History of kites.

          No one knows exactly who flew the first kites or where they were first created, but historians believe that kites developed almost simultaneously and independently in both China and Malaysia approximately 3000 years ago. The inhabitants of the South Sea Islands used kites for many purposes, including communicating with the gods, divination, and funerals.

             One of the main uses, however, was for fishing. Bait was tied to the tail and the kite was equipped with a net to capture the hapless fish. In China, legends and stories about kites also date back about 3000 years. Stories are told of the Chinese military using kites as a distraction and a weapon to confound their enemies. The soldiers are said to have used kites to fly explosives and fireworks over their enemies' heads, causing them to believe that evil spirits were attacking. The frightened enemy troops quickly retreated. Another Chinese story tells of a general who had difficulty with his own troops after they had seen a shooting star and were frightened by it. They felt the fire falling from the sky was an evil omen and were leaving the battlefield. The general used a kite to carry a flame back up into the sky and out of sight. The soldiers were convinced that the star had been returned to the sky and that the evil omen had been reversed. They went on to win their battle.

            There is also a story from Japan about a famous robber named Kakinoki Kinsuke, who was supposed to have used a person-lifting kite to raise himself up to the roof of a castle where the were statues of dolphins made of gold. He was able to steal some of the scales from the dolphins and hid them. He did not escape the authorities, though, and came to a rather fatal end by execution.

As time went on, kites were incorporated into local customs in Asia. In Korea, it is a tradition to write the names and birth dates of male children on the kites and then to fly them. The line is then cut to ensure a good year by taking all the bad spirits with it.

           In India, kites have had a major place in the culture for centuries. The world's largest kite festival called uttrayan is held in Ahmedabad every January fourteenth and boasts over 100,000 kites in the sky at once. Kite fighting, a sport where kite flyers attempt to knock other kites from the sky, is a popular pastime. Kites are so important in this culture that the Hindi language has over 100 words for kites.

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