Why do we fly kites on September 9? When did this custom start to flow?

Kites are called "paper kites" in ancient times. Kite flying is one of the important folk customs in Xiguan. It is mostly carried out on the windy and sunny days of the Chung Yeung Festival when we ascend the heights. As there are many kinds of kites with different shapes and sizes, kite flying is mostly concentrated in high places or on the mountains, thus it has become a very characteristic flavor of Xiguan tradition. The picture shows the kite flying on the 9th day of the 9th month of the 9th lunar month. Kites were first seen in the Spring and Autumn Period, and the first models were birds. According to the legend, Gongshou Bon (Lu Ban) "cut bamboo into cranes and flew them" and "made wooden kites to spy on Song City". The "bamboo magpie" and "wooden kite" here are the prototypes of kites. However, there was no paper at that time, so it could only be made of bamboo and wood. Qing notes say "Han Xin led an army of 100,000 people to attack Xiang Yu in Gaixia, and made a kite with cowhide, and placed a good flute under it to play the song of homesickness, and the sound was sad, and 8,000 disciples of the Chu army were all dispersed". Here the Han Dynasty kite, but also just a kite made of cowhide. After Cai Lun's papermaking technique was introduced in the Eastern Han Dynasty, there were paper kites, and there were the titles of "paper kite" and "harrier". The appearance of the name "kite" is remembered to have appeared in the Fifth Dynasty, and the "Inquiring Ruminant Records" recorded that: "Kite, that is, paper kite, is also known as wind kite. At the beginning, Li Ye made paper kites in the palace in the Five Dynasties, leading the wind as a play, and then used bamboo as a flute at the head of the kite to make the wind enter the bamboo, sounding like a kite, and was commonly known as the kite." After the Tang Dynasty, kites became popular and the Qingming Festival was designated as the Kite Festival, and after the Song Dynasty, kites were popularized among the people. Since then, the shape of kites has not been limited to magpies, kites, harriers and other birds, insects, fish, people and gods, and after the Ming and Qing Dynasties, kite making has become a very exquisite handmade art.

Huizhou folk paper harrier, has not been the original face, mostly for the quadrilateral plane, with a tail, its shape is similar to the folk posted door god, god, so it is suspected that a simplification of the god-like kites. In Huizhou folk, wind rash production is extremely simple, pick bamboo a branch of the bend, a straight vertical, hold up a quadrilateral paper, stick on the tail adjusted line, can fly. There is a kind of not with a tail, quadrilateral paper slightly larger, called "granny harrier", to let fly when smooth, stable and named.

There are also other shapes of harriers.

On the day of the Chrysanthemum Festival, people fly kites on the streets and in the open fields with the help of stools, and both children and adults fly kites, which is a spectacular event.

According to China's traditional habits, flying kites in the Qingming. Chrysanthemum Harrier can be said to be Huizhou folk custom. Its origin is not to be examined. But from the Huizhou collar south climate view, time seems to be quite appropriate. Qingming before and after the rainy season, spring rains, this time is obviously not suitable for the release of paper harriers, and before and after the Chung Yeung Autumn high and refreshing, strong winds, people in accordance with traditional customs to climb the mountain, outdoor activities, this time to release the paper harriers, the right place, right time, right person and people, it is quite a lot of for the right.