Usually, we tend to think of kite flying as just a child's pastime, but when looking back in time we realize that is not so. Kites have been used by men all over the world to frighten, to fish, to carry people and things, to measure, and conduct scientific experiments, for target practice, to fight and compete, to entertain, and a endless list of other utilizations. It is generally accepted that the first kite was invented in China, over three thousand years. Besides, kite making is art.

For over 1000 years the Chinese thought that by flying kites they would avoid bad luck and the higher the kite was flown the more prosperous they would become. The kite is still used in China today to ward off evil spirits and to bring good luck and is also regarded to be a good and healthy pastime for people of all ages. The Chinese also believe that looking up at a kite improves your eyesight and when tilting the head backwards the mouth opens slightly ridding the body of excess heat thus achieving a good Yin-Yang balance in the body.

The designs on most Chinese kites have a symbolic meaning or illustration from Chinese folklore or history. Tortoises, cranes and peaches signify long life, bats are a sign of good luck, butterflies and flowers represent harmony and a dragon design represents power and prosperity.

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 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.

During the Tang Dynasty (618-907), people began to fix on kites some bamboo strips 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 fixed 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 by other people. This may be dismissed as superstition but may not be altogether without reason: think of the good it will 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 coloured 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.

Around the 11th century, kites became a more popular and common amusement. Then it became a seasonal activity. The main kite-flying season occurs from Chinese New Year (usually in January and February) through Qingming (usually in March or April) because of favourable winds. After that, kite flying is halted by the great clouds of yellow dust blown down from the deserts north of Beijing.

In the past, many popular superstitions were related to kite flying. One belief was that if the kite string broke and the kite drifted into someone’s house, it was a bad omen and the kite would have to be destroyed to avert misfortune. If the kite fell into the courtyard of a neighbouring house, the kite owner could attempt to reclaim it. The neighbour might reluctantly return it after punching two holes in the kite’s surface to dispel bad luck.

Chinese kites fall into two major categories: those with detachable wings and those with fixed wings. The former can be taken apart and packed 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 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 metres to only 30 centimetres across.

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.

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.

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.

People in North China also believed that during the Lantern Festival (the fifteenth day of the first month in the Chinese calendar), every household must send the God of Wealth, who descended on New Year’s Eve, back to heaven. Therefore, everyone from the poorest peasant to the richest prince went out at midday to fly kites. When night came, kites continued to fly, after people tethered the strings and went inside. At midnight, there would be more excitement as everybody would come out again to tie lanterns to the kite strings and set off firecrackers. After midnight, the God of Wealth was usually assumed to have returned to heaven and the celebrants would go home to sleep leaving the kites still flying. In the morning, the kites would have disappeared, leaving only some string behind. It was believed that the kite took trouble and disaster away with it.

The Chinese are experts at making kites. They make colourful kites in the shapes of dragons, birds, butterflies, and centipedes. Some animal-shaped kites are designed so they can roll their eyes and flutter their wings. Other kites are so big that they require four or five people to operate them.

The basic kite colours are red, yellow and blue. These colours were the main colours of the costumes of the emperor, of most women’s clothes and even the embroidered shoes of children in the countryside. 

Tag: Kites - The History, The Art