Go Fly a Kite!

　　The sky's the limit for this 2,000-year-old pastime

　　Text and Photos by Duncan Willson

　　In China, flying a kite is more than just a diversion--it's a cultural experience. When an old man places his home made swallow kite in the sky high above the trees, he's participating in a cultural heritage that's more than 2,000 years old. And you thought he was just bored.

　　The first known kite flew into the skies sometime during the fourth century B.C. Made entirely of wood and fashioned like an eagle, the kite was constructed by the Confucian philosopher and hermit Mo Zi, who lived on Mount Lu in modern-day Shandong Province. An impressive piece of pre-modern engineering, it took him over three years to build. Sadly, the kite flew for just one day before crashing into the mountainside. Lucky for us, Mo passed his kite-making skills onto his students, who managed to improve on the design and build kites that could stay aloft for days.

　　Though philosophers had a hand in the creation of kites, subsequent variations were not intended to inspire or entertain. Kites developed during the particularly chaotic and brutal period of Chinese history known as the Warring States Period (475-221 B.C.) were designed as tools of war and used for such military and reconnaissance purposes as relaying information and measuring distances. Some kites actually carried bundles of gunpowder and were known as "sacred fire crows."

　　But by the Tang Dynasty (618-907), kites had found their way out of the hands of generals and into the hands of well-to-do children. This transformation occurred in part because of the availability of cheaper materials (paper instead of silk), but also because of a revival of traditional Chinese folk festivals. Kites soon became associated with the Pure Brightness Festival. While the festival was traditionally focused on the sweeping of ancestral tombs and the offering of money and food to the dead, the festival also celebrated the coming of spring. The festival, still celebrated today, occurs in the first week of April - perfect for kite enthusiasts.

　　Today, kite flying remains popular throughout China and around the world. And while factories may pump out kites for the masses, the ancient art of kite making is kept alive by such aficionados as Liu Bin, a 26-year-old art school graduate from Beijing. Liu was raised in a family of kite makers: His grandfather began making kites to pass the time after retiring and later taught his son the trade. Liu's father, a carpenter, continued to fashion kites in his spare time. The kites they made were sold at various markets around the city. As Liu grew up, he inherited their love for handmade kites and immediately after graduating from art school, began making and selling kites for the family business.