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The kite, a Chinese invention, has been praised as the forerunner of the modern airplane.
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In the pavilion of aircraft at the National Aeronautics and Space Museum, Washington D. C., a plaque says: "The earliest aircraft are the kites and missiles of China". The kite is mainly, but not only, a plaything. It has contributed to science and other fields. The first planes were shaped after the kite. Kites are still used by some fishermen to lay bait in the sea and attract fish, or by photographers to take pictures from a bird's-eye view. |
The earliest Chinese kites were made of wood and called muyuan (wooden kites); they date as far back as the Warring States Period (475-221 B.C.) at least two millennia ago. After the invention of paper, kites began to be made of this new material and were called zhiyuan (paper kites).
Instead of being playthings, early kites were used for military purposes. Historical records say they were large in size; some were powerful enough to carry men up in the air to observe enemy movements, and others were used to scatter propaganda leaflets over hostile forces. According to the Records of Strange Events (Du Yi Zhi), an ancient work, when Xiao Yan, Emperor Wudi (464-549) of the Liang Dynasty, was surrounded at Taicheng Nanjing, by the rebel troops under Hou Jing, it was by means of a kite that he sent out an S.O.S. message for outside help.
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During the Tang Dynasty (618-907), people began to put some bamboo strips on kites, which
when high in the air, would vibrate and ring in the breeze like a zheng (a stringed instrument). Since then, the popular Chinese name for the kite has become fengzheng (wind zheng). The kites made today in certain localities are installed with silk strings or rubber bands to give out pleasant ringing in the wind.
It was also believed, for instance during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), that flying a kite and then letting it go, apart from the pleasure in itself, might send off one’s bad luck and illness. Consequently it would bring bad luck if one should pick up a kite lost
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by other people. This may be dismissed as superstition, but may not be altogether without reason: think of the good it would do to a person, ill and depressed all the time, if he or she could go out into the fields and fresh air to fly a kite.
Certain enthusiasts enjoy flying kites during the night. They hang small colored lanterns on the line with candles burning inside, which go up high in the air to decorate the night sky with strings of glimmering lights, adding much to the fun.
Chinese kites fall into two major categories: those with detachable wings and those with fixed wings. The former can be taken apart and packed
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in boxes. Easy to carry about, they make good presents. The second category refers to those with fixed, non-detachable frames; they fly better and higher, given there is a steady wind. Classified by designs and other specifications, there are no less than 300 varieties, including human figures, fish, insects, birds, animals and written characters. In size, they range from 304 meters to only 30 centimeters across.
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It is not an easy job to make a kite that one can be proud of. For the frame, the right kind of bamboo must be selected. It should be thick and strong for a kite of large dimensions in order to stand the wind pressure. For miniature kites, on the other hand, thin bamboo strips are to be used.
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The second step in the making of a kite is the covering of the frame. This is normally done with paper, sometimes with silk. Silk kites are more durable and generally of higher artistic value.
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Painting of the kite (the third step) may be done in either of two ways. For mass-produced kites, pre-printed paper is used to cover the frames. Custom-made kites are painted manually after covering. Many of the designs bear messages of good luck; a pine tree and a crane, for example, mean longevity. Bats and peaches wish you good fortune and a long life; and so on.
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In 1983 a large-scale kite-flying competition was held in Tianjin.
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A "dragon-headed centipede" of a hundred sections, with a total length of a hundred meters, flown up by a squad of 5 or 6 young men of the Tianjin Fine Arts Factory, thrashed and danced about in the air. A Japanese enthusiast sent up a 300-metre-long kite with a cord of string made up of 270 sections. These and other successes attracted large crowds and won thunderous applause.
The well-known Weifang (Shandong Province) Kite Festival has become an annual feature in the country, drawing hundreds of participants each April from home and many foreign countries.
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Weekly Chinese Words |
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| Chinese |
Transcription |
Part of speech |
Meaning |
| 木头 |
Mù tou |
Noun |
wood |
| 发明 |
fā míng |
Noun |
invention |
| 宣传资料 |
xuān chuán zī liào |
Noun |
propaganda |
| 传单 |
chuán dān |
Noun |
leaflet |
| 竹子 |
zhú zi |
Noun |
bamboo |
| 迷信 |
mí xìn |
Noun |
superstition |
| 可拆分的 |
kě chāi fēn de |
Adjective |
detachable |
| 固定的 |
gù dìng de |
Adjective |
fixed |
| 松树 |
sōng shù |
Noun |
pine |
| 鹤 |
hè |
Noun |
crane |
| 蝙蝠 |
biǎn fú |
Noun |
bats |
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Weekly Chinese Poem |
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声声令•咏风筝（自述身世）
Transcription: shēng shēng lìng • yǒng fēng zheng (zì shù shēn shì)
Meaning: KITE, MY LIFE STORY
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柳如是（明朝）
Transcription: liǔ rú shì (míng cháo)
Meaning: Liu Rushi (Ming Dynasty)
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杨花还梦，
Transcription: yáng huā huán mèng
Meaning: In dazzling flowers, my dreams return.
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春光谁主？
Transcription: chūn guāng shuí zhǔ
Meaning: Which woman is the most stunning in spring light?
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晴空觅个颠狂处。
Transcription: qíng kōng mì ge diān kuáng chù
Meaning: When the sky is cloudless, my heart the most restless.
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尤云殢雨，有时候，贴天飞，只恐怕，捉它不住。
Transcription: yóu yún tì yǔ, yǒu shí hou, tiē tiān fēi, zhǐ kǒng pà, zhuō tā bú zhù
Meaning: Sometimes rain-clouds move low, I fly up high, fears of being lost
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丝长风细，画楼前、艳阳里。
Transcription: sī cháng fēng xì, huà lóu qián, yàn yáng lǐ
Meaning: Bright sun, before my studio, thin thread singing, in slanting wind.
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天涯亦有影双双，总是缠绵，难得去。
Transcription: tiān yá yì yǒu yǐng shuāng shuāng, zǒng shìchán mián, nán dé qù
Meaning: No matter how far, how high you fly, I see shadows of two lovers. Tangled in passion, unable to part.
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浑牵系。
Transcription: hún qiān xì
Meaning: What ties you to me? A thin thread? Or Soul ???
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时时愁对迷离树。
Transcription: shí shí chóu duì mí lí shù
Meaning: Unable to answer. I turn to ask the dreamy Trees.
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