Chapter 16 Section 8 Kite

Tomb-sweeping day is the most joyful festival among the twenty-four solar terms of a year.It is said that kites must be flown on Qingming Day, and the string must be broken intentionally or unintentionally. This is called "flying a kite with a broken string".It is said that this kind of "broken kite" can take away the bad luck encountered by the kite flyer in a year.In some areas, kites are believed to be a sign of a good or bad year, and the higher the kite is flown in the beginning of spring, the better the year will be. Kites, also known as paper kites, are commonly known as kites.Its history can be traced back to more than 2000 years ago.According to legend, the first kite in history was made by a master craftsman in the Spring and Autumn Period.He once "cut bamboo and wood into magpies, and when they are formed, they fly", and "made wooden kites" to spy on the military situation of Song State.This is the earliest record of aircraft in ancient my country.Although "wooden kite" is not equal to "paper kite", it is probably not a problem to say that "wooden kite" is the predecessor of "paper kite".

There are some similar legends.It is said that in the early Han Dynasty, Han Xin wanted to rebel. When Emperor Gaozu Liu Bang was on an expedition to rebel General Chen Xi (xixi), he used the method of putting "paper kites" to measure the distance between Weiyang Palace and his residence, and planned to dig a tunnel into the palace to cause rebellion.During the Hou Jing Rebellion in the Southern Dynasties, Emperor Wu of Liang Xiao Yan was trapped in Taicheng, cut off from outside news.In order to get in touch with the outside world, Prince Xiao Gang took advantage of the northwest wind to release "paper ducks" and tied the emperor's emergency documents to them, hoping that someone would come to rescue them.These legends may not all be credible, but it seems that there is no doubt that kites first originated in military use. "Southern History · Hou Jingzhuan" records that Hou Jing's rebellious army saw the "paper duck" released by Xiao Gang, and thought it was the witchcraft [xixi] "the technique of suppressing victory". This shows that ordinary people at that time did not understand the kite making and flying techniques. , feel very mysterious.

During the Tang and Five Dynasties, kites had become a tool for people to play and entertain.Yuan Zhen, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, once wrote such a poem: "There are birds and flocks of paper kites, which are held by children because of the wind." This is a description of children flying kites.Li Ye of the Later Han Dynasty of the Five Dynasties used paper paste to make "paper kites" in the barracks, and let the soldiers play it as a game.Later, he improved the paper kite by installing a bow with silk strings on it so that it could make a sound like a kite in the wind. That's why the name "kite" came to the paper kite, which is still in use today.This is also a manifestation of the enhanced entertainment of kites.However, kites were still used for military purposes at that time. "New Book of Tang" records that Linming [ming name] guard Zhang Yi [pi batch] once made kites as high as more than 100 feet high when the situation was critical, and let them fly in front of the wind to ask for help from the outside world.

In the Song Dynasty, urban commerce developed unprecedentedly, and various cultural and entertainment activities were rich and colorful. Kites, as a folk craft, developed rapidly, and many folk artists made a living by this.According to literature records, there were many kite markets in big cities such as Bianjing and Lin'an at that time.In the West Lake, every spring season, many young men compete to fly "paper kites" on the bridge, competing with each other for their skills.In rural areas, kite flying has also become a favorite activity for children.In Lu You's poem "Huan Village Children Playing on the Stream", there is a sentence "bamboo horses swaying [qiang choke] rushing to Nao, paper kites domineering and blowing wind", which records the scene of kite flying in rural areas.Song Zhangshi's "Continued Natural History" said that when children fly kites, they hold their chests up, look far away, exercise their muscles and bones, and breathe fresh air. Summary for fitness activities.

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, flying kites during the Qingming Festival has become a folk custom. Not only children, but also ladies and gentlemen who travel in spring regard it as a very elegant and interesting activity. Chorus. "Qingming is approaching, tourists are busy, the scenery is beautiful, everyone laughs, and the kites will go to the suburbs of spring", which is very lively.The prevalence of kite flying also made paintings and operas at that time often use it as the subject matter of artistic creation. The above-mentioned sentence describing kite flying during the Qingming Festival comes from "Kite Mistakes" by dramatist Li Yu.

The popularity of kite flying has promoted the development of kite making technology.Kites in the Qing Dynasty not only reached the highest level in history in terms of quality, quantity, color and variety, but also published a special book on kite making.Cao Xueqin has done a lot of research on kite making. In his book, he recorded 43 crafts and techniques of making, pasting, painting and flying kites.This is the only monograph on kite making that has been seen so far.According to legend, Cao Xueqin once passed on the skill of making kites to a poor commoner, so that he lived on it.His description of kites in the 70th chapter of his literary masterpiece can be regarded as a supplement to this monograph on kites:

When the little girls here heard the kite flying, they were eager to make a sound, and they were all in a hurry to come up with a beauty kite.There are also those who move high stools, those who tie up the scissors, and those who move the yueyue.Baochai and others all stood in front of the courtyard gate, and ordered the maids to release them in the open outside the courtyard.Baoqin laughed and said, "You are not very good-looking, not as good as Third Sister's big Phoenix with soft wings." ... Baoyu got excited again, and sent a little girl home, saying, "Bring the big fish that Aunt Lai gave me yesterday." The girl let go yesterday."

... Baoyu said: "Forget it. Bring that big crab again." The girl went, and a few people carried a beautiful woman with a bag. ... Baoyu looked at it carefully, and saw that this beautiful woman made it It is very delicate, and I am happy in my heart, so I ordered it to be released.At this time Tanchun also took it, and Cuimo took a few little girls and put it on the hillside over there.Bao Qin also ordered someone to bring one of her own big red bats.Baochai was also happy, and took one too, but seven geese in a row were released.The beauty who only has Baoyu can't let it go... Daiyu laughed and said, "That's because the top line is not good. Just take it out and have someone else make the top line." Take another one to put.Everyone looked up at the sky, and these kites were all flying in mid-air.

For a while, the maids brought many different kinds of food delivery, and for a while..., Zijuan...Xiang Xueyan took a pair of small western silver scissors, and all the scissors were cut by an inch. Without leaving anything behind, he broke it with a click, and said with a smile: "This time, the root cause of the disease has been taken away." ... Tanchun was about to cut off his own phoenix, when he saw a phoenix in the sky, he said, "I don't know whose family it belongs to." ... As he said that, he saw the phoenix gradually approaching, and he got entangled with the phoenix.Everyone was about to go down to take up the line... and saw a door-sized Linglong Xi character with a ringing whip, which was approaching like a bell for a long time,... twisted together with these two phoenixes.

From this detailed description alone, we can see that there were many styles of kites in the Qing Dynasty, including "beauty", "big phoenix with soft wings", "big fish", "big crab", "big red bat", " "Dayan", "Linglong Xizi" and other kite attachments, such as "meal delivery device" (a device that can rise along the kite line and be scattered by the kite trigger mechanism to release paper flowers and pieces of paper when approaching the kite), " "Sound whip" and so on are also very complete.According to research, the shape of kites in Qing Dynasty has the following categories:

Bird shape: such as harrier, pigeon, wild goose, phoenix, crane, etc. Insect shape: such as cicadas, butterflies, dragonflies, etc. Aquarium shape: such as fish, crab, frog, etc. Human figures: various mythical and opera characters such as Monkey King, Shou Xing, Nezha, Zhong Kui, Guan Gong, Hehe Erxian, Bai Niangzi, etc. Character shape: such as Xi characters, Fu characters, Shou characters and auspicious words. Vessel shape: such as flower baskets, fans, palace lanterns, tripods, stoves, vases, etc. Geometric shapes: such as tiles, rhombuses, eight trigrams, five stars, etc. According to its structure, there are hard wings (the wings are tied up and down with bamboo strips), soft wings (a bamboo strip is used to support the upper edge of the wing, and the lower edge is not equipped with bamboo strips, and it floats with the wind when flying), paizi (shaped flat shape), long string (connected by several units), barrel shape, etc.In order to enhance entertainment and interest, some special devices such as organs, whistles, gongs and drums, etc. can be added to the kites. These are generally large kites, and the production is relatively complicated. In the Qing Dynasty, kites were produced in many places, with Beijing, Tianjin, Weifang in Shandong and Nantong in Jiangsu being the most famous. Beijing kites have the characteristics of the imperial capital, and there are five basic shapes: hard bladder, soft bladder, paizi, long string and barrel shape.The craftsmanship is roughly divided into four items: binding, pasting, painting and placing.In terms of decoration, patterning is emphasized, moving in form and moving in painting.The most famous skill genre of Beijing kites is Haji kites.It originated from Lianjiapu, which opened Haji kites in Changdian during the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty.The first generation of Haji kites is Ha Guoliang, and the second generation is Ha Changying. Among them, the kite made by Ha Changying won the silver medal at the Panama World Expo in 1915.Haji kites are all made of high-grade silk products, with rigorous material selection, solid and flat skeletons, exquisite and vivid paintings, and accurate wind power. Thin sand swallow is the most famous. Tianjin kites have a unique style. In terms of production, the skeletons are all made of eyelets and tenons, and do not need to be tied with wires. They look delicate, flexible, light and elegant.In terms of painting, it absorbs the characteristics of Yangliuqing paintings, traditional Chinese paintings and prints, with strong coloring, bright colors and simple lines.The varieties include figures, flowers and birds, insects and fish, etc., and birds are the most colorful.The most famous Tianjin kites are Weiji kites.Wei Ji's kites are exquisitely made, "the holes are pierced with tenons, and the front and back are flat", and the vertical and horizontal intersections of the bamboo frames never overlap.The shape is real, beautiful and innovative.The colors are bright and the charm is vivid.The first generation craftsman of Wei Ji kite is Wei Yuantai, who is good at making kites with the spirit of reform and innovation.When he was trying to fly eagle kites and crow kites, he actually attracted eagles and crows flying in the sky, chasing and playing, making it difficult for the audience to distinguish the real from the fake.His kite, which won a gold medal at the 1914 Panama World Exposition, brought honor to our country's handicraft. Shandong Weifang kites have a long history. During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, there were folk artists who specialized in kite making.The structure of Weifang kites is divided into three types: plane, relief and three-dimensional, with exquisite workmanship and graceful shape.The painting style is similar to that of local woodblock New Year pictures. Some of them directly use woodblock-printed monochrome paper, paste and paste them and then paint them with bright colors.The famous kite artist in Weifang was Wang Fuzhai in the late Qing Dynasty. The Crane Boy and Lei Zhenzi he made were very exquisite. The origin of Nantong kites is also very early. A part of Cao Xueqin's "Southern Kites and Northern Kites Kaogong Zhi" is a summary of Nantong kites (Cao Xueqin lived in Jiangsu since childhood and is familiar with Jiangsu kite making methods).Nantong kites are exquisite in craftsmanship, graceful in shape and unique in sound.It is divided into two types: "live harrier" and "ban harrier". "Living harrier" has a lifelike image and exquisite structure. There are dozens of species such as eagle grinding clouds, double swallows looking for food, and two dragons playing with pearls.Nantong harrier kites are smaller than three feet, and big ones are as high as one or two feet.The bamboo frame stretches the homemade cloth, and the harrier's tail is tied with a thick grass rope two to three feet long.The kites are covered with whistles made of materials such as gourds, bamboo tubes, ginkgo shells, chestnut shells, pigeon egg shells, and peanut shells.The big gourd is like a bucket, and its sound is like a cello; the small eggshell whistle has a clear and crisp sound, and when it is released, the sound echoes in the sky.