Hu knows the art of making dragon kite
By Li Huacheng and Xu Wei |
February 27, 2012, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
"MAKE the structure of a kite with bamboo strips, and then tighten the corners of the bamboo frame with cotton thread." In the classroom of Caowang Primary School, folk artist Hu Ping tells students what traditional kites are and how to make them.
Hu was not born into a rich family. In his childhood, the salary of his father was the only source of income for his family. His father was then a veteran maker of dragon kites in the village. The only happy memory he has in his childhood is watching his father flying the dragon kites each year during the winter.
However, at that time the young and aggressive Hu didn't follow his father's advice to study making kites. The then 14-year-old Hu came to Shanghai to learn glass blowing at a small workshop in Xuhui District. The kites made by his father were the only property of his. When he was 25 years old, he moved to Jiading District and started his 30-year career of glass making at Shanghai Xinhu Glass Factory.
After retirement, Hu accidentally took up kite-making with bamboo strips because his granddaughter wanted to have a kite. But it was not as easy as he expected. Fortunately he got to know Xu Bolong and other grassroots craft artists at Xuhang Town. He began to learn kite-making from the very beginning, including the simple techniques of making bamboo strips.
"During Hu's early days at our kite making team, he was not the best to make kite," Xu Bolong recalls. "But Hu is very diligent. He often spends a long time on making a single kite."
When Hu was making the dragon head of a kite, he amazed his friends with his creativity. Based on his childhood memories and some photos, he managed to make a detachable dragon head in one month. The dragon head is now very portable as all the 48 tiny components can easily be detached.
Hu also stayed up overnight, working on new methods to improve the dragon kite's technical performance in contests. Inspired by a dream, he came up with an idea to create another small dragon kite, which will climb up along the kite line to the dragon head of the big kite. The small dragon kite doesn't have wings but it is equipped with pulley.
It is such kind of creativity that helped Hu and his team win silver medals in the Dragon Category and the Kites with Hard Wings Category at the Kite-flying Contest of the 7th Shanghai Farmers' Sports in October, 2011. Hu is now working on how to make the flying dragon head spit out a bead curtain.
Walking into Hu's home, one is greeted by a 2-meter-long "Giant Eagle" painting. In fact, it is a giant eagle-shaped kite, which is Hu's most recent work. "After trial flying, I find that the kite still needs some improvement," Hu says.
In terms of its craftsmanship, the kite is just a copy of Jiading's traditional butterfly kites. "In recent years, I have learned a lot of traditional kite-making techniques from old artists of Jiading," he adds. "I want to add something new to cater for the tastes of today's kids."
Apart from making kites, Hu is also invited to Tongji University, Xuhang Primary School and Caowang Primary School to teach students to make the kites.
Hu was not born into a rich family. In his childhood, the salary of his father was the only source of income for his family. His father was then a veteran maker of dragon kites in the village. The only happy memory he has in his childhood is watching his father flying the dragon kites each year during the winter.
However, at that time the young and aggressive Hu didn't follow his father's advice to study making kites. The then 14-year-old Hu came to Shanghai to learn glass blowing at a small workshop in Xuhui District. The kites made by his father were the only property of his. When he was 25 years old, he moved to Jiading District and started his 30-year career of glass making at Shanghai Xinhu Glass Factory.
After retirement, Hu accidentally took up kite-making with bamboo strips because his granddaughter wanted to have a kite. But it was not as easy as he expected. Fortunately he got to know Xu Bolong and other grassroots craft artists at Xuhang Town. He began to learn kite-making from the very beginning, including the simple techniques of making bamboo strips.
"During Hu's early days at our kite making team, he was not the best to make kite," Xu Bolong recalls. "But Hu is very diligent. He often spends a long time on making a single kite."
When Hu was making the dragon head of a kite, he amazed his friends with his creativity. Based on his childhood memories and some photos, he managed to make a detachable dragon head in one month. The dragon head is now very portable as all the 48 tiny components can easily be detached.
Hu also stayed up overnight, working on new methods to improve the dragon kite's technical performance in contests. Inspired by a dream, he came up with an idea to create another small dragon kite, which will climb up along the kite line to the dragon head of the big kite. The small dragon kite doesn't have wings but it is equipped with pulley.
It is such kind of creativity that helped Hu and his team win silver medals in the Dragon Category and the Kites with Hard Wings Category at the Kite-flying Contest of the 7th Shanghai Farmers' Sports in October, 2011. Hu is now working on how to make the flying dragon head spit out a bead curtain.
Walking into Hu's home, one is greeted by a 2-meter-long "Giant Eagle" painting. In fact, it is a giant eagle-shaped kite, which is Hu's most recent work. "After trial flying, I find that the kite still needs some improvement," Hu says.
In terms of its craftsmanship, the kite is just a copy of Jiading's traditional butterfly kites. "In recent years, I have learned a lot of traditional kite-making techniques from old artists of Jiading," he adds. "I want to add something new to cater for the tastes of today's kids."
Apart from making kites, Hu is also invited to Tongji University, Xuhang Primary School and Caowang Primary School to teach students to make the kites.
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