profound power to help build our nation” Nelson Mandela
On the Wings of a Kite…
A Little World Tour
Suchita D Ramdin, Ph.D. {Cultural Anthropologist, Folklorist}
Excerpt from an informative article in 3 Chapters entitled: The Marvelous Story of the Kite: A Magical Connection With the Sky
The desire to fly has haunted mankind forever.
In humans, the longing to imitate birds, the desire to fly, was first expressed through timeless tales of flying heroes and heroines throughout the various cultures of the world.
These legendary and mythical flying characters connected people, young and old, closer to their beliefs and to their dreams of being able to achieve the impossible.
Man always imagined flight as an effective means of escape and as a symbol of liberation from all obstacles of the mere human condition. For man, the ultimate symbol of freedom and liberty remains the wings that make birds fly. Envious of birds flying freely in the sky, humans remained inspired by the winged creatures for a long time. This unconscious aspiration pushed mankind towards experimenting with diverse kinds of flight methods. How were the wishful minds to know that one day, this unconscious desire to fly freely in the air would become a reality? Nevertheless, it took mankind many more unsuccessful attempts before they understood the tremendous physical principles of flight and built the first flying machines. But even before flying, the first problem that arose for humans wishing to imitate the birds was that of leaving the ground.
This is when the humble, manmade kite, drew man’s attention.
Fruit of a rich tradition of more than 2000 years, the serene rise of the kite toward an endless sky, lifted the human spirit beyond terrestrial gravity. Like everything that goes back a long way in time, the invention of this simple but ingenious invention had a semi-legendary character. It became a symbol finding its anchor in the arts, literature, and folklore around the world. Besides, since early in human history, kites have served man, young and old, in a great number of ways.
China
It is impossible to know precisely where and when the first kite was invented. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, “…the earliest written account of kite flying is in China in 200 BC, supporting China’s claim to the origin of the kite. According to 2000 years old Chinese legend, a Chinese farmer tied his hat to a thread to keep it from blowing away. It was there, perhaps, that the first kite, rising excitedly in the sky, saw the light of day.
However, we find the first mention of the Chinese kite (known as Fung Jung), as early as the 4th century BC. The account mentions a Chinese engineer, named Kungshu Phan, carving a piece of wood in the shape of a magpie and launching it into the air. The account further mentions that Phan’s wooden bird flew for 3 days without falling (2).
Towards the end of the 13th century, stories of kites and kite-flying were first brought to Europe by Marco Polo, the Venetian explorer, writer, and merchant revealed how, in 1282, he witnessed the Chinese lifting men with large kites especially to determine whether an imminent sea voyage by ship would be good or not. If the kite flew high and straight with its passenger, it was a sign that the voyage would be a good one.
The ancient Chinese used kites, especially for signaling during wartime. It is also reported that Chinese soldiers were lifted in kites up into the air to observe the enemy’s fortifications and troop movements. Without a doubt, it is the Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans who have done the most to develop kite-making and kite-flying. It is no wonder therefore that the world’s largest kite museum is found in Weifang in China, together with an impressive kite factory. Besides, Weifang is known as the kite capital of the world. Among the countless Oriental kites, the Chinese Dragon kite remains perhaps the most wonderful of them all.
Eastern Asia
It is a confirmed fact today that kite-flying was not only important in Eastern Asia, but it had also developed into both a cult and a sport. The sport was and is still practiced generally by adults in Java, the Malay Peninsula, Japan, Korea, Siam, Bali, and Indonesia. Today, we can easily assume that the sport of kite-flying competitions and kite fighting has developed almost into a science. The ancient fighter kite became extremely popular throughout Asia. In Japan, kites are still made with long lines (bridles) and residue that float in the air. So, it is no surprise that the Japanese word ‘tako’, used for kites, also means octopus.
Polynesia
Kite-flying has also been well-cultivated in Polynesia for many centuries. The natives of Polynesia, as far as New Zealand, flew kites to honor the gods. They utilized kites as a link between deities and humans and also for divination. Kites were also used in day-to-day life for fishing purposes. Kites were very also purposeful in Micronesia and Melanesia.
But, although China is considered the birthplace of the kite, the fact remains that other ancient civilizations have also created and used it. It would appear that kites were invented independently in other parts of the world as well.
Greece
The kite can be easily found in the legends of ancient Greece. According to sources, the Greek kite (chartaetos) was invented by Archytas of Taranto, a Greek philosopher, Pythagorean, mathematician, and astronomer in 400 BC. J.-C. (4) Taranto conducted aerial experiments with lightweight wooden birds.
Egypt
We have evidence that kites were also fabricated and flown in ancient Egypt as they appear in the country’s annals. An aeronautic professor, along with other researchers from the California Institute of Technology recently hypothesized that the pyramids of Egypt were built with the pulling force of large kites[5].
Europe
The kite tradition reached Europe a bit late, although there are mentions that ancient Romans used wind cone-like banners as guides for wind directions and speed. Between the 14th and 15 Centuries, kite flying slowly spread throughout Europe. Vasco da Gama, Giovanni Delta Porta, and William Shakespeare also mentioned kite-flying in their narratives.
In England, the word ‘kite’ is first of all the name of a bird. It is therefore the term ‘bird’s wing’ that was chosen for the hand-crafted kite in Great Britain. Although still considered a classic family tradition and a means of amusement in the UK, kite flying is in a certain way technically prohibited under UK law. In other words, it is illegal to fly a kite in a public place in the Uk, which includes parks.[6]
In Mexico, the word for kite is ‘Papalote’, which is also used for the butterfly. In Germany, the first kites were shaped like animals and often had small fires lit on their heads to scare away enemies. Today, German kites are called ‘Drachen’ which means dragon.
South Africa
In South Africa, kites are called ‘viewers’. This is very similar to the Dutch term ‘vlieger’; but it is good to remember that the first European settlers in South Africa were from the Netherlands.
India
In India, kite-making and kite-flying have always been considered age-old traditions.
Kites are believed to have traveled from the East to India through the Silk Route along with the Buddhist missionaries and preachers.
Written accounts of the Indian kite can be found in the early ancient Indian literature from the 13th century to the 17th century[7].
The 17th-century celebrated Indian poet, Tulsidas, mentions the kite in his epic poem Ramcharitmanas providing the anecdote of Lord Ram, flying a kite with his brothers and friends when the kite, soaring up into the sky, reached the celestial abode of Lord Indra, Indralok[8]. The epic mentions that Lord Hanuman flew to Indralok to retrieve Shri Rama’s kite. Nikita Desai also mentions the kites depicted in the Ramayana and the Vedas.[9]
The Game of Kite (patangbaazi) in India, both as a royal sport and pastime, reached its pinnacle during the later Moghul period in India. The vibrant Indian kites (patang) gripped nobilities, Hindus and Muslims alike from the 17th century onwards and have remained a popular sport and pastime ever since. Indian kites have also been used to secretly deliver love letters to those who were forbidden to meet.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, the Indian kites also became a metaphor for regional celebrations in the country. Over the years, this Indian sport and pastime might have lost mass popularity. But, on some special festive occasions, the young and old of the country continue to indulge in Kite-flying with fervor and passion. Come Spring, the festival of Makar Sankranti[10], Baisakhi[11], and the country’s Independence Day, the Indian sky is spotted with myriads of colorful kites of all shapes and sizes either soaring happily into the clouds or then fighting other targeted kites and cutting them ruthlessly down to the ground.
Migration from India to the British colonies
The Indian kite soon found an outlet to travel out of India toward other regions and countries existing in the Indian Ocean which is bordered by Africa in the west, Asia in the north, and Australia in the east. Those were the days in the early 19th century when the Europeans had colonial rule over several regions in the Indian Ocean. The dimension and range of migration from India to the British colonies, whether voluntary or forced, had been impressive at that time. Among those countries, are Mauritius, Seychelles, Fiji, Reunion, Mayotte, Trinidad and Tobago, British Guiana, and many others. During their strenuous settlement in the new homeland, the uprooted Indian indentured laborers struggled to the maintenance of identity, to a sense of belonging in the face of imposed disorder. Progressively they moved to form the pattern of village life in Mauritius as it existed in India. They employed measures to reconstruct, even to the smallest extent, ways of religious, social, and cultural life as they existed in the ancestral land.
The Indian patang firmly established itself on Mauritian soil and is today, as popular and sought-after here in Mauritius (my home country), as it is in India.
[1] https://www.britannica.com/topic/kite-aeronautics
[2] Joseph Nidham, Science and Civilization in China, Part 2: Mechanical Engineering, Cambridge University Press,1965
[3] https://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/culture/kites.htm
[4] Susan Tyrell, Kites: The Gentle Art of High Flying, Dolphin Books, 1978
[5] https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg17223143-900-did-the-egyptians-build-pyramids-with-kites
[6] The Metropolitan Police Act, 1839, UK.
[7] Among others the Indian saint poets Namdeva (13th century), Eknath, Dasopant (16th century), and Bihari (early 17th century).
[8] Indralok: the celestial abode of Lord Indra which, according to Hindu belief, every devotee wishes to attain after death.
[9] Nikita Desai, A Different Freedom: Kite Flying in Western India, Cambridge Scholars Publishing,2010
[10] An important Hindu festival when worship is offered to Surya, the Sun God, who begins its movement from the Southern to the Northern hemisphere and transits from the tropic of Cancer and moves towards the tropic of Capricorn. It is also the harvest festival.
[11] A major festival for Sikhs and the people of Punjab to mark the start of the Sikh New Year and to celebrate the formation of the Khalsa Panth of warriors under Guru Gobind Singh in 1699.
