China is the birthplace of kite in the world, and Henan and Shangdong where people worship birds and the sun are the first to create kite. They still kept the mode of the original kite in Kaifeng today. In my visit to an elder, Mr. Bai Jinsheng, in Kaifeng, he told me that kite was called "Hao" (the sky) in Kaifeng. As an old saying put it "On the third day in the third lunar month, 'Hao' flies up to the
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| Flying kite. | sky." It is the time around the Pure Brightness Day when people come out to fly kite by the beach. Guys fly kite and girls play swings. Kite used to be plain white without any painted color or pattern. When the wind is low, flying in the sky is "Ma Gua" (Jacket style),and in high wind, it will be "Tong Hao."
The name "Hao" implies the original meaning of kite. Hao means the sky and the sun. The constitution of letter Hao also shows that the sun is at the highest end of the
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"Swallow kite." | sky. Therefore, it is believed that flying kite at the time when the land starts warming up can gain access to sun light. Tai Hao and Shao Hao tribes in ancient China were also worshipers of the sky and the sun. The original inhabitants of Shao Hao tribe were around Henan and Shandong, and their tribal emblem was a double-tail swallow, or, in the words of Elder Bai, the "big feet swallow." Another symbol is the golden crow or a sun bird. Bai referred to it as
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"eight diagram kite" | "one foot swallow" as it has a dovetail. Most of the bird-shaped kites are transformed figures of sun birds or the golden crow. There is also a transformed symbol of a geometry code for perpetual life, referred to by Bai as "Ma Gua," in a "T" shape. "T" is a sky reaching symbol often used for the deceased to imply continued life after death, same as the painting on silk of "T" shaped flag placed on the coffin excavated from the Han Tombs in Ma Wang pyramid in Hunan. In Hunan, kites flying in sunny spring days are still a white T-shaped "Ma Gua," a symbol of longevity for the living, and eternity for the dead.
In the course of cultural development throughout history, kite, as an art, has presented a spectacular display in a variety of forms in the blue sky. However, its cultural implication as a symbol of life remains the same at all time. |
