Where is the main origin of kites in Qing Dynasty?

Beijing, Tianjin and Weifang were the main producing areas of kites in Qing Dynasty. Kites in these three places are very famous and are regarded as the traditional "three major schools of kites".

There are more than 200 kinds of Beijing kites in Beiping Kite Book written by Anonymous in Qing Dynasty. Among many kites in Beijing, one kite has the best performance, the greatest influence on the whole country, and is also the most representative, that is, Sha Yaner, whose shape resembles the word "big". This "Shayaner" is also called "Zhayaner" and "Shayaner".

The head of "Sha Yaner" is a plane deformation of the swallow's head. Its eyebrows are raised, its eyes are radiant, and it is endowed with human feelings. Plus the pair of scissors tails, it makes people look like swallows. It is even cuter than a real swallow.

In the Qing Dynasty, people became fat sand swallows and young swallows, then "thin sand swallows" according to slim and beautiful girls, and "wing swallows" according to loving couples.

People add auspicious patterns such as bats, peaches and peonies to Sha Yaner's armpits, waist joints, chest and tail feathers to symbolize happiness, longevity and wealth. In this way, people turned a black swallow into a lively swallow.

In the history of Beijing kites in Qing Dynasty, Sha Yaner experienced such a development process from imitation to imitation, from imitation to personification, and from personification to superman.

In this process, it can be ever-changing and contains extremely broad and rich connotations, but it is always the same, which makes people know that it is Beijing Shayaner rather than anything else.

The "Shayaner" in Beijing in the Qing Dynasty was simple in structure and consisted of only five bamboo sticks. Its wings are bent at the ends of the upper and lower bamboo strips, forming a "pocket" with a special shape, which enables Sha Yaner to take off when the wind is light, stable when the wind is strong, and its flight performance is absolutely superior to other types of kites.

During the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, there were many varieties of kites evolved from the "Shayaner" in Beijing, and their varieties have spread all over the country. Such as the hard-winged fish in Weifang, Shandong Province, and the character kite nicknamed "Running a whore"; Hard-winged butterflies and "wheel basins" in Tianjin; Nantong's Five Tones Mole and so on.

In the Qing Dynasty, there were many kinds of kites in Tianjin, but most of them were soft-winged kites. In Qing Dynasty, Tianjin people used soft wing structure, which can not only be made into wings of birds or insects, but also be made into auspicious clouds around immortals, fins swimming around goldfish, and even many small soft wings can be arranged together to form a big kite.

For example, in the Qing Dynasty, Tianjin kite artists used many butterflies to surround flowers to form kites, which were named "Hundred Flowers Blossom" and many birds surrounded the phoenix to form "Hundred Birds Against the Phoenix", all of which were masterpieces at that time.

In terms of flying skills, Tianjin kites in the Qing Dynasty also had many unique skills. For example, on a main line, more than 10 or even dozens of swallows are connected by multiple branch lines. They were released, danced around the main line, played with each other, and even called "flock of swallows".

At the same time, the structural characteristics of Tianjin kites in Qing Dynasty are "wedging", "disassembling" and "helmet head". The skeleton of Tianjin kite is a combination of "wedge" and "pin" in many places, and there is no need to tie it with thread at all. This kind of kite has a very delicate structure. A very big kite can be disassembled and folded into a very small box, which is very convenient to carry.

There are also Tianjin people who use cotton paper to glue into thin shells in molds and then make the heads of various kites, so that they can be free from the restrictions of binding paper. This kind of "kite head" is light in weight and beautiful in appearance, and is called "helmet head". The fish, shrimp, crab and other aquarium kites in Tianjin, as well as the kites that are happy and happy, are also a must.

The kite-making craft in Tianjin in Qing Dynasty has a long history and exquisite craftsmanship. It can be confirmed in the ancient books on kites in the Qing Dynasty that there are 10 kinds of kites in Tianjin, including lanterns, eagles, Tang Priest's scriptures and butterflies. There was also a famous kite artist in Tianjin in the late Qing Dynasty. His name is Wei Yuantai, and he has made great contributions to the kite-making technology in Tianjin.

Wei Yuantai has been engaged in kite making for more than 70 years. He has successively developed round three-dimensional kites and soft-winged kites, and also created folding-winged kites. He won the honor for the Tianjin kite.

Tianjin kites represented by Wei Yuantai in the late Qing Dynasty were lifelike in shape, elegant in color and fine in workmanship. The surface of the Zheng is mostly made of silk, which is light and strong, and the skeleton is made of thin and elastic bamboo, which is obviously very elegant.

In the Qing Dynasty, Tianjin kites continued to innovate and develop on the basis of inheriting the traditional production technology, with more beautiful shapes and more exquisite paintings. Flying kites in clear skies is pleasing to the eye and can be viewed indoors, so kites are undoubtedly the treasures of folk crafts.

There was a long string of kites in Weifang, Shandong Province in the late Qing Dynasty, which was comparable to that in Tianjin. Shandong kites have a long history, among which Weifang is the most representative. Weifang is the "Kite Capital" of China.

At the same time, Weifang is also the hometown of China kites. Kite-making here has a long history, and it belongs to one of the three major kite factions in China, enjoying the same reputation as Beijing-Tianjin kites.

Weifang kites have diverse themes, rich local flavor and folk life. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Weifang, Shandong Province was a famous kite producing area in China. According to the kite local chronicles "Wei County Records":

In Tomb-Sweeping Day, my children make kites and play on swings. There are different ways to make paper kites. Besides cranes, swallows, butterflies and cicadas, there are all kinds of people who are lifelike and ingenious.

It can be seen that Weifang had formed a fixed kite market in the late Qing Dynasty, and businessmen from many parts of the country came to Weifang to buy kites. At that time, kite patterns were constantly renovated, and a large number of highly skilled kite artists emerged.

The centipede is the most prominent kite in Weifang. On the basis of inheriting the essence of traditional skills, Weifang kites in Qing Dynasty were constantly renovated, and finally won the reputation of "kite art, Weifang first".