The history of kites began over 3000 years ago, however the exact date and place where they first appeared is contested. Some legends state the first kite was born when a farmer tied a piece of string to his hat to prevent it from blowing away in the wind. Others that an enterprising and obviously vain official who desired to make his banner more visible strengthened it with a bamboo frame and flew it overhead for all to see. Quite possibly (and slightly less interestingly!) it was possibly inspired by the sails found on boats, as wind powered boats have been used in China for 3000 years.
However it was originaly born, most people generally agree that kites were first seen in China, where materials for the construction of the kites was readily available. Silk for the sail material, fine, high tensile line and bamboo for a strong and lightweight frame. Clive Hart and Tal Streeter (2 well respected authors on the subject of kites) contest that kites made from leaves had been flown in Indonesia long before this time. Their finding are based on intepretations of cave paintings found on Muna Island off Sulawesi. Another possible birth spot in our history of kites is the South Sea Islands where they were used for fishing. By attaching bait and a net to the tail of the kite it could be used to attract and catch fish. A practice that can still be observed on some South Sea Islands up to this day.
It is not unreasonable to belive that kites emerged in seperate spots at around the same time and historians generally concur that although China is generally credited with the invention of the kite this is mainly due to its well preserved history and wealth of written and artistic records.
No one really knows what these early kites were used for, some believe they had religious and mythical connections while others believe their main purpose lay in warfare. By flying kites (which shrieked in the wind) over enemy encampments generals were apparently able to convince the enemy troops that they were being attacked by evil spirits, at the least destroying morale if not convincing the army to up and leave. (sometimes when the beach gets really busy I really wish this still worked today)
The Moari people of New Zealand used kites for spiritual purposes. Their kites were modelled in the shape of birds as it was believed that birds carried mesages between humans and the Gods. Their kites were often designed to represent the Gods themselves and so kite flying to the Moari's was considered to be a sacred ritual, often accompanied by chanting, and gave the people a way of bringing themselves closer to their Gods.
The earliest documented evidence of kite flying can be found in China dating back to approx 400 BC (468 - 376 BC). The famous Chinese philosopher Mo-tse carved a bird over the course of 3 years. He then proceeded to fly the bird for one day and then seems to have forgotten about it. He did however leave conclusive, written evidence referencing this event in Chinese history.
From here the application of kite flying became much wider across China with the military seeing the potential in such a device and using kites in many original ways. One Chinese general, Huan Theng is said to have used kites to frighten enemy soldiers by building them in such a way that they shrieked (like deamons) when flown and caused the enemy to panic, believing they we're under attack by the hordes of Hell itself. He also, interestingly, used them to carry scouts into the air to gain a better vantage point across the battlefield or the surrounding area, which is the closest application to modern day kitesurfing...practiced over 2000 years ago. Another Chinese General Han Hsin is said to have used kites to measure how far his army would have to tunnel to reach past a cities defences by flying kites over the walls. These tactics were later re used and adapted by Ghengis Khan and his Mongul horde who used large kites to carry soldiers up into the air to fire down on the enemy (rather him than me!). Khan also employed smaller kites to fly messages over the lines.
Over the next hundreds of years explorers and other travelers spread word of kites all over Asia and in many places they developed religious significance, being used to carry messages to the gods, or simply taking away bad luck from infants (by flying the kite over the infant and then cutting its lines so the bad luck disapears with it). In other areas they were used to frighten birds away from crops and one enterprising thief in Japan is said to have used a kite to fly over the walls of the Nagoya Castle. intent on stealing golden scales from a sculpture of a dolphin inside. His plan worked well, initially, and he was indeed carried into the castle, however something obviously backfired from there as he was later captured and executed.
The history of kites in Europe began when explorers brought knowledge of them back from the eastern world. Marco Polo was the first to document this knowledge in 1295, sharing written accounts of how to construct and fly kites he had seen in his travels through Asia. By the 15th century kites were well known throughout Europe and we have paintings depicting children flying kites dating from 1618.
The Mysteryes of Nature and Art by John Bate's
The history of kites took an interesting turn in the 18th Century when scientists realised their usefulness in studying meteorological effects. Alexander Wilson in 1749 used a kite to measure air temperatures at 3000 feet and Ben Franklin used a kite to prove that lightning actually was electricity in 1752.
The idea of using a simple kite as a means of propulsion dates back to the 12th century when the Chinese used kites to pull their canoes across the water. This kitesailing as it was known was then re discovered in the 1800's by George Pocock who took the basic kite design and by increasing the size was able to pull carts on land and ships on the water. The kite Pocock built were designed with 4 lines and the carts and boats they were pulling could travel upwind and the kite itself could generate enough power to lift the cart/boat off the ground and power them.
Kites continued to be used for gathering meteorological data until balloons and airplanes took over in the early 20th century. Kites were used during the first world war to provide a raised vantage point over the battlefield (another idea discovered in Asia almost 3000 years ago). By raising a man by only 400 meters his distance of vision improved from roughly 8km to 40km (over level ground). During World War II, kites were provided with life rafts and intended for use in raising emergency antennas when sailors needed to abandon their ships. Nasa continued to experiment with kites as a means to aid spaceship recovery and these experiments led to the discovery of many of the materials that are now used to construct modern kites.
It wasn't until the 1980's when Wipika solved the problem suffered by all these earlier kite designs...how to launch it from the water. The Leading Edge Inflatable (LEI) kite was born. Then in the 1990's Laird Hamilton showed the possibilities of kitesurfing to a bunch of surfers and extreme sport junkies off the coast of Maui, since then its popularity has exploded leading to it becoming the fastest growing water sport in the world.