Sky Full of Kites

Kite flying’s long history can be dated back 3,000 years, to when the Chinese began using bamboo and silk to make kites.

It is said that the first kite ever made was a butterfly. Why a butterfly and not any other insect or animal?

One sunny afternoon many, many years ago, the story is told, an old man was collecting herbs on a mountainside somewhere in the Middle Kingdom (China). He had been in the forest since early morning and was now a little tired. He sat down near the trunk of a big banyan tree to take a break. The limbs of the tree stretched wide and low, thick with green, shiny leaves. The old man rested, immersed in the comfort of the tree’s shadow and the light breeze.

With half-closed eyes, he noticed something moving above him. A colorful butterfly was caught in a huge spider web hanging from the tree’s lower limbs. The butterfly was struggling to get away, but in vain. Meanwhile, the spider was approaching the trapped butterfly from the center of its silky web, sure it would soon have a delicious meal.

The old man, seeing the helpless butterfly, immediately untied his bamboo pole from the two baskets he had used to collect herbs. He reached for the web with his pole and tried to stop the spider from getting close to the butterfly. In his eagerness to save the pretty insect, he tripped and fell into a deep pit. His hands held tightly to the pole, which he found was now attached to a strong silky string with the butterfly at the far end. So attached, the butterfly flew up into the sky and, at the same time, pulled the man out of the pit.

The butterfly danced in the wind and pulled the man up with it into a cloudless blue sky. When the old man looked down, he saw the banyan tree and his baskets of herbs. He wanted to get back to them before he flew too high and too far. So thinking, he loosened his grip on the pole, fell through the sky, hit the tree, and landed flat on the ground.

When he landed, the man yelled loudly, and felt as if he had awoken from a dream. He looked around and, to his great surprise, he saw the big spider web; but no butterfly lay trapped in it. He must have saved the butterfly and set her free, he told himself. He saw the pit nearby. He must have been saved by the butterfly too. He was happy and thankful.

Back home, the old man kept thinking about the beautiful butterfly that had taken him flying through the sky. He used fine pieces of bamboo to make a frame in the form of a butterfly. Then he glued thin silk cloth to it, painted it the same colors as the butterfly he had seen, attached it to a string, and set it flying in the wind.

Now kites are made in different shapes and sizes: butterfly, fish, dragon, eagle, owl, phoenix, dragonfly, bird…you name it. Kite flying is one way to reach for the sky and it teaches us to aim high. It is usually a family event; everyone enjoys flying kites. In some places there are also kite festivals where kite fans display their kites and enter kite flying competitions.