue of the Goddess of Mercy, Kuan Yin, dated to the Northern Zhou Period (page 3). Subsequently, the Buddha knot, which Buddhists hold as a symbol of all good fortune, was spotted hanging from the waist of another statue of Kuan Yin, dated from the Sui Dynasty, now in the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City (page 4). The double connection knot was first discovered decorating the back of a sash on a Tang terracotta figure housed in the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto (page 4). On the same tassel is a Buddha knot. Indeed, a few double connection knots with outer loops, of which the knotting technique still remains elusive, are apparent on various stone Bhodisattvas from the Western Wei and Northern Qi periods (mid-sixth century). An elegant knot was found on the tassel of the empress’s devotee on the stone carving of the same name found in Bingyang Cave, Luoyang (page 12). The cross knot made its debut on a Tang Dynasty silk belt in the Tokyo National Museum. The image on page 4 shows a net bag tied from cross knots.

      In the Southern Song portrait “Seated Folks” (page 12), some double connection knots with outer loops are clearly visible on the characters, but the knotting technique still eludes us. Since it only appears around the Southern Song–early Yuan period, it can serve as a diagnostic indicator for other artifacts.

Image

      Detail of a portrait,“The Lady with the Fan,”Tang Dynasty (CE 618–906).

Image

      Rubbing of the “Seven Scholars of the Bamboo Garden,” rubbing from a brick frieze, Danyang, Jiangsu Province.

Image

      Stone frieze entitled “The Emperor Praying to Buddha,” Bingyang Cave,

Скачать книгу