Liuyanghuapao Making Craftsmanship
01 · Historical Records
The China Industrial Records published in 1935 records: 'The manufacture of firecrackers in Hunan began in the Tang dynasty, flourished in the Song, and originated in Liuyang.' During the Kangxi reign of the Qing dynasty, Liuyang firecracker production had already reached a considerable scale. In 1995 Liuyang City was awarded by the state the honorary title 'Hometown of Chinese Fireworks'; in 2002 the International Fireworks Association (IFA) was founded, with its headquarters permanently set in Liuyang; in 2003 the State General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine placed Liuyang firecrackers under protection as a product of original territorial designation; in 2004 the State Administration for Industry and Commerce registered the 'Liuyang firecrackers' well-known trademark. In 2004 the firecracker industry achieved an output value of 3.2 billion yuan and tax revenue of 600 million yuan.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Liuyang firecrackers have a long and distant source. Liuyang firecrackers have always honored Li Tian as their founding ancestor. By the Guangxu reign they were already sold to Hong Kong, Macao, and the various countries of Southeast Asia (Nanyang), becoming a famous-brand product. Liuyang firecrackers formed an inseparable bond with ancient Chinese folk customs. In traditional festivals, people invariably set off firecrackers and fireworks to mark the celebration. Various sacrificial ceremonies and celebrations also require the setting off of fireworks. Liuyang firecracker production was originally a traditional craft, made entirely by hand, with 12 flows and 72 process steps. With the development of modern science and technology, practitioners have successfully developed safe, reliable, pollution-free new high-tech products such as smokeless fireworks, cold-light fireworks, daytime-viewable fireworks, and indoor and stage fireworks, reaching world-leading levels. Firework ignition can also be changed from traditional manual lighting to remote-controlled ignition, with the entire firing program arranged and controlled by computer. Liuyang has now become China's largest firecracker production and distribution center. Among the nearly 300,000 Liuyang firecracker practitioners, 90% come from rural areas, absorbing over 70% of the city's surplus rural labor.
Archival Record of Process Steps
Liuyang firecracker production was originally a traditional craft, made entirely by hand, with 12 flows and 72 process steps.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Liuyang firecracker craft is centered on Liuyang City, Hunan Province, and extends to the surrounding Liling and Pingxiang areas. Liuyang has been a firecracker-producing area since the Tang and Song dynasties, and by the Guangxu reign it was already sold to Hong Kong, Macao, and the various countries of Southeast Asia, becoming a famous-brand product. Liuyang firecracker production was originally a traditional craft, made entirely by hand, with 12 flows and 72 process steps; today the firecracker workshops and distribution shops along the Liuyang River still schedule production by the solar terms, busiest before the New Year.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Yanhuobaozhu Making Craftsmanship · Yanhuobaozhu Making Craftsmanship · Yanhuobaozhu Making Craftsmanship · Yanhuobaozhu Making Craftsmanship · Yanhuobaozhu Making Craftsmanship.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Liuyang firecrackers developed from being exported historically to more than twenty countries and regions to being exported to over a hundred countries and regions across five continents, while domestic sales reached all 32 provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions; their varieties also developed from some thirty to the present 13 major categories and more than three thousand kinds. At present Liuyang is preparing to build a firecracker museum, which upon completion will become the center for the collection, research, display, and exchange of Chinese fireworks. Zhong Ziqi (per the official archive of the associated inheritor): male, Han, born in December 1956, a native of Liuyang City, Hunan Province. A representative inheritor of the third national-level batch of the Liuyang firecracker craft intangible cultural heritage item. A senior arts-and-crafts craftsman, a Hunan provincial master of arts and crafts, and chairman of the China Fireworks and Firecrackers Association. He loved firecrackers from childhood. The musical-fireworks firing control system he led the development of reached world-leading level; relying on this technology, he undertook the fireworks for many top-tier ceremonies, showcasing Chinese fireworks art. He led his team in developing automated production equipment, raising the industry's safety-manufacturing level and promoting its transformation and upgrading. He led his team in undertaking national, provincial, and municipal science-and-technology projects, obtaining national patents while training a large number of disciples.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Zhong Ziqi 03-1342
- Yin Changtai 03-1343
- Zhang Weidai 03-1344
- Liang Zhongmin 04-1866
- Li Haiyan 05-2779
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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