Who really created the first kite?

JAKARTA (JP): Many of us grew up with kites, either flying them or simply watching others fly them. But, how many of us ever wondered who created the first kite?

Some kite lovers and historians believe that kites originated in China more than two thousand years ago. But American Tal Streeter, a leading authority on Asian kites, feels that the first kites were made by Indonesians, not the Chinese.

Aware that he has no concrete evidence to support his stance, Streeter states kites logically should be related to people who worked with sails because of their consciousness of wind, water and sky.

"I think the Chinese have never been conscious of water because China is a huge continent. It's more likely that islanders like Indonesians or the people of Malaysia had that consciousness," Streeter told The Jakarta Post recently.

Historians prefer to award the Chinese the credit of creating the first kites because of very old written documents which support their stance.

The earliest recorded use of a kite is in 196 B.C. when Chinese General Han Hsin flew a kite over the palace he was besieging to calculate the distance between his troops and the palace walls. Armed with this knowledge, he had a tunnel dug and entered undetected.

There is no written record of kites in Indonesia or other Southeast Asian countries because the writing tradition didn't start until much later.

Chinese kites are made of silk and paper which means that they could only have been constructed in advanced civilizations. Indonesian kites, on the other hand, were made from leaves and had flying lines made of pineapple fiber (Agave cantala).

Logically, the first kites must have been made of natural materials like those from Indonesia, said Streeter.

Inhabitants of Muna regency in Southeast Sulawesi, for instance, still have Khagati kites which are made of the dried leaves of a kind of cassava plant locally known as ubi gadung (Dioscorea hispida).

The Sasak tribe, the indigenous people of Lombok, make kites from banana trunk layers, said Streeter.

Traditional American kites were actually inspired by Javanese kites.

"Around the year 1800, American journalist and entrepreneur William A. Eddy introduced the kite, which was known at that time as the Malay kite to the Americans. He made some changes in the Javanese kite he saw, and later his kite was to become the first archetypal, traditional American diamond two-stick paper kite," said Streeter.

However, not really understanding the principle behind the Javanese kite, Eddy's kite was more stable but not as flexible as its Javanese counterpart.

Streeter said that Javanese and Malay kites are compatriots, but have no connection to other Asian kites.

"Japanese and Korean kites are very influenced by Chinese kites, but not Indonesian kites," said Streeter, who wrote a book on the Japanese kite called The Art of Japanese Kite in 1974.

Similar

One type of Japanese kite, however, is very similar to an Javanese kite because, according to history, it came to Japan from India on a Dutch trading ship during the Dutch colonial period in Indonesia.

Streeter is currently writing a book about Indonesian kites, which he considers very special but lacking the means to be introduced to the world.

"I blend it with traveling in Indonesia. Therefore people can use it also as a guide for traveling in Indonesia," said Streeter, adding that only in Jakarta do people fly big fighting kites.

Responding to an opinion that Indonesian kites are less strong because they have bamboo frames, Streeter said that bamboo is strong enough and is actually more artful. Most kites made outside Indonesia have started using fiberglass for their frames.

"If people use fiberglass, I think it's only a matter of availability. Many Americans love to use bamboo too, but it's not so easy to find it," said Streeter.

Streeter love for kites is not only reflected in his books, but also in his name card which is illustrated with a robot flying a kite.

"Kites are so wonderful that I believe robots, too, will love to fly them," said Streeter who has flown kites since he was 10 years old.

"And, kites are associated with a feeling of relief, with peace and with nature. That's why children respect this wonderful feeling, which I think should be discovered also by adults," he said. (als)