To enhance
the kite-manufacturing experiences,
The Association invited particularly two kite masters, Mr. Lee, Hou-rui and
Mr. Lin, Jin-kung, to the community
for kite-weaving teaching.
From
trimming, coloring,
adjusting to throwing the finished
kite to fly in the sky, all of
instructions are done by
oneself. The course will make the
modern people who have been accustomed
In ancient
times, kites were called
"wooden kite", "phoenix scarf",
"paper kite", "sparrow hawk" and etc.. According to different regional customs,
the designations of "south sparrow hawk" and "north paper kite" also differed
from each other. It is said that the kite-manufacturing can be traced back
to the Spring and Autumn period. Until the Five Dynasties period, Mr. Lee,
Yeh made a paper kite, passed a thread through the kite and threw it to the
sky for fun. Later on, he made a bamboo flute on the front of kite leading
the wind through the flute. For it sounded like the Chinese zither, the paper
kite was called "Feng Zheng" (wind zither), a folk art that has been passed
on from the agricultural society until the modern days. The famous poetic
proverbs, such as "Village maids compete with kite games," and "Double ninth,
soaring kites shout in the sky," reflect the scene of the leisure time in
the busy agricultural society. During the periods of autumn harvest or around
the Chin Min Festival (the 5th of the 24 solar terms), with the beautiful
spring scenery, people fly the kites under sunshine and blue sky, enjoying
the playing fun between parents and children out of busy season for farming.
In some places, people not only fly the kites during the day, but also the
nighttime. They hang a string of small colorful lanterns beneath the kites
or on the leading thread. When the kites are soaring to the sky, these small
lanterns look like sparkling stars at night. For this reason, they are designated
as "divine lantern." Till today, because of the sequential improvements of
materials and manufacturing skills, flying kites has become a competitive
leisure entertainment for glamour and fascination.
...Tungshan
Kite Exhibition Hall is located in Tungshan Primary School. This kite activity
is
advocated by the elder school principal, Mr. Yang, Da-wan. Along with the
full efforts of Mr. Lee,
Hou-rui and Mr. Lin, Jin-kung to promote the program, the school kite team
was dispatched to
participate in the first session of Chungcheng Cup for National Kite Championship
in 1983 and
turned to be the overall winner in four items.
...Tungshan's Kite Festival has been convened sequentially for two years.
In addition to be widely
welcomed, these activities also obtained the positive recognition from the
Council for Cultural
Affairs of Executive Yuan. Under the encouraging support of the Council for
Cultural Affairs,
Tungshan Kite Exhibition Hall planned by Tungshan Village Office with full
efforts was also set
up in Tungshan Primary School. It is considered to be a culture that distinguishes
the county,
a folk art to be passed on to the coming generations and, furthermore, a culture
heritage activity.
...In Tungshan Kite Exhibition Hall, explanations about the process of kite-manufacturing
and
structural designing of kites are provided to the public, which is a varied,
interesting and
constructive activity.
...To spread the skills of kite-manufacturing, since year 2001 Mr. Lee, Hou-rui
has been visiting in
person JENJU community to teach the residents how to manufacture kites and
also promotes the
experiencing education in the community activity center with the aim of constructing
Tungshan
village as "The Hometown of Kites."