People have been flying kites for thousands of years. Some believe that a Greek fellow named Archytas, who lived in the fourth century B.C.E., assembled the first one. But it appears that the Asiatic peoples were flying kites long before his time.
The Koreans, for example, claim that in the dim past a general of theirs invented the kite to encourage his troops. It is said that he attached a lantern to one, and while it was flying aloft, his soldiers thought it was a new star and a sign of divine help. The Chinese, on the other hand, claim that a wise man or general of theirs made the first kite. They say that he attached bamboo sounding devices to a number he made and flew them over a camp of enemy soldiers late at night. The wind passing through the bamboo devices produced eerie sounds. The enemy fled, thinking that they were voices of guardian angels warning them of impending danger.
Actually, no one knows who put together the first kite or the year it was made. But it is established that they were well known in China by the fourth century B.C.E.
The Koreans, for example, claim that in the dim past a general of theirs invented the kite to encourage his troops. It is said that he attached a lantern to one, and while it was flying aloft, his soldiers thought it was a new star and a sign of divine help. The Chinese, on the other hand, claim that a wise man or general of theirs made the first kite. They say that he attached bamboo sounding devices to a number he made and flew them over a camp of enemy soldiers late at night. The wind passing through the bamboo devices produced eerie sounds. The enemy fled, thinking that they were voices of guardian angels warning them of impending danger.
Actually, no one knows who put together the first kite or the year it was made. But it is established that they were well known in China by the fourth century B.C.E.