专题 17 中国文化读写专项：中国风筝+中国扇 概况- 2024年高考英语常考中国文化读写专练+素材积累

Lesson 5 Kites风筝 China is universally acknowledged as the birthplace of kites. Kites originated in the Spring and Autumn Period over 2,000 years ago. Legend has it that the wooden bird made by the ancient philosopher Mozi was the earliest kite. Later, his disciple Lu Ban made some improvement on the wooden kite by using bamboo as the material. The creation gradually evolved into current multi-line kites. Folklorists hold that ancient people invented kites to be in memory of dead family members and friends. That's why they would fly kites on the Qingming Festival, a day ancient people believed the gate of hell would throw open, to send their greetings to their loved ones passed away via the kite. In the Tang and Song Dynasties, due to the booming of paper making industry, people began to make kites with paper. In the late Tang Dynasty, some people added musical strings to kites. When the wind blew, the kites gave out sounds like the guzheng (an ancient Chinese music instrument), hence the name of "Feng Zheng" (literally meaning "Zheng in the wind"). In the Song Dynasty, flying kites became a popular outdoor activity, with lots of poems and paintings portraying kite-flying scenes. In ancient times, apart from being an entertainment article, a kite could also be used for military purposes, such as distance measuring, information transmitting and dangerous spot crossing etc. In 190 BC, when the war between Chu and Han was underway, the Han general Han Xin used a kite to measure the length of the tunnel under the Weiyang Palace when he launched an attack against the palace. And during the Battle of Gaixia, when Xiang Yu's troops were surrounded by Liu Bang's troops, Han Xin ordered the making of a cowhide kite, with a bamboo flute attached to it. When the kite was flown in the wind, the Han army sang some Chu songs with the flute, breaking up the Chu army's morale. The Han army won the battle in the end. This was the origin of the Chinese idiom "Simian Chuge" (literal