Kites. Known as "paper birds," Chinese kites began to appear in the fifth century B.C.E. They were made of frames of thin pieces of wood or bamboo that were bound together and coated with brilliantly painted paper. In the sixth century C.E. besieged cities flew kites to send military signals for help. Some people flew kites in order to draw fevers out of patients, believing that kites had healing powers. Li Ye flew a kite in the tenth century C.E. and attached a piece of bamboo to it with a silk ribbon. The vibration of the wind on the ribbon made a whistling sound, and kites thereafter were called fengzheng (aeolian harps). Kites of various types of shapes and colors were made; the most popular shapes were human and mythical figures, flowers, birds, fish, worms...