Q 01/05

Which two 5th-century BC Chinese philosophers are credited with inventing the kite?

A) Confucius and Laozi

B) Sun Tzu and Mencius

C) Zhuangzi and Han Fei

D) Mozi and Lu Ban

Answer · why

D) Mozi and Lu Ban

Their wooden kites were called muyuan. Silk sails, silk line and bamboo frames were all readily available in ancient China.

Q 02/05

The modern Chinese word for kite, fengzheng, is named after what?

A) A mythical bird of the Yellow Emperor

B) A type of silk from Shandong

C) The dragon of the eastern sky

D) The sound kites made in the wind

Answer · why

D) The sound kites made in the wind

By the Tang dynasty, bamboo flutes and whistles were tied to kites so they would sing. Vietnamese kites still fly tailless with small flutes attached.

Q 03/05

Which traveller first brought stories of kites to Europe at the end of the 13th century?

A) Ibn Battuta

B) Vasco da Gama

C) Marco Polo

D) William of Rubruck

Answer · why

C) Marco Polo

Actual kites arrived later, carried home by sailors from Japan and Malaysia in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Q 04/05

The English word 'kite' comes from the name of what?

A) A hovering bird of prey

B) A Dutch sailing term

C) A Chinese character

D) An Old English word for wing

Answer · why

A) A hovering bird of prey

Kites of the genus Milvus hang almost motionless in the wind while hunting, just like the toy.

Q 05/05

In 1752, Benjamin Franklin published a kite experiment to prove what?

A) That air has weight

B) That wind speed rises with altitude

C) That clouds carry water

D) That lightning is electricity

Answer · why

D) That lightning is electricity

A metal house key hung from the wet hemp line; a dry silk cord let Franklin hold it safely from an open shed. His son William reportedly helped.