Maedeup
Maedeup · Basic
Ring knot
가락지매듭garakji maedeup
A small ring of cord that bands the main cords, hiding joins and filling space between knots.
- Meaning
- 가락지 = a (pair of) finger ring(s); a small round, three-dimensional band around the cords.
- Wishes for
- Its closed ring is often read today as eternity, without beginning or end, a modern reading rather than a recorded one.
- Cord
- A separate short cord worked around the main cords (inferred - not confirmed in text sources).
- Used on
- filling space between knots, covering a joint where a short cord is spliced to another, accent before attaching a 봉술 tassel, with 석씨/사색판 + 난간 knots
- Learn first
- Dorae knot (double connection knot)
- Level
- Moderate
Step-by-step instructions for this knot are still to come.
History & tradition
Joseon
The ring knot is a finishing technique rather than a figure: Joseon makers used it to hide the joint where a too-short cord was spliced, to fill space between larger knots such as 석씨 and 사색판, and to dress the cord before a tassel. The AKS dictionary warns that colour must be chosen carefully and that it should not be crowded.
Used in modern pieces as a decorative band; Wikipedia notes non-Korean knotters have adopted it too.
Sources for this entry
국화매듭菊花gukhwa maedeup