- Gordon Dumoulin
Kite flying season in China...
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ? ๐๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ข๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ค๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ด๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ด.
๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐ป ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ !
Springtime, end of March and April is the perfect windy season for flying kites in China. Last weekend Tongzhou Canal Park in #Beijing was filled with people enjoying flying kites in all colors and sizes.
๐๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฌ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ขโฆ
* Kite flying is especially popular during #Qingming (Tomb Sweeping) Festival which usually falls at the beginning of April (this April 5, 2022).
* Kites were invented about 2300 years ago by two philosophers, Mozi and Lu Ban, during the Warring States Period (475โ221 BC), which followed the relatively peaceful and philosophical Spring and Autumn Period.
* Kites played a role in providing intelligence in ancient Chinese military battles. Kites were made to measure distances, providing information to aid moving large armies across difficult terrain. They were used to calculate and record wind readings, similar to ship flags at sea.
* During times in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912), kites were flown during spring to drive off bad luck, wishing a sound health and bless a good harvest season. Kite designs, such as shapes and colors, all have different meanings and symbolism. As always, red is a color often found on kites because this is one of the colors associated with good luck.
* The city of #Weifang in #Shandong province is Chinaโs โKite Capitalโ with a long kite history, worldโs largest International Kite Festival, a kite museum and lots of kite manufacturers.
* It is said that Marco Polo allegedly witnessed the first โparagliderโ in 1282, a manned kite flying in in Weifang, Shandong province. According his travel diary, there was a tradition in Weifang at the time that involved binding a sailor to a large kite to a ship as it rode with the wind for good fortune of the sea voyage.
"๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ? ๐๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ข๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ค๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ด๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ด."
A poem by Luo Qilan ้งฑ็ถบ่ญ (courtesy name Peixiang ไฝฉ้ฆ). She was a renowned poet and painter from Jiangsu province in 18th centry Qing Dynasty. The poem expresses the broken kite, "this trip can take the root of the disease." Therefore, others do not pick up the kite that has broken the line, which is the "obscurity" of the release.