Liang Zhongmin

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Liang Zhongmin, Male, Han, from Yang, Shaanxi, is a fourth-batch national representative bearer of Yanhuobaozhu Making Craftsmanship (Ⅷ-86). The tradition is documented in Yang, Shaanxi. Within the regional tradition and school record of Yanhuobaozhu Making Craftsmanship in Yang, Shaanxi: The fireworks and firecracker making craft is known as "framed-fire fireworks and firecrackers" in the Yang County area of Shaanxi. Yang County lies in the upper reaches of the Han River, on the southern slope of the Qin Mountains; since the Tang and Song, gunpowder techniques spread into the Guanzhong region, and its firecrackers are mostly set up on frames in the courtyard, blazing brilliantly across the whole yard once lit, hence the alternative name "framed fire." Workshops in the Hanzhong area mostly also run papermaking, with oiled paper serving as the material for wrapping the powder, used in the same furnace as bamboo twigs. Firecrackers are first recorded in the Jingchu Suishi Ji (Records of the Seasons of Jingchu) by Zong Lin of the Liang dynasty during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, which describes the custom of rising at cockcrow and first setting off firecrackers in the courtyard to drive away evil spirits. In the Song dynasty, bamboo tubes were abandoned in favor of wrapping gunpowder in paper to produce the explosion. In the Southern Song, the capital Hangzhou already saw the appearance of small firecrackers strung together, commonly known as "bianpao" (firecracker strings). During the Ming and Qing dynasties, firecrackers developed into a great variety of forms, with famous types such as the double-bang "Thunder that Shakes the Sky," the "Three Rising Waves," the "Two-Kick," and the "Ten-Shot Flying Sky." Fireworks, also called "yanhuo," "lihua" (ceremonial flowers), and the like, began in the Sui and Tang dynasties, flourished in the Song, and became widely popular in the Ming and Qing. By the Tang dynasty there already appeared "gunpowder variety-show fireworks" that could present various designs such as fruits and melons, animals, and ghosts and monsters. In the Southern Song, shelf-mounted fireworks were extremely popular. According to the Wanshu Zaji (Miscellaneous Records of Wanshu), the Ming-dynasty capital Beijing had an enormous variety of fireworks: those in paper cases were called "flower tubes," those in clay cases "earthen pots," and those in bamboo baskets "flower boxes," capable of displaying designs such as the ribbon bird, grape trellis, pearl curtain, and eternal lamp. The Qing-dynasty Dijing Suishi Jisheng (Records of the Victory of the Capital's Seasons) describes the capital's fireworks of the time as "stories of several scenes packed in brocade boxes, with figures so lifelike, feathers and plumage, flowers and plants rendered with the utmost beauty of ornament." The "jiahua" (framed-fire) fireworks passed down in Yang County, Shaanxi Province, originated from Tang-dynasty court fireworks, comprising dozens of varieties, with more than two hundred other firework varieties paired with them.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Born in November 1943 in Yang County, Shaanxi Province, he is a man of the Han ethnic group. He is a national representative bearer of fireworks and firecracker making craftsmanship (Jia Hua fireworks and firecracker making craftsmanship), a fourth-batch national intangible cultural heritage project. He is a technician of fireworks and firecracker making. In 1962 he was apprenticed to Zhang Keqin, forty-sixth-generation transmitter of the Great Tang palace fireworks of Huoshaobi in Xi'an, to study pyrotechnic making, and he now heads the Zhifang pole-frame fireworks workshop in Yang County. Over more than fifty years in the craft he has innovated boldly while inheriting the traditional technique, developing the Great Tang palace pole-frame fireworks into eleven major categories and more than three hundred varieties. The fireworks he makes offer a great variety of colours and patterns; when set off they create a grand spectacle, burn for a long time, are well spaced and clearly layered, and carry a strong visual impact. Representative works such as Great Tang Palace Pole-Frame Fireworks and Double Back Swords (Shuang Bei Jian) were entered in the second, third and fourth fireworks competitions of the China Xi'an Ancient Culture and Art Festival, held by the Xi'an Municipal People's Government between 1991 and 1993, and won three consecutive championships. Within the documented technical tradition of Yanhuobaozhu Making Craftsmanship in Yang, Shaanxi: China is the country that earliest invented gunpowder in the world, and the fireworks and firecrackers made from gunpowder likewise have a long history and enjoy a high reputation worldwide. What were called "baozhu" (firecrackers) at the time were in fact burning bamboo tubes, which caused the air inside to heat up and burst with a sound. After the Sui and Tang, the practice changed to packing gunpowder into bamboo tubes. According to the Wulin Jiushi (Old Tales of Wulin), once this kind of firecracker was lit it crackled continuously to the end, "one lighting producing over a hundred unbroken reports." Modern firecrackers have further developed and been perfected in type and craft, forming a complete production system, with many varieties such as single-bang, double-bang, linked-bang, string firecrackers, and volley firecrackers, and multiple craft techniques including tube-rolling, tube-cutting, bottom-pasting, mud-filling, fuse-powder application, and eye-sealing. Firework colors are mainly produced by adding different chemical compounds to gunpowder—for example, adding sodium salts yields yellow, potassium salts purple, strontium salts red, barium salts green, and copper salts blue. These fireworks mostly take historical stories and dramatic characters as their content, are formulated according to secret recipes handed down through generations, and strictly follow ancient craft procedures in their making. "Great Tang Court Pole-Frame Double-Backed Swords" is a masterpiece among them. The fireworks on the main pole of Yang County's framed fire are generally installed as 12, 24, or 48 "storeys"; taking the 24-storey version as an example, the main pole reaches 20 meters in height, with 24 small poles scattered around it connected by gunpowder fuse cores. When set off, the fireworks on the main and small poles must be lit in a certain order, shuttling back and forth, and other fireworks are arranged in combination in the inner and outer spaces of the main and small poles. The gunpowder formulas of Yang County's framed-fire fireworks are accurate and scientific, the making procedures are reasonable and standardized, the improved drug formulas are operable and safe, and the firework combinations are meticulous and harmonious. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "": "Archival Process Records": These fireworks mostly take historical stories and dramatic characters as their content, are formulated according to secret recipes handed down through generations, and strictly follow ancient craft procedures in their making. The gunpowder formulas of Yang County's framed-fire fireworks are accurate and scientific, the making procedures are reasonable and standardized, the improved drug formulas are operable and safe, and the firework combinations are meticulous and harmonious.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

In 2012, Liang Zhongmin was announced in the fourth batch of national representative bearers for Yanhuobaozhu Making Craftsmanship, with Yang, Shaanxi as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Yanhuobaozhu Making Craftsmanship in Yang, Shaanxi: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2008 (batch 2), with Yang, Shaanxi as its declared area, and Shaanxi Yang County Zhifanghuapao Co., Ltd. as its safeguarding unit. Since the project was inscribed in the national inventory, its declared area and safeguarding unit have carried out documentation, transmission and presentation within the national safeguarding framework. Together, the inventory record and the project archive form the public documentary basis for the bearer’s transmission practice.

04 · Associated Heritage Item Dossier

05 · Fellow National Bearers Lineage

National representative bearers recorded under the same item code, ordered from the first to the sixth batch. Batch order is not a teacher–student relationship.

06 · Archival Sources & Bibliography

1. Liang Zhongmin · National Representative Bearer Archive