A COMPARISON OF THE DIFFERENT KNOTTING STYLES USED IN VARIOUS REGIONS OF CHINA, INCLUDING TIBET

(And other information relating to carpets from Tibet, etc.)

On this page you will find comparisons of various types of knotting and / or weaving styles (and, eventually, other information relating to carpets from Tibet, etc, as seen on this web site). One thing that certainly needs to be addressed in the wider carpet world is the unfortunate practice – that seems to becoming more prevalent – of private sellers, dealers and even auction houses describing Chinese woven carpets as ‘Tibetan’, and occasionally vice versa; especially so when incorrectly describing the origin in carpet selling circumstances. And yes, although Tibet may now be part of China, the knotting style of a genuine Tibetan knotted carpet is completely different from the knotting style used in all the other regions of China, and for that matter basically every other carpet producing area in the world!

That is, the Tibetan knot is more of a loop than what we would normally think of as an actual knot and is described by Philip Denwood, the pioneering author on Tibetan carpet weaving, as “The ‘Senna Loop’ [not to be confused with the ‘Senneh / Persian knot’ used in other regions carpets] is the technique of the Tibetan knotted carpet. Essentially it involves looping sections of the pile yarn from a length held in front of warp threads, behind individual or groups of warp threads, round them and back round a gauge rod.” (Denwood, 1974. The Tibetan Carpet, page 91) and then continuing with same across the carpet. – See photos, etc, here https://warpandweft.club/tibetan-carpet-weaving-photos/ – The loops are then cut along the gauge rod leaving only a single node for each loop at the back of the carpet, as opposed to there being two nodes to a single knot in all other regions woven carpets. However, the ‘loop’ style of Tibetan carpet weaving is still referred to as a ‘knotting’ or ‘a knot’. With that in mind, we often find the back of a carpet tells just as interesting and exciting story as the front – if not more so at times – as sometimes the very intricate weaving styles, even at times with large knots, leaves one in awe and admiration at the artistry and skill of the weaver – and the dyer for that matter – all those years ago. Anyway, we are not going to go into detail here regarding all the ins and outs (no pun intended) of the different region’s knotting styles, as I am a big believer in a picture being worth a thousand words, so enjoy the following images, and maybe if an uninformed person happens to stumble onto this page they will hopefully learn something re the different knotting styles, and how the genuine Tibetan knot stands apart from all others.

NOTE: The photos of individual ‘squares’ with a grey metal frame shown below are all one square inch (i.e. the inside of the metal ‘frame’ is one inch square) on the backs of various carpets. And for all intents and purposes there are 15.5 square inches in one square decimeter, should one care to make that calculation themselves.

NOTE WELL: What is referred to on this page as a ‘Chinese knot’ is the type of knot used in many rug weaving regions of the world (except Tibet) and is more factually and commonly known as the Persian or Senneh knot; but for simplicity’s sake in this page will be referred to as the Chinese knot when differentiating between Chinese and Tibetan carpets. And all major carpet weaving regions of China (except Tibet), e.g. Ningxia, Baotou-Suiyuan / Inner Mongolia, Gansu and Xinjiang  / East Turkestan (i.e. Khotan, Yarkand, etc) used the same knot, that is the asymmetric knot open to the left, with a slight variation (i.e. generally using varying degrees of warp depression) in those from the Xinjiang region.

The back, or underside, of a 49 knots per square inch Tibetan carpet showing the shape of the knots used. In this photo the weft can barely be seen at all. Note the distinct difference in the shape of the back of the Tibetan knot when compared to the shape of the (back of the) Chinese knot. NOTE WELL; This is not simply a Chinese knot with severe warp depression hiding one node of the knot. There is only one ‘node’ to the Tibetan knot, or loop.

The back, or underside, of a 49 knots per square inch Chinese carpet showing the shape of the knots used. In this photo the weft can clearly be seen. Note the distinct difference in the shape of the back of the Chinese knot – which shows both nodes of the one knot – when compared to the shape of the (back of the) Tibetan knot, which has only one node.

LEFT. Close up of the back – or underside – of one Tibetan knot (surrounded by eight other knots) as used in Tibetan carpets. (Because of the unique cut loop technique – see image / details below – used for Tibetan knotting, the Tibetan knot, or more precisely the Tibetan loop, only has one ‘node’; that is there are not two ‘sides’ to the Tibetan knot as there is in other region’s carpet knots.) RIGHT. Close up of the back – or underside – of one knot (surrounded by eight other knots) as used in Chinese carpets. Note the two ‘nodes’, or sides, of the knot.

NOTE THEN DISTINCT DIFFERENCE WHEN COMPARING THE ‘SHAPE’ OF THE TWO KNOTS.

That is, on the back of a Tibetan carpet only the single node of the ‘knot’ (i.e. loop) can be seen, while on the back of the Chinese carpet both nodes of a knot can always be seen (except for when / if one node is severally depressed).

CLOSE-UP PHOTOS OF A TIBETAN WOVEN CARPET

LEFT. Pile / front side of an early 20th century Tibetan carpet; note in what would be the center horizontal row of the ‘flower’ the colours would go red, yellow, dark blue (center), yellow and finally red again. CENTER. Underside / back of same area as photo at left; note in the center horizontal row that there are six red Tibetan knots, then two yellow Tibetan knots, then one dark blue Tibetan knot (center), then two yellow Tibetan knots and then six red Tibetan knots. RIGHT. Close-up of the middle portion of the center photo clearly showing the central single dark blue Tibetan knot with the two yellow Tibetan knots on either side of it.

1b-Tib-weave

The Tibetan looping (or ‘knotting’) technique. The weaver is weaving in the direction of the arrows, i.e. from left to right. To make the loops the yarn is brought forward and pulled down tight over the gauge rod (1), then woven back into the carpet by going under the gauge rod and passing behind the next two warp threads (2) before being brought back out to pass in front of the next two warps threads (3), then feed back in and back behind the same two warp threads (4) before being brought forward and over the gauge rod again (1) with the same procedure being repeated across the carpet. The pile is then formed by cutting the loops all along the gauge rod before it has been removed to be used again for the next row of knots. For photos depicting the various stages of Tibetan carpet making and the Tibetan knotting process please see this page https://warpandweft.club/tibetan-carpet-weaving-photos/

CLOSE-UP PHOTOS OF A CHINESE WOVEN CARPET

LEFT. Pile / front side of a late 19th century Chinese carpet; note how the center horizontal row of the flower shows, in the following order, first white, then red, then yellow, then red and then white coloured wool. CENTER. Underside / back of same area as photo at left; note in the center row that there are three white *Chinese knots, then two red Chinese knots, then one yellow Chinese knot (at center of flower), then two more red Chinese knots, then three more white Chinese knots. RIGHT. Close-up of the middle portion of the center photo clearly showing the central single yellow Chinese knot with the two red Chinese knots on either side of it. *NOTE WELL: As stated above, what is referred to on this page as a ‘Chinese knot’ is the type of knot used in many rug weaving regions of the world (except Tibet) and is more factually and commonly known as the Persian knot; but for simplicity’s sake in this page will be referred to as the Chinese knot when differentiating between Chinese and Tibetan carpets.)

Knots---ASL,-ASR,-S,-SL,-SR

Outside of Tibet there are three kind of knots used in most carpet weaving areas; the asymmetric knot open to the left (top left), the asymmetric knot open to the right (top right), and the symmetric knot (bottom). Sometimes these knots are woven with what is called ‘warp depression’, as also shown above. The type of knot used in Chinese carpets is the asymmetric knot open to the left, usually without warp depression, but sometimes with in the East Turkestan / Xinjiang region (and some ‘modern’ Chinese commercial carpets).

3-Knots-open-leftx

The asymmetric knot open to the left used in most Chinese carpets is shown above as viewed from the position of the weaver weaving the carpet. To the far right is the shape of a single asymmetric open left knot; in the center is a closeup photo of the knotting in a fragment of an actual Inner Mongolian Chinese carpet from the early 1900’s showing three asymmetric open left knots along with associated warp threads as viewed looking down into the weave from what would be the top (of the carpet) with the pile side facing the viewer (i.e. the same view the weaver sees). At left is a drawing depicting three open left knots with the warp threads passing on through them and the weft threads that would be between each row of knots.

A close-up of the knotting on the back of a carpet made in the Ningxia region of China in the early 1900’s, and typical of what the knotting looks like on the back of carpets woven in most regions of China (except the Xinjiang region; and of course Tibet). Note in the photo how both nodes / half of each knot can clearly be seen, which is the ‘normal’ look for carpets woven with an asymmetric knot when viewed from the back of the carpet. [While the knot in the drawing appears (is) open to the right, if the carpet was viewed from the front as the weaver wove it it would of course be open left.] The red arrows point to the corresponding nodes of just one knot relative to the same positions in the drawing. Asymmetric type knotting is fairly easy to both see and feel from the back of a carpet, that is if one was to run their fingers across the back of the carpet it would feel relatively flat / even. (Determining exactly which way the knot opens however is another story and requires more work, although it is suffice to say that Chinese carpets are customarily woven with knots opening to the left.)

A close-up of the knotting on the back of a carpet made in the Xinjiang region of China in the early 1900’s. Note in the photo how only one node / half of each knot can be clearly seen, the other node / half of each knot is partially hidden, as it is off-set and ‘depressed’ because of the method generally used in the carpet weaving process in this region, which is known as using ‘warp depression’. This however is still an asymmetric knot open to the left but with a warp depression (of which there can be vary degrees of severity, here being about 45 degrees, as shown in the drawing) and viewed here as if looking from the back of the carpet. [While the knot in the drawing appears (is) open to the right, if the carpet was viewed from the front, i.e. the weavers viewpoint, it would of course be open left.] The red arrows point to the corresponding nodes of just one knot relative to the same positions in the drawing. This warp depression type of knotting is easy to both see and feel (unless it is a fully depressed warp), as if one were to run their fingers across the back of the carpet it would feel rather ‘corrugated’ / uneven. (Determining exactly which way the knot opens however is another story and requires more work, although it is suffice to say that Chinese carpets are customarily woven with knots opening to the left.)

BELOW: COMPARISON VIEWS SHOWING A ONE INCH SQUARE ON THE BACKS OF TIBETAN CARPETS AND CARPETS FROM VARIOUS REGIONS OF CHINA

The image above displays four separate one inch square areas of the backs (or the underside) of four carpets woven in four different regions of China. Clockwise from left; Tibet (because of the unique ‘cut loop’ technique used for Tibetan knotting, the Tibetan knot, or more precisely the Tibetan ‘loop’, only has one node, that is there are not two sides to the loop / knot as in other region’s carpet knots), Ningxia, Baotou-Suiyuan and Xinjiang. (Note: one node / half of each knot in the Xinjiang example is somewhat ‘hidden’, as it is partly ‘off-set’ and ‘sunken’ because of the ‘warp depression’ method generally used in the weaving process in that region). Counting the number of knots per square inch in the various carpets is discussed in more detail further down the page.

The image above displays one inch square areas of the backs of four carpets woven in four different regions of China, with the arrow pointing to just one single knot on the backside (or the underside) of each carpet. Clockwise from upper left; Tibet (Note: because of the unique ‘cut loop’ technique used for Tibetan knotting, the Tibetan knot, or more precisely the Tibetan ‘loop’, only has one node, that is there are not two sides to the loop /  knot as in other region’s carpet knots), Ningxia, Baotou-Suiyuan and Xinjiang. (Note: one node / half of each knot in the Xinjiang example is somewhat ‘hidden’, as it is partly ‘off-set’ and ‘sunken’ because of the ‘warp depression’ method generally used in the weaving process in that region.) Counting the number of knots per square inch in the various carpets is discussed in more detail further down the page.

The image above displays a one inch square of the back of six different carpets woven in Tibet, from, top left, a relatively small Tibetan knot with 84kpsi / 1,302kpsdcm (12 knots across x  7 rows – or lines – of knots high = 84 knots per square inch) to, bottom right, a relatively large Tibetan knot with 18kpsi / 279kpsdcm (6 knots across x 3 rows – or lines – of knots high = 18 knots per square inch); and other size variations in between.

The image above displays three separate one inch square areas of the backs (or the underside) of three carpets woven in three other carpet weaving regions of China (besides Tibet), each with a different knot count, that is a different amount of knots per square inch. Left to right; from Xinjiang (with 64 knots per square inch, i.e. 8 knots across x 8 rows – or lines – of knots high), from Baotou-Suiyuan (with 49 knots per square inch, i.e. 7 knots across x  7 rows – or lines – of knots high) and from Ningxia (with 30 knots per square inch, i.e. 6 knots across x  5 rows – or lines – of knots high). Note also the different way the weft lays in each carpet, and how in the example from Xinjiang one node / half of each knot is quite ‘depressed’.

The image above displays a one inch square of the backs of two carpets, the left woven in the Ningxia region (of China), the right woven in Tibet. Note how in the Ningxia both ‘nodes’ of the back of a knot can be seen, whereas in the Tibetan carpet only the single ‘node’ can be seen. In the Ningxia carpet there are 36kpsi / 558kpsdcm (6 knots wide X 6 rows – or lines – of knots high = 36 knots per square inch), while in the Tibetan there are 43kpsi / 666kpsqdcm (9.5 knots wide x 4.5 rows – or  lines – of knots high = 42.75, rounded to 43 knots per square inch.)

The image above displays a one inch square of the backs of a carpet woven in the Ningxia region (of China) on left, and on the right a carpet woven in Tibet. The Ningxia carpet has both warp and weft made of cotton, whereas the one from Tibet in this example has both warp and weft made of wool. [The Ningxia has 6 knots across – and in this example 5 rows high – and shows both the left and right node of the knot, whereas the Tibetan has 9 knots across – and in this example approximately 7 rows high – although only the single node (of each knot) can be seen. Hence when counting knots on Chinese carpets you count every second node across, whereas on a Tibetan carpet you count every node across.]

The image above displays a one inch square of the backs of two carpets woven in Tibet. The carpet on the left has wool warps and a wool wefts, whereas the carpet on the right has cotton warps and a wool wefts.

The image above displays a one inch square of the backs of two carpets woven in Tibet. The carpet on the left has Z-spun wool warps, whereas the carpet on the right has cotton warps that have been Z-spun and then S-plied.

The image above displays a one inch square of the backs of two carpets from Tibet. The one on the left is from a carpet known in Tibet as a Tsuktruk (Tsukdruk) which is somewhat more ‘blanket-like’ with a soft handle, whereas the one on right is from a regular Tibetan carpet. Both have wool warps and wool wefts.

The image above displays a one inch square of the backs of two carpets from Tibet (well, the one on the left is actually an uncut girth strap hole in a saddle carpet). The one on the left has machine spun cotton warps and hand spun wool wefts, whereas the one on the right has hand spun cotton warps and hand spun wool wefts.

The image above displays both hand spun and machine spun cotton; in this case ‘warp’ threads both of which have been Z spun and then S plied. On the the left is the hand spun cotton; note first the irregularity in the thickness of each individual yarn, and hence the irregularity of thickness of each warp thread. This irregularity (in thickness) of each yarn / thread is caused by the variations in the amount of cotton used per yarn when cotton is first spun by hand, and then the individual yarns later plied into a thread (in this case a 7 ply hand spun warp thread). On the right is the machine spun cotton; note the evenness of the both the individual yarns and threads. This evenness / regularity in thickness of both the individual yarn and hence each thread (in this case an 8 ply machine spun warp) is only obtained with automated machine spinning of both the individual ply and then the overall finished thread.

During the 1950’s the Chinese increasingly exerted control over everyday life in Tibet. In March 1959 a massed uprising by Tibetans against this repression took place in the capital Lhasa, at which time the 14th Dalai Lama – Tenzin Gyatso – fearing for his safety and rightly so, fled to exile in India where he was granted political asylum, and remains to this day. His flight set off of a mass exodus of Tibetans, many never to return to their home country. Besides the many Tibetans that followed the Dalai Lama settling in India, many also settled in Nepal, especially in various parts of the Kathmandu valley. From this nucleus Tibetan carpet weaving ‘businesses’ slowly began to be established in Kathmandu, with the weavers making carpets using the Tibetan knotting method. ‘Tibetan’ carpets continue to this day to be woven in Kathmandu and its environs by 2nd and even 3rd generation ‘Nepali Tibetans’, and / or by Nepali people themselves – who prior to the arrival of the Tibetans (in the late 1950’s, and onward) did not have a history of carpet weaving. In this photo, taken in 1972, three Tibetan refugee women work on knotting a carpet in a workshop on the outskirts of Kathmandu.

A pile of hand spun naturally dyed wool in various colours ready for the loom in a carpet workshop, Bodhanath, Kathmandu, Nepal; circa 2010.

 

 

 

A weaver, circa 2010, sits at her vertical loom in a carpet workshop in Bodhanath, a ‘suburb’ that was once on the very outskirts of Kathmandu (Nepal), but is now just part of the capitals urban sprawl. Note she is using a ‘cartoon’ of the design image drawn to exacting specifications on graph paper – where every square on the graph is equivalent to just one knot – so as to get an exact replica of the design every time this design is reproduced. In days gone by, weavers either copied the design from the back of other carpets or from ‘cartoons’ drawn by hand on parchment; or for a master weaver, sometimes simply from memory. (This is also the reason that with old Tibetan carpets – and produced by any of these latter three ‘methods’ – it is unusual to find any two carpets exactly the same.) For instance, in the picture to the left, note the small oblong drawing just above the center weavers head that simply has the design of the flowers in the ‘medallion’ drawn on it.

A ‘modern’ upright Tibetan loom and the basic tools used in the weaving process.

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