Kites have been used for many centuries in China, both as tools and toys. They were sometimes flown by soldiers to monitor activity on the battlefield or over enemy territory-a technique known as kite spying. The Book of Sui, written in 636 CE, records that Gao Yang had prisoners executed by making them 'fly' using bamboo mats. Eastern Wei prince Yuan Huangtou was the sole survivor among those condemned and executed by kite. Gao Yang made prisoners attach paper owls to themselves then jump from a high elevation. The only one who succeeded in flying away was Yuan Huangtou. In the thirteenth century, European explorer Marco Polo described Chinese man carrying kites, claiming that a man would be strapped to a large kite and fly overhead to determine whether the conditions were favorable for a ship to set sail. #shorts #short #history