In ancient times, it was mostly used for military investigation, communication and crossing insurance. For example, when Liu Bang attacked Weiyang Palace in the Han Dynasty, according to Han Xin, he measured the distance between the two with a kite line and dug a tunnel to win it in one fell swoop.
After the Tang Dynasty, kites gradually became folk entertainment toys, and reached its peak in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Wang Ding, a poet in Qing Dynasty, wrote in "Village Residence": "In February, the grass grows with warblers, while the Buddha blows willow and drinks spring smoke. The children came back from school early and were busy flying kites in the east wind. " Kites began to spread among people.
The real genre appeared after the publication of Cao Xueqin, a great writer in Qing Dynasty. While writing A Dream of Red Mansions, he once wrote a collection of abandoned art houses for the disabled. The book is divided into eight volumes. The second volume, Textual Research on Kites in North and South, summarizes 43 kinds of kites in China.
At the same time, there are 2 1 formulas of various kite making essentials, which have been passed down and copied by artists. The kite skills have been passed down to this day, pushing our kite culture and skills to a new height again. Weifang, Beijing, Tianjin and Nantong regional schools.
Types of folk kites in Ming Dynasty;
Folk traditional kites are represented by folk tricolor kites originating from Weifang, Shandong. The main symbol of tricolor kite is the combination of red, green and yellow, with bright colors and strong contrast.
Yangjiabu in Weifang is one of the three major producing areas of Chinese New Year pictures. The tricolor kite and Yangjiabu's woodblock New Year pictures interact and complement each other. Weifang Yangjiabu tricolor woodcut New Year picture "Hard-winged Kite" was once regarded as the representative work of Weifang Kite, which was popular all over the world.
Hard-winged butterflies and bipedal butterfly kites in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces evolved from tricolor hard-winged butterflies in Weifang. Butterflies in Taipei also absorbed the colors and shapes of Qilu kites, giving them a strong local flavor and gradually forming their own style.
The materials of Shandong folk kites have obvious public color. For example, the popular folk song "Ten Girls Go for an outing" in Dezhou, Shandong Province, once described kites with cowherd and weaver girl, red light, flower basket chain, goldfish, chicken, butterfly, bee, vase happy characters, seven stars, plum blossom lights, figures, animal and plant forms and character stories.