Kembara PLUS - 2014 Jan Feb

FEATURES
Creative kite designs
BRIEF HISTORY
OF THE KITE
The kite is something children all
over the world play with. But how,
and where, was the kite invented?
And was it always a toy?
The generally accepted wisdom is
that the kite was invented in China
as there is written evidence about
kites in ancient tomes. However
it is also known that people in the
South Sea Islands have used kites for
fishing since very early times. They
would attach bait to the tail of the
kite together with a sort of net to
catch the fish. This technique is still in
use today.
Others believe it could have been
independently invented by the
Malaysians or Indonesians who first
made kites from leaves and also have
a very long history of kite flying.
Somewhere between 770 BC and
221 BC large wooden kites called
muyuan were invented in China for
military purposes. Besides spying
on enemy positions, kites were
sometimes used to deliver urgent
messages.
During this time too, all kinds of
people discovered the simple
enjoyment of kite flying. Later in the
history of kites, people came up with
more designs and new ideas, such as
the musical kite. Kites were unknown
in Europe for centuries until Marco
Polo brought them back from his
travels to the East. Then Europeans,
and later, Americans used kites for
all kinds of scientific and military
purposes.
The silk route was also thought
to be responsible for spreading
kites into Arabia and North Africa.
Portuguese traders and the Dutch
East India Company were thought to
be responsible for introducing kites
into Europe; other theories suggests
that Ghengiz Khan and his Mongolian
warriors brought kites with them
when they invaded and ruled most
of central
Europe and
Asia.
7 KEMBARA PLUS ONLINE DISEMBER 2013