五彩斑斓的风筝在清风吹拂中，恣意翱翔于蓝天白云间，点缀周末午后的闲暇时光。一群风筝爱好者不分年龄、种族或国籍，齐聚仁嘉隆（Jenjarom）住宅花园中央的草场上，在惬意的凉风下享受这项传统娱乐活动。个别好手会带上自制的风筝，以创意美观的造型争奇斗艳，并展示其良好的飞行性能。
两位年过五旬的业余爱好者，洪连胜和洪强，对漫天飞舞的风筝从兴趣盎然升华为创作，活跃在仁嘉隆草场已三、四十年。年少时透过购买他人制作的风筝进行拆解和研究，在模仿与不断改进中渐渐自学成才。出自他们巧手的作品有翩翩展翅的小鸟、蝴蝶和本土特色的月亮风筝（Wau）。他们早年鲜有交集，迟来的缘分使他们几乎年届退休才一见如故，有空便相互串门交流风筝制作心得。
风筝拥有悠久的文化历史，是一种传统的民间工艺品。竹条、线绳、白纸、浆糊；寥寥四种材料，流程看似简单，实际制作却非常考验手艺。选择韧性较强的成熟竹子，剖开后自然风干长达三个月。将完全干透的竹子去皮，裁切成条状，根据所作风筝的大小锯成需要的长度。接下来是最关键的步骤--削竹，即用刀刃将竹条慢慢削至适当的宽度，厚薄均匀。削出来的厚薄度决定了竹条可以弯出多大的弧度。要怎样保持竹条的弧度和弹性而不断裂，只能在削竹的过程中凭肉眼观察和触感去调整，从中累积经验，因此最耗费时间、精力与耐心。
准备好竹条后，便开始制作风筝骨架，可依个人喜好做成任意形状，但必须确保左右对称、头尾重量平衡。用线绳绑扎好风筝骨架后，轻轻刷上浆糊，压上白纸（近年已换成防水的白色塑料纸）固定，并密切留意纸张是否平整、松紧一致。待浆糊干燥后裁去边缘多余的部分，风筝总算大功告成，可以拎到户外试飞了。只要风筝的左右吃风面积相当，便能平稳飞行不打转。不同的风筝受风后会产生不同的弧面，决定了它适宜在何等风力强度下放飞。
放风筝没有太花哨的技巧，只需选择适合而且可以配合风速的风筝，迎着风向即能顺利腾空。若是大型风筝则需两人协力放飞，一人迎风拿着风筝站定，另一人拉着线轴逆风跑一小段路，感觉线已绷紧了才请同伴松手。当风筝上升到高空中，气流相对稳定，风筝就会在空中保持漂浮姿态。收风筝时，顺着风势走向风筝，边走边收线，让风筝缓缓降落并收回手中，防止风筝因急坠而损坏。
龙形风筝在马来西亚非常少见，仁嘉隆的风筝爱好者们偶然学会制作，得以展现“飞龙在天”、“神龙摆尾”等壮观景象。龙形风筝由一颗立体龙头、八十节龙身和一节龙尾相连，整体长度逾百尺，动员至少三人才能放飞。龙头制作工艺繁琐，因不具飞行能力所以必须尽量轻盈，以便借助龙身将其托上空中。不仅如此，要做出八十只大小一致的圆形风筝充当龙身，甚是挑战眼力和耐心。
“鸢飞蝶舞喜翩翩， 远近随心一线牵”。一根纤细的线牵引着空中飞扬的风筝，同时联系着地面上的人。志同道合所以相聚甚欢，凭一腔热爱潜心钻研；当亲手制作的风筝冉冉升起，他们脸上绽放自豪的笑容。即使时移事易，对现代人而言传统玩具不如手机游戏有吸引力，洪连胜和洪强很乐意分享及指点新手，希望制作风筝的工艺继续流传。
Colourful kites dancing in the breeze, decorating the blue skies on a leisurely weekend afternoon. A group of kite enthusiasts gathered on a field in Jenjarom’s residential area, enjoying this traditional pastime regardless of age, ethnicity or nationality. Some of them would bring handcrafted kites, showcasing attractive appearances and excellent flying abilities.
Two middle-aged kite hobbyists turned kite maker, Ang Lian Seng and Ang Teong, have been actively flying kites at the Jenjarom field for over thirty years. In their youth, they bought handcrafted kites by others to dismantle and study the dynamics, gradually mastering the skills by imitation and improvement. They are able to produce kites of various shapes and sizes, for instance bird, butterfly, and Malaysia’s iconic Wau. Previously they barely knew each other, however they got along capitally in recent years of semi-retirement, often spending time together making kites while exchanging ideas.
The history of kites date back over 3000 years, an established traditional handcraft. Bamboo strips, twine, paper, glue; merely four materials involved, seemingly simple yet the actual procedure put a kite maker’s skills to the test. Matured bamboo is preferred due to better resilience, split open and leave to dry for three months. The dried bamboo is then peeled and cut into strips, and sawn into required lengths conforming to the target kite size. Next up is the most important step -- whittling bamboo strips, which is using a knife to trim the bamboo strip into a consistent thickness. The resulting thickness determines how far could the bamboo strip be bent. To maintain the bamboo strip’s bendability and resilience, during the whittling process one must make adjustments through close observation and sense of touch, gaining experience along the way, hence it is most time-consuming, requiring much patience and attention to detail.
Having prepared satisfactory bamboo strips, the kite frame may be constructed in any desired shape, however it must achieve left-right balance as well as head-tail weight balance. After tying the kite frame with twine, brush some glue to attach the paper (nowadays water-resistant plastic sheet is used instead), ensuring uniform tightness. Excesses are trimmed after the glue dried, then the kite is ready for a test flight outdoors. As long as the aerodynamic surfaces are balanced, the kite may fly steadily. Different kites may yield different curved surfaces due to wind pressure, determining which wind conditions will be ideal for the kite’s flight.
Kite flying does not require fancy skills, just pick a kite suitable to fly in the current wind condition and pull along with the prevailing wind direction. Larger kites may require two persons cooperating to launch, one holding the kite in a stationary position while the other holding the spool runs against the wind for a short distance, the kite can be released once the twine is taut. As the kite rises to a certain height, the airflow becomes relatively stable, therefore the kite maintains a steady position. To recover the kite, walk towards the kite while reeling in to bring it down slowly, preventing damages from a sheer drop.
(Full Text: uniness.gallery/kites-in-jenj...)
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文 Text/ 潘慧雯 Pua Hui Wen
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