The Tibetan Kite That Sports Fangs

Don't be upset about losing in Kite Fighting; just eat a meat pie and take a sip of sweet tea.

Looking back now, my poor skills were the real reason behind what I used to tell myself as a child: that compared to flying a kite, there was also pleasure in simply watching it rise and fall, as gracefully as the mythical birds. That memory of self-comfort remains faint in my mind. A quote from the "Deceased Elder Jampa Woeser of the Nyangrongsha Family on the Lhasa Kite Season," as interviewed in 2008 and written by Sochung, adds: when you win, you can boldly call out to your opponent, "Yours is broken!

Returning to Lhasa last year, I watched kites climb endlessly into the sky along the riverbank. My childhood playmate stood there with his two nephews, working the kite reel as the line rose and fell. The eyes painted on the kite seemed to fix on me directly. "Enough," I told myself, "today's opponent isn't me." In competitions decided by turns, I had always been the quickest to claim the right to rest, using the "pleasure of watching" as a way to entertain myself. Later, during a break, my playmate and I chatted about which kite patterns we liked best.

While I usually finished last and chose the 'Fangs' (མཆེ་བ་) and the 'Bearded One' (རྒྱ་བོ་), the reason was simple: should I ever enter a match, I couldn't stand to lose in morale. Arming myself with fangs might just earn me renown in a fight. That kind of childish thinking is always naive and whimsical. Meanwhile, he was a master kite fighter with a natural inclination toward the 'Staring Eye' (མིག་ལོག་), and his 'Red Staring Eye' (མིག་ལོག་དམར་པོ་) had once been a strong candidate for the championship.

The Origin of Kites" As the saying goes, "The kite is pleasing to the eye, but flying it requires skill" (བྱ་འཕིར་ནི་དབྱིབས་བཟང་། གཏོང་དགོས་ན་རྩལ་མང་།). However, when it comes to tracing the origins of the "Tibetan kite," most people can only offer fragmented and vague answers. When fangs proved ineffective, I would console myself with the "Bearded One." Unlike others, I never associated that figure with courage or experience—the usual interpretations. For me, the "Bearded One" was a kindly elder who let children make mistakes.

Tsewang Rinchen, author of *Lhasa Kites*, said in an interview that "There is essentially no documentation (on this topic)," but this does not mean we lack a basis for thorough research; instead, the visual, textual, and oral sources on the "Tibetan kite" are chiefly focused in the Ganden Phodrang era, especially the first half of the previous century.

Thus, any discussion of the kite's origins inevitably presents two contrasting conclusions: it was either developed locally or introduced from elsewhere. The kite cannot be regarded as the unique cultural legacy of any one place. Separate kite traditions are found in Han China to the east, across South Asia to the west, and in Central Asia to the northwest.

Considering that Tibetan kites are frequently seen as an outgrowth of traditional Tibetan papermaking methods, it cannot be readily dismissed as mere "fallacy" to regard them as an indigenous creation. Yet this perspective should not lead us to disregard the possibility of cultural exchanges and amalgamations, nor to adopt a limited understanding of Tibetan kites. For instance, the practice of "kite fighting," in which participants strive to sever one another's strings, is just one of several aspects of Tibetan kite culture that illustrate this point.

Within the global context of “fighter kites”—such as kite battles in Afghanistan—this practice can be fully discussed and analyzed. Before “kite fighting,” the most important step is often coating the kite strings with *na*. Regarding the etymology of *na*, there are two existing theories: 1. Since *na* is applied to make the string sharp, the word for sharp, *rno* (རྣོ་), gives the etymological origin of *na*. 2.

The etymological root of *na* is *brnag* (བརྣག་), a term in the Ü-Tsang dialect meaning malice or fierceness, because *na* is used to challenge rivals and ensure victory. Typically, *na* consists of crushed glass, the sap of *dbyang lag* (Himalayan orchid), grain paste, and other components. After being applied, it merely requires drying prior to use. This preparatory measure, indispensable before "kite fighting," also appears in other places where "fighter kites" are customary, including the wider South Asian kite culture (पतंग).

During the 1970s and 1980s in the West, a children’s book called *The Dragon Kite* became a bestseller. It followed the adventures of Kelsang, an eight-year-old Tibetan boy who travels on a giant kite. The author, Thomas Lewis, clearly knew about Tibet’s tradition of flying kites. He referred to kites as “paper birds that carry blessings,” using Tibetan terms such as ཤོག་བྱ་ (paper bird) and བྱ་འཕུར་-བྱ་འཕིར་ (flying bird). However, the artwork by Errol Le Cain combined influences from various parts of the East, rather than presenting a purely Tibetan visual style.

Tibetan kites may not match the intricacy of their illustrated counterparts, yet they carry a distinct threefold appeal of their own. Of these, the first is their beauty of form, which can be examined through three aspects: materials, craftsmanship, and decoration. Regarding materials, the kite's surface is fashioned from Tibetan paper, its frame from birch or mahogany—though records indicate that some frames were made of superior, aromatic wood—and its string from high-grade wool, a practice that has shifted in recent years. These choices are both practical and environmentally sound.

Great skill is required to craft the kite surface itself, in addition to Tibetan papermaking techniques and the aforementioned *na* preparation. While keeping the design aesthetically pleasing and following traditional conventions—such as positioning the auspicious *kyilyang* /དཀྱིལ་གཡང་ along the central axis—artisans must also uphold aerodynamic principles. The surface also carries various decorations, such as "Staring Eye," "Bearded One," and "Fangs," among others. These decorations are sorted into three classes.

There are three categories of Tibetan kite names. One consists of names with specific meanings in "kite fighting," such as "Staring Eye" and "Fangs." A second consists of names drawn from folk auspicious symbols, including "Peach" (ཁམ་བུ་) and "Gau" (གའུ་; amulet box). A third consists of names originating from special religious artifacts, such as the "Kangling" (རྐང་གླིང་; thighbone trumpet). In addition, Tibetan kites possess a practical beauty.

This practical beauty is most naturally embodied in kite fighting, yet ordinary kite-watching or flying also demands careful judgment of wind, terrain, and timing. Since the wind shifts constantly, the genuine adversary is nature. With continuous improvement, conflict transforms into a harmonious partnership. We study the wind and afterwards move in step with it. Motion and stillness together produce a conceptual beauty.

The barley in the fields appears as golden arrows, while kites soaring overhead signify harvest and good fortune. This is the ideal time for kite flying, occurring each year during the seventh and eighth months of the Tibetan calendar, and occasionally later. As people hold the strings, the kites convey the world's heartfelt wishes to the heavens; these "paper birds" combined with natural forces come to represent cosmic order.

This article is translated from SuolangWangqing's blog. Naturally, during "kite fighting," if one fails to release personal attachments and welcome pure joy, the string will break and the kite will fly apart. Then our very nature may be tossed about by stronger forces and endless wants, and memories of past happiness vanish without a trace amid the clamor.