The endless knot is a closed pattern of interwoven lines with no beginning and no end. It is one of the eight auspicious symbols of Tibetan Buddhism. In Chinese knotting the same design is tied in cord as the panchang knot.
One of the eight auspicious symbols
The eight auspicious symbols, or ashtamangala, are the parasol, a pair of golden fish, the treasure vase, the lotus, the white conch, the endless knot, the victory banner and the wheel. In The Handbook of Tibetan Buddhist Symbols, Robert Beer traces the set to an early Indian group of offerings presented to a king at his investiture, almost certainly older than Buddhism. The knot itself appears on clay seals from the Indus valley from around 2500 BCE. Its Sanskrit name is shrivatsa, and in Tibetan it is palbeu.
How Tibetan teachers read it
One Tibetan tradition maps the eight symbols onto the Buddha's body, and the endless knot is his mind. Beer writes that, as the Buddha's mind, it stands for his endless wisdom and compassion. As a symbol of his teaching, it shows the twelve links of dependent origination, the chain of causes that underlies the cycle of rebirth.
The Tibetan Nuns Project lists more readings: the union of wisdom and method, the eternal continuum of mind, and the interdependence of everything in the universe. Tibetans put the knot on ceremonial scarves, door hangings, carpets, prayer flags and jewelry.
The panchang knot in Chinese knotting
Chinese decorative knotting, zhongguo jie (中国结), ties a single cord into a symmetrical shape, most often in red, the color of luck in Chinese culture. Its version of the endless knot is the panchang knot (盘长结), also called the mystic knot. In China, Beer notes, the knot stands for longevity, continuity, love and harmony.
The eight Buddhist emblems reached China with Buddhism and became common motifs on porcelain, cloisonné and silk. The Metropolitan Museum of Art holds a 14th-century silver cup stand from the Yuan dynasty with the endless knot among them. By the 1970s interest in the craft had declined sharply, and Lydia Chen of the National Palace Museum in Taipei helped revive it.
Double coin knots and lucky red cords
The double coin knot (双钱结) is another of the basic Chinese knots. Its loops look like two old Chinese coins laid over each other, and it stands for prosperity and long life. A silk banner from a Han dynasty tomb at Mawangdui shows dragons twined into the same shape.
In Chinese folk belief, knots were charms against evil spirits, and they were given as gifts at weddings and other important occasions. In Tibetan Buddhism, Lama Surya Das explains, a lama ties a knot in a cord, prays over it and blows the power of a mantra into it before placing it around the neck as a blessing. Our guide to red string bracelets covers these customs in more detail.
The Endless Knot at Buddha.store
Our five-color khata scarves are woven or printed with the eight auspicious symbols, the endless knot among them. The bracelets are tied with other Chinese and Tibetan knots, from our red string collection.
