The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1881-04-07


For have packed my well-wOrn trunk,
And soon shall be leaving!
r.. N. Turner. in Christian Union.
HOW CELESTIALS FLY KITES.
Kite-time for our juveniles is just at
hand, and, as SO few persons have an
opportunity of seeing for themselves the
queer kites and customs of the Chinese,
a short article on the subject will prob
ably interest our boy and girl readers.
In the first place, the kite owners and
flyers are not boys; but dignifed Of
ficials, well-to-do merchants, and often
gray-haired grandfathers, who vie with
each other in getting up the largest
and quaintest specimens of the CERT
rolant, while the children are only spec
| tators.
But then these kites are very marvels
of skill, made in every imaginable form,
of immense size, and all sorts of ma
terials that can possibly be made avail
| able for the purpose, besides having
that sends forth buzzing, whirring
sound, as the kite flies through the air.
This has given rise to the name fis,sg-
chang. or "wind harpsichord." by
which stately appellation these queer
Celestials" often designate their kites.
But they have also another name in
China for this favorite toy-che-yao,
which means ''kite," a bird very
numerous in Northern China, and very
useful as street scavenger, in gather
ing up the garbage of lanes and fields
On the outskirts of large cities. The
gentle, gliding motion of these birds
has, no doubt, suggested the synonym
of their paper namesakes; just as the
boys have named their kites, in our own
and other English-speaking countries.
after the self-same bird. and probably
the reason is identical on both sides the
| water.
Chinese kites vary in length from
thirty feet to tiny playthings for the
children to learn on, of only a few
inches; and they are composed various
ly of oiled silk, tough mulberry paper,
pasted over delicate frames of bam-
boo. In form, the kites represent pal
aces, pagodas, birds, beasts, butterflies,
fish, wheels. baskets of flowers, trees
loaded with fruit, and sundry other de-
| vices Some are in the form of enor-
nous dragons, serpents, or centipedes;
while others are the very fac sin1iies of
1 vultures, eagles and hawks, and often
there will be regular ''pitched battle''
between several of these monsters,
resulting usually in the destruction of
all engaged, the peculiar motion of the
different animals being so perfectly i'm
itated that one almost holds his breath
in horror, as they writhe and plunge in
mid-air, Just above his head. Another
favorite device is to have several hawks
attached to central hoop, over which
they hover, or are pulled in and out,
by separate cords, as if contending over
a quarry.
Occasionally castle is seen, with
spires and turrets, arched windows,
and vaulted dome, all lighted by small
tapers, that soon burn down and set
ment the exhibit is grandly beautiful;
and then this literal "castle in the
air." with all its glory, goes out in ut
kite is made up of large number of
small ones, each of which looks like a
domino block, with rush four or five
feet long fastened to each end of these
small ones, while the whole are held
together hy common stem. Even the
human species is occasionally repre-
sented in the multifarious category of
oriental kites. l remember one at
Bangkok. the capital of Siam, in which
a queer sort of aerial game was per-
formed with a corps of eight actors,
all of which were simply kites! Or,
rather, there were seven actors, and
the eighth kite was gorgeous
castle, built of transparent oiled
silk, over framework of fine wire, and
the fair edifice was brilliantly lighted by
wax tapers. Within the castle was a
lovely maiden; and two demons. one Of
whom was mounted on huge dragon.
paused before the door, upon which the
lady fled through the open roof, fol
lowed by her two attendants. The two
demons pursued and the dragon looked
several times as If about to swallow the
maiden; but presently both demons and
dragons were thrown with violence to
the earth by glittering angel, who
had suddenly come to the rescue. Then
the castle blew up and fell as a pile oi
ashes on the sward. while the ange
bore away the beautiful lady and both
were lost in the distance. So ended
this game of kites, in which there ap
peared no living actor; demons, dragon
angel and ladies being ingeniously
guided in their various movements BY
the hand that held the strings of these
queer specimens of the cert:Uolant.
Kites are in vogue only at one season
of the year, and then the whole popula
ton turn out en- n,nsse, to celebrate thi.
annual festival of kite-fying. which
dates back thousands of years; and s
curious legend processes to account fol
its origin. This legend says that {
wise seer warned friend of his t.
leave his house on a certain day, taking
his wife and children with him, and no
to return until night, in order that they
might escape the doom of impending
calamity. The man obeyed the injunc
ton, fled to the hills with his whole
family. and spent the day in kitc-fying
When he returned. at nightfall, he founC
that the death-angel had passed ove
his dwelling, and every one of hi
J domestic animals lay stark and stiff
| where they had fallen. He and hi
family had escaped only by being
absent; and. in grateful recognition o
his rescue he instituted the annual fes
tival of kite-fying, which has sine
! grown into a National observance
throughout the length and breadth o
the Empire. The day is the ninth o
November, and the usage. known a
tang-kao {" ascending the heights'') ha
become SO general that in the vicinit,
of the large cities it is not unusual t
) see thousands of these huge, quaint
: looking kites floating simultaneousl,