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Kites and Flight

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Kites have a long history in China dating back some 2000 years.  Birds are one of the most common animals used for traditional kites, this one is painted to look like a duck.  The wings can be detached after use so it can be stored in a protected location like this silk box. Most traditional kites from China start out with pieces of dried bamboo which are heated over a small flame from a candle or alcohol burner to allow the creator to bend the bamboo into the desired shape.  Thread is wound around joints and metal pins are inserted so pieces such as the wings can be folded for storage.  The frame is then covered with glue and then silk or paper is applied and then hand painted.  The final kite is trimmed with scissors and then a loop of string is tied to the body to allow for attachment of the kite line.  As a result they are very lite and fragile but ideal for flying.  This is a frame for a kite that will be made into an Eagle.  One of the earli...
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The Compass, Time, Measurement and Junks

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The compass is one of the four great inventions of ancient China and the example pictured above is an early version from the Han dynasty.  Records of the use of lodestones in China for feng shui, also called Chinese geomancy, to align locations in harmony with nature, go all the way back to the 3rd century BC (Warring States period).  The devices are simple and are comprised of two parts: a lodestone, which is a naturally magnetized mineral called magnetite, in the shape of a spoon, and a flat bronze plate. Both the bottom of the lodestone and the top of the bronze plate are highly polished so as to reduce the friction between them and to allow the spoon to freely rotate and align with earths magnetic forces and point north-south. This is a similar model of an ancient compass that also used a magnetized metal scoop on a bronze plate called a Si nan (or south pointer) from the Han dynasty.  Ancient Chinese geomancers would shape pieces of lodestone into spoon shapes and us...
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