The Complete Book of Chinese Knotting: A Compendium of Techniques and Variations Hardcover – October 15, 2007

I disagree with the previous review in one aspect at least. There are actually very detailed diagrams of how to tie the knots. Having used a couple of Lydia Chen's other knotting books, I am used to the way the diagrams work, but they can be hard to follow for some people.

It's a great book !!Takes you from a simple knot to a complex one. Easy to understand and allows you to become a pro!!

This is a some kind of complex knotting book. Not easy to follow the creation of complex Chinese knots.

This book has gorgeous examples of very detailed knotting work, mostly Chinese but a couple Japanese and Korean works. For the simpler knots it has diagrams of the layering and formation of the cord which might be a bit difficult to beginners. If so I suggest getting Lydia Chen's other knotting book,  Chinese Knotting: Creative Designs that are Easy and Fun!  which has much more detailed and superbeginner-friendly guides to each of the smaller knots. That book also has an introduction to set-up methods (pins on a surface to hold the cord, knots in place).However, I do think that if you perhaps have an eye for detail and carefully look at the layering of cords in the diagrams you could figure these out. Keep in mind though, that the later more super-detailed (very gorgeous) designs in the book only have text descriptions of how they can be made."The Complete Book of Knotting" does have a more full spectrum of knots.. I feel that it encourages and gives advice for the reader to make their own designs after mastering/getting used to the large vocabulary of the other knots. It also gives a more historical introduction to knots in Chinese history.All in all I really recommend anyone seriously going to take on this craft to purchase both books. For super beginners, definitely start with the  Chinese Knotting: Creative Designs that are Easy and Fun!  book. For craft-minded people who only want one book , perhaps you can just get this book.

This is not the COMPLETE book of Chinese knotting. In fact it is a translation of Lydia Chen's book on Chinese Knotting book 3! It makes it very clear in the text that you need to have read books 1 and 2 ("Chinese Knotting", and "Fun with Chinese Knotting") to make any use of this book. It is gorgeously illustrated and inspiring for those competent at knotting techniques. But it is not an instruction manual on how to take up the craft of Chinese knotting. This is no doubt a valuable text for those expert at the technique but it is in no sense a COMPLETE guide to the craft. Beginners beware - working from this will just be a frustrating and dispiriting experience. Perhaps a better title would have been The Advanced book of Chinese Knotting:Techniques and Variations to Inspire!

This book is gorgeous - and not at all helpful. The instructions for most knots are poor at best, and left me with great frustration and a headache.

I think this is actually the third volume by Lydia Chen on chinese knotting, the first being  Chinese Knotting: Creative Designs That are Easy and Fun  and the second  Fun with Chinese Knotting: Making Your Own Fashion Accessories and Accents . This book concentrates on variations to the base knots described in earlier works, with more petals, more complex loops and intricately shifted weaving, so I'd say Chinese Knotting: Creative Designs is a better book to start with.Chen really is the expert on chinese knots and the included design ideas are sumptuous, artistic and complex. Chinese Knotting: Creative Designs That are Easy and FunFun with Chinese Knotting: Making Your Own Fashion Accessories and Accents

Die ist der 3. Band über chinesische Knoten von Lydia Chen. Alle 3 Bücher sind komplett unabhängig voneinander nutzbar. Die Knoten und Objekte im 3. Band sind jedoch etwas komplexer und eher für fortgeschrittene Freunde chinesischer Knoten zu empfehlen. Aber auch hier bestechen guter Text und detaillierte Fotos mit farblich markierten Schritten bis zum fertigen Knoten. Verdiente 5 Sterne!

A book well illustrated but to advanced for a novice like me.

For my beginner level I found this book a bit advanced and prefer Echo Craft Books "Chinese Knotting".

Chinese Knotting　チャイニーズノットは中国結（ちゅうごくむすび）といいます。中国結とは、ヒモを結ぶ事で様々な形を作り上げていく芸術のことです。歴史は紀元前から。この本は世界的な中国結芸家であり、台湾故宮博物院の学芸員であった陳夏生女史の著作です。作者は古代中国結びの研究を通して様々な結び方を発見し、今までばらばらだった結び方の種類をはじめて体系づけ世間に広めました。また、新しい結び方の開発などにも貢献し、今まで付属物として扱われてきた中国結びの地位を高めました。「中国結」という名称の名付け親でもあります。この本は、中国結びの歴史から様々な基本結びとその応用変化の結び方、複雑で芸術的な作品紹介まで・・・と、非常に充実した一冊です。