Maedeup
Maedeup · Basic
Lotus bud knot (button knot)
연봉매듭yeonbong maedeup
A round, bud-shaped knot, traditionally the cloth button on Korean jackets and the head of figurative knots.
- Meaning
- 연봉 = lotus bud (연꽃 봉오리); the tied knot is a round bud. Also called 단추매듭 (button knot).
- Wishes for
- Lotus (purity). Folk saying recorded in the AKS costume dictionary: people learned it before marriage and forgetting how to tie it was taken as a sign one's death was near.
- Cord
- One cord folded in half (two working ends).
- Used on
- button on jeogori/jeoksam (knot button), head of the jamjari (dragonfly) knot, base of 방울술 tassel on fan pendants (선추), 장도, 안경집 and pouch closures, changing cord colour mid-piece
- Learn first
- Dorae knot (double connection knot)
- Level
- Moderate
- 1Lay the cord across your upturned palm-side fingers so its midpoint lies under the first two fingers.
- 2Fold each end over your fingers, both in the same rotational direction.
- 3Coil each end once round in a full circle, keeping the two coils mirror-like.
- 4Pass each end under the opposite cord where it curves over your fingers, inside the coils.
- 5Follow the spiral to the vertical centre and weave each end under the cords there.
- 6Take each end round in a half circle and tuck it down under the bulk of the knot and up through the small centre square, giving a flat disc on your fingers.
- 7Slide the disc off, pull firmly on the top loop and both ends, then follow the cord from the top loop in each direction removing slack until it closes into a round bud.
History & tradition
Joseon
Named for its lotus-bud shape, the 연봉매듭 was used by every class, royalty to commoners, chiefly as a button: knot buttons on 적삼 and other garments were tied this way. It forms the head of the dragonfly knot and the ball on men's fan pendants (선추), tied in 12-strand round silk cord. The AKS costume dictionary records that people learned it before marriage and that forgetting how to tie it was taken to mean death was near.
Still used for knot buttons on hanbok and as the head of dragonfly and other figurative knots.
Sources for this entry
동심결매듭同心結dongsimgyeol maedeup