The Chinese word for "kite," **风筝 (fēngzheng)**, is a compound word formed through semantic combination: **风 (fēng)** means "wind," and **筝 (zhēng)** refers to a type of ancient zither or stringed instrument. Historically, early kites, often made with a bamboo frame and silk, were not only flown but also designed with taut strings or attachments that would vibrate and hum musically in the **wind**, much like the sound of the **zither**. Thus, the name literally translates to "wind zither," poetically capturing both the essential element that lifts it (wind) and the characteristic sound it once produced, evolving into the standard term for all kites even after the acoustic feature became less common.