Kite flying was first recorded in Ancient China. Among the earliest accounts includes a story of the famed general Han Xin (d. 196 BCE), one of the most important leaders to establish China’s influential and long-lasting Han Dynasty. Desiring to tunnel under a city wall he was trying to conquer, Han Xin figured out the distance his army would need to dig by flying a kite above the town under siege and then calculating the measurement. His army was victorious, and Han Xin eventually went down in history as one of the “Three Heroes of the early Han Dynasty.” Pictured here is a more pacific use of kites, done by the artist Suzuki Harunobu in 1766 CE.
