Yeonnalligi

Yeonnalligi
Hangul	연날리기
Revised Romanization	Yeonnalligi
McCune–Reischauer	Yŏnnalligi

Yeonnalligi (연날리기) is a Korean game.Yeon originates from the chinese word 鳶 which means kite.The game uses rectangle kites and it typically played on the Korean holiday Seollal. During Seollal, the kite is flown far away with the sino korean word "송액영복(送厄迎福)" to fight against bad luck by cutting the thread connected to the kite around sunset. The word means to send off bad luck and greet good fortune.

History

In the biography of the silla general Gim Yu-sin in the book Samguk Sagi, theres a record that at the time after a year queen Jindeok of Silla ascended to the throne, "After the rebellion of high officials bidam and yeomjong, a huge star has fallen in weolseong, that the queen is scared and the hearts of the people that are governed are distraught, the general made a scarecrow and flown it with the kite to make it look like the star is rising back to the sky".Judging by this anecdote, the popularity of the kite flying at that time is attested.

In dongguksesigi, theres a record that Choe Yeong had flown a lot of big kites with fire attached to quash the rebels of the nomadic mongols in the Tamna province of goryeo. Its also said that soldiers also were on the kites to reach the enemy base. This tells that the kite was not only used as a toy but as a tool for war.