The “Crane and Celestial Boy” Kite

文：姜连少 张崇高

Imperial banquets of any royal court in Chinese history were known for huge cost and extravagance. The “Qiansou Banquet”of Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) imperial court was believed to be the most luxurious.

During the reign of Emperor Qian Long, the Qing Dynasty was at the height of power and splendor. In 1795, the 84-year-old Emperor Qian Long decided to hold a grand “Qiansou Banquet” Upon learning the news, local officials from Shandong started to prepare offerings for the emperor.

Then it was disclosed that the emperor wanted two specially-made kites for the use of“flying away bad luck” Some officials reported to the throne that Weifang kites were the best and most famous in the country. The emperor issued an imperial edict at once and ordered the officials from Weizhou to offer kites as soon as possible.

Upon receiving the imperial edict, Weizhou officials immediately chose seven renowned kite masters. Among them, there was an old man called He Da who was known for making new-fashioned kites. His human figure kites and bucket-shaped kites were unparalleled in Weizhou.

However, he still felt nervous when asked to make kites for the emperor. One night, he dreamed that he was on the Yunmen Mountain of Qingzhou. In his dreamland, the scene was magnificent with the first rays of morning sun and mist floating among the pine forests. The big character “Shou”(longevity) engraved on the mountain slope turned golden under the rising sun. Then he saw an old man, though white-haired and senior of age but strong and healthy. A large group of people, each holding peach of immortality in hands, climbed on the steps leading up to the mountain. When He Da paid a close look, he saw a celestial boy in yellow flying on a crane.

Early next morning, He Da brought his apprentice to visit the Yunmen Mountain and chose the route appeared in his dream. The mountain was hidden in dense forest and thick foliage seemed to blot out the sun.

Inspired by the dream and the real scene of the mountain, He Da decided to make a kite with the theme of a celestial boy offering peach of immortality to congratulate birthday.

He then made a flat kite with a painting of a celestial boy offering peach of immortality. He invited some of his kite artisan friends and came to the bank of the Bailang River for trial flying. Thy kite was well balanced in the air, but the picture on the kite was not clear enough. After a heated discussion among the artisans, He Da improved the design by turning the boy into a separate part and then bundled it up onto the back of the crane. He wasted no time to work on the kite and within several days, the kite was finished. He Da named the kite as “Crane and Celestial Boy”

When the local officials heard about He Das work, they were immensely delighted. On the day of trial flying, local people ran around spreading the news and gathered in large number to watch the event. With bright color and vivid modeling, the kite received profuse praise from onlookers.

The “Crane and Celestial Boy”kite was then offered to Emperor Qian Long. He was also very pleased and ordered to grant a reward to the maker of the kite. To win the emperors admiration, one official from Weizhou deceived the emperor by saying he had led a group of artisans and made the kite and never mentioned the name of He Da. Without knowledge of the truth, Emperor Qian Long bestowed a big reward to the official.

When He Da learned the news, he fell in a faint caused by anger. He was confined to bed from then on and never rose again. To commemorate the kite master, people called all kites made by He Da as “Heduo Kites?”

Later on, the “Crane and Celestial Boy”kite became one of the four representative works of the Weifang kite.