Wrap · Gifts

Basic tie

기본 매듭gibon maedeup

The plain four-corner tie: opposite corners knotted twice over a box, used for everyday and holiday gifts.

For: Everyday gifts; holiday (Chuseok/Seollal) gift sets
Wraps: Box
Cloth: laid as a diamond
Closed with: Double-tie (square knot by two ties)
Level: Easy

The knot most Koreans learn first, and the one taught in the opening lesson of today's wrapping courses. It has returned to holiday gift-giving as bojagi packaging replaces paper and plastic.

Korean guides size by the box (about 2-3 times the box size), not by 폭

1Lay the cloth as a diamond, the side you want to show facing down.
2Set the box in the centre.
3Lift the near and far corners and tie them together twice over the box.
4Lift the left and right corners and tie them together twice on top of the first knot.
5Spread the four ends so they sit evenly.

History & tradition

Korea, no fixed date; the everyday way of tying a bundle

Gathering opposite corners and tying them over the load is the oldest and plainest way to use a bojagi, the same tie that closed household bundles (보따리). It had no special name; 'basic knot' is a modern class label. Before the 1960s cloth bundles carried books, groceries and food, and gifts were wrapped this way as a matter of course. As industrial packaging spread from the 1970s, the tie survived mainly for holiday visits and gifts.

Since the 2010s it is the first thing taught in bojagi-wrapping courses, and in 2026 Korean holiday gift sets moved from gold satin wraps to bojagi tied this way.

No source dates the knot itself; the 'traditional' claim rests on bojagi use in general.

Researched with medium confidence.

Sources

Sources for this entry

NextButterfly knot

나비매듭nabi maedeup