风筝，是一种中国传统的民间工艺品，至今已有二千多年的历史了。
        古代，南方的风筝被称为"鹞"，北方的则被称为"鸢"。早在春秋时代，东周的墨翟就用木头制造了第一只风筝。相传墨翟 "斫木为鹞，三年而成，飞一日而败"，也就是说他用了三年时间，最终用木板制成了一只木鸟，并飞升到天空中，但这只木鸟飞了一天就坏了。墨翟制造的这只"木鹞"是世界上最早的风筝。后来他的弟子鲁班根据墨翟的设计理念，用竹子代替了木板，并将风筝做成了喜鹊的样子，称为"木鹊"。唐宋时期，随着造纸业的发达，民间开始用纸做风筝，称为"纸鸢"。

木鹞

       风筝发明之后，最初被作为一种侦察的军事工具。鲁班 "制木鸢以窥宋城"，就是利用风筝来窥探敌城信息。后来随着民间纸制风筝的流行，风筝渐渐成为民间深受欢迎的娱乐工具。尤其到了宋代，放风筝成为人们非常喜爱的户外活动。宋人周密的《武林旧事》中写道"清明时节，人们到郊外放风鸢，日暮方归。"

       当然，风筝在二千多年的发展历史中，逐渐融合了中国的传统文化。传统的中国风筝上，到处可见寓意吉祥的图案，如"福寿双全"、"龙凤呈祥"、"百蝶闹春"、"鲤鱼跳龙门"、"百鸟朝凤"、"连年有鱼"、"四季平安"等等。人们通过这样图案形象，传达了喜庆、吉祥如意和祝福之意，又寄托了对美好生活的向往和憧憬。它反映了群众的欣赏习惯，渗透了人们善良健康的思想感情，融入了我国民族传统和民间习俗，因而在民间广泛流传，为人们喜闻乐见。

The Kite

The kite is one of China's traditional folk crafts, with a history of over 2000 years. 

In ancient times, kites were called "鹞(yáo)" in the south and "鸢(yuān)" in the north. As early as the Spring and Autumn period, Mo Ti of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty constructed the first kite out of wood. Legend has it that Mo Ti "cut wood into a sparrow hawk, three years in the making, flew one day and failed.". In other words, he spent three years to finally construct a bird out of wooden planks. The wooden bird flew up into the sky but it was ruined in just one day. This "wooden sparrow hawk" that Mo Ti built was the world's earliest kite. Based on Mo Ti's design concept, his disciple Lu Ban later replaced the wooden planks with bamboo and built the kite into the shape of a magpie, calling it a "wooden magpie". With the advances in paper-making during the Tang and Song periods, people started to build them out of paper, calling them "kites".

After the kite was invented, it was first used as a military reconnaissance tool. Lu Ban "built a wooden kite to spy on the city of Song", meaning that he used the kite to spy out information from an enemy city. Later, with folk paper kites becoming more widespread, kites became a popular entertainment tool among the common people. Kite flying became a beloved outdoor activity especially during the Song Dynasty. Song scholar Chou Mi wrote in Old Affairs of Martial Arts World:"During the Tomb Sweeping Festival, people go to the countryside to fly kites and come back at sunset."

Of course, over the course of its 2000 years' development, kites gradually became a part of Chinese traditional culture. A traditional Chinese kite is covered with metaphorical and propitious patterns such as "enjoying both happiness and longevity", "prosperity brought by the dragon and the phoenix", "hundred butterflies celebrating spring", "a carp leaping over the dragon gate", "all birds paying homage to the phoenix", "having a surplus every year", "being well through the four seasons", etc. Through these patterns and images, people express jubilation, good luck, and blessings; in them they entrust their hopes and yearnings for a good life. The kite reflected the people's appreciation of beauty, and is infiltrated with their positive consciousness. Kites have blended into China's folk traditions and customs, and are spread among the people, bringing them much delight.

• sparrow [´spærəu]   n.麻雀   (初中英语单词)
• construct [kən´strʌkt]   vt.建造；构(词)；造句   (初中英语单词)
• wooden [´wudn]   a.木制的；呆板的   (初中英语单词)
• concept [´kɔnsept]   n.概念；观念；思想   (初中英语单词)
• entertainment [,entə´teinmənt]   n.招(款)待；联欢会   (初中英语单词)
• beloved [bi´lʌvd]   a.为....所爱的 n.爱人   (初中英语单词)
• scholar [´skɔlə, ´skɑ-]   n.学者；奖学金获得者   (初中英语单词)
• culture [´kʌltʃə]   n.修养；文化；饲养   (初中英语单词)
• dragon [´drægən]   n.龙   (初中英语单词)
• bamboo [,bæm´bu:]   n.竹   (高中英语单词)
• sweeping [´swi:piŋ]   a.掠过的 n.扫除；清除   (高中英语单词)
• festival [´festivəl]   n.节日；庆祝；欢庆   (高中英语单词)
• homage [´hɔmidʒ]   n.敬意，尊敬   (高中英语单词)
• surplus [´sə:pləs]   n.&a.剩余(的)   (高中英语单词)
• appreciation [ə,pri:ʃi´eiʃən]   n.评价；感激   (高中英语单词)
• positive [´pɔzətiv]   a.确定的   (高中英语单词)
• traditional [trə´diʃənəl]   a.传统的，习惯的   (英语四级单词)
• dynasty [´dinəsti]   n.王朝；朝代   (英语四级单词)
• disciple [di´saipəl]   n.门徒，弟子   (英语四级单词)
• widespread [´waidspred]   a.广布的；普遍的   (英语四级单词)
• martial [´mɑ:ʃəl]   a.战争的；象军人的   (英语四级单词)
• countryside [´kʌntrisaid]   n.乡下，农村   (英语四级单词)
• entrust [in´trʌst]   vt.委托；信托   (英语四级单词)
• calling [´kɔ:liŋ]   n.点名；职业；欲望   (英语六级单词)