Chinese knotting is a folk art dating back to thousands of years as evidenced in old paintings and sculptures. Objects made of decorative knotting can be either used by themselves such as bracelets, or they can be used to ornament other ornamental objects such as satches or fans. Since the cords are made of fiber they disintegrate eventually. The oldest surviving examples are probably no more than around 100 years old. Only one string is used to create a Chinese knot structure while multiple strings are often used in a maritime knot. Another difference is that since Chinese knots are decorative the cords are in every color and shade in the rainbow.

Polyurethane in the cords makes them stiff enough to hold the structure and malleable enough to be twisted into knots. I use either cigarette lighter flame or candle flame to singe the ends of a cord to creat a needle head for threading. I also use starch spray to stiffen the finished structure.

Below are some examples of knots I made. This is page 1 of 2, click here to go to page 2 of 2. Your comments and questions are welcome. My email is yvonnechang@charter.net. Some of the items shown below plus others not shown on this page are for sale at my online store. Please go there and visit. Click here to find instructions to tie basic Chinese knots.