A better way to say this would be: knotted cords are definitely attested in classical Chinese texts, they just tend to be the kind of texts that aren't trustwor

A better way to say this would be: knotted cords are definitely attested in classical Chinese texts, they just tend to be the kind of texts that aren't trustworthy as actual history. The standard mythical history of Chinese says that knotted cords predated written language, and that a mythical figure invented the Chinese writing system after observing the tracks of birds. Given widespread evidence of cord-tying used to keep tallies, it sounds like this doesn't prove any connection to anything.