Ancient Chinese Aviation
China is a country with an ancient civilization in the world. In their struggle against nature, the ancient Chinese people had dreams of flying in the sky and walking on the clouds and with wind, which formed all kinds of fairy tales of flying men, passing from generation to generation. Chinese classics "Era of Kings and Emperors" and "Canon of Mountains and Sea" recorded the stories of flying carts. Lie Zi walking with wind was written in "Happy Excursions-Zhuang Zi" and the story of Chang'e flying to the moon in "Huai Nan Zi" and "Records of Spirits" . All of these classics depicted dreams of the ancient Chinese people to fly in the sky.
The attempt at flying vehicles by the Chinese people has a long history. It could be traced back to the ancient times. Ancient Chinese texts contain numerous references to experimental aircraft. Some of these have been documented to before the year 2000 BC. In 1766 BC the Emperor Cheng Tang is said to have ordered the construction of a flying machine that was subsequently destroyed lest anyone discover the secret of flight. In the 3rd century BC the Chinese poet Chu Yun was said to have made a detailed aerial survey of the Gobi desert, giving special praise to the durability of his craft over wind and sand storms.
There is a legend that Mo Zi (some people think it is Gongshu Ban, not Mo Zi) made a bird of the wood and rode it to fly. This was the first time the humans studied the flight device. The classic "Lu Wen - Mo Zi" told us that during the "Spring and Autumn period" (770-476 B.C.) the famous craftman Gong Shuban made a magpie from bamboo and wood and made it fly to sky. Classic "Wai Chu Zuo Shang - Han Fei Zi" wrote about a flying wooden eagle made by Mo Di, founder of Mohism (468-376 B.C.). The famous scientist of Eastern Han dynasty, Zhang Heng (A.D. 78-139) made a wooden bird which could fly several kilometers according to the classic "History of the Later Han Dynasty -Zhang Heng Biograghy".
All the above mentioned tales were about making flying vehicles after flying birds. The classic "History of Han Dynasty - Wang Mang Biography" recorded that in the sixth year of Tian Feng period of New Dynasty (A.D. 19) a man was witnessed flying dozens of meters with two huge bird wings and feathers all over his body, even on his head. That was believed the earliest recorded flying and gliding experiment by physical force of human being.
Kite, the earliest practical flying apparatus in the world, was invented in China two thousand years ago. Kites once used by Han Xin during the war of Gaixia between states Chu and Han in 202 B.C., were recorded in "Xi Deng Yao Wen" written by Zhaoxin of Tang dynasty. In the Southern and Northern Dynasties (A.D. 420-589) kites were already used for military liaison purpose. The "Records of the Chen Dynasty-History as a Mirror" written by Si Maguang of the Song dynasty said that in the tenth year of Tian Bao period, Northen Qi Dynasty ( A.D. 559), a man glided downwards from a high place for a certain distance by a kite. The appearance of kite reflected the idea that things could be lifted off the ground by aerodynamic force, which was a leap in practicing and understanding of the aerodynamic principles.
Meanwhile it also reflected that apart from the flying method of ornithopters like birds and insects with movable wings the flying could also be realized with fixed wings which could produce both the pulling force and the lift. This understanding was a great enlightenment to the later invention of the aircraft. Lots of aviation forerunners in the world learned a great deal from the kite during the course of explor¬ing aircraft invention. In the classic " Master who Embraces Simplicity - Neipian - Zayin" written by Ge Hong of Eastern Jin dynasty (A.D. 284-364) the author stated that the flying. birds were supported by ascending air, which was an important discovery of the flight principle of birds.
During the Five dynasties (A.D. 907-960) some one made a lantern which was supported by a bamboo frame and covered by paper with pine resin burning in the bottom tray. It served as a military signal at night when it was lifted into the air. During the Five Dynasties, Xin Qiniang went to Fujian because her husband went to the war. She made a turpentine lamp for military contact, which was called a 'fire balloon'. This kind of pine-resin lantern, also called Kong Ming Lantern, was a kind of primitive hot-air balloon. The principle of trotting horse lamp at that time was basically the same as that of the present day gas turbine.
The bamboo dragon-fly invented by the ancient Chinese could be lifted by the horizontal spinning of a twisted bamboo strip, realizing the earliest mechanical flying. This bamboo dragon-fly was called "Chinese Gyro" by European scholars then and became the origin of the present day lifting propeller.
The kite, a Chinese invention, has been praised as the forerunner of the modern aeroplane. In the pavilion of aircraft of the National Aeronautics and Space Museum, Washington DC, a plaque says, "the earliest aircraft are the kites and missiles of China". The invention of a kite that could fly in the air by the Chinese started humans thinking about flying. Kites were used by the Chinese in religious ceremonies. They built many colorful kites for fun, also. More sophisticated kites were used to test weather conditions. Kites have been important to the invention of flight as they were the forerunner to balloons and gliders.
Two kitemakers, Gongshu Pan who made kites shaped like birds which could fly for up to three days, and Mo Di (who is said to have spent three years building a special kite) were famous in Chinese traditional stories from as early as the fifth century BC. Kites were used in wartime as early as 1232 when kites with messages were flown over Mongol lines by the Chinese. The strings were cut and the kites landed among the Chinese prisoners, inciting them to revolt and escape. Kites fitted with hooks and bait were used for fishing, and kites were fitted with strings and whistles to make musical sounds while flying. The kite was first mentioned in Europe in a popular book of marvels and tricks in 1589.
A Chinese legend relates that rockets were used as a means of propulsion. With the help of many assistants, a lesser-known Chinese official named Wan-Hu assembled a rocket-powered flying chair. Attached to the chair were two large kites, and fixed to the kites were forty- seven fire-arrow rockets. On the day of the flight, Wan-Hu sat himself on the chair and gave the command to light the rockets. Forty-seven rocket assistants, each armed with torches, rushed forward to light the fuses. A tremendous roar was accompanied by billowing clouds of smoke. When the smoke cleared, Wan-Hu and his flying chair were gone, blown to pieces.
These brilliant achievements in aviation of the ancient Chinese together with the inventions in aviation of other ancient civilized countries had great influence and revelation to the later generations in their study and invention of aircraft.
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