Yanhuobaozhu Making Craftsmanship
01 · Historical Records
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." According to historical records, firecracker manufacturing in Hunan began in the Tang dynasty and flourished during the Qianlong reign of the Qing dynasty, and it spread from Shangli in Jiangxi to Liuyang in Hunan and then on to Liling.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
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. The history of making firecrackers and fireworks in Shangli County, Pingxiang City, Jiangxi Province, is very long. From this it can be seen that Shangli is one of the principal birthplaces of firecrackers. The patron ancestor of the firecracker trade, Li Tian, was from Mashi in Shangli County. The original firecracker he invented was made by sawing bamboo into tubes about a foot long with nodes at both ends, loading gunpowder inside, inserting a fuse on top, and lighting it; the bamboo tube would then burst open with a huge sound, hence the name "baozhu" (exploding bamboo). Later, Li Tian found that bamboo-tube firecrackers sometimes failed to burst and at other times burst and injured people, so he sought a better tube material and, after experimentation, produced paper-tube firecrackers. Thereafter he connected the fuses of firecrackers one by one to create string firecrackers (bianpao).
Bamboo bursting by heat
The earliest crackers were plain bamboo bursts as trapped air heated; only after the Sui and Tang was gunpowder packed into the tube.
A hundred cracks in one string
The Song chronicle records a string crackling for a hundred beats without pause, achieved by dividing fuse and charge evenly along the cord.
Fireworks and festival custom
Festival and sacrifice each demand their own kinds of firework, differing in charge and report as much as in shape.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The fireworks and firecracker making craft has been transmitted in Jiangxi, Hunan, Sichuan, and other places; the Shangli area is called the "home of firecrackers" for its industry. Since the Song dynasty, Shangli has been one of the important production areas for Liuyang firecrackers, and the village workshops are mostly organized by family, starting work collectively in the season for New Year goods. China is the country that earliest invented gunpowder in the world, and the fireworks and firecrackers made from gunpowder likewise have a long history.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Liuyanghuapao Making Craftsmanship · Yanhuobaozhu Making Craftsmanship · Yanhuobaozhu Making Craftsmanship · Yanhuobaozhu Making Craftsmanship · Yanhuobaozhu Making Craftsmanship.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
China's fireworks and firecrackers are mainly produced in Liuyang in Hunan, Wanzai and Pingxiang in Jiangxi, Dongguan in Guangdong, and Pucheng and Yang counties in Shaanxi, among other places. Among these, shelf-mounted fireworks were already famous in the Song dynasty; they are now rarely set off and urgently need protection and transmission to ensure their continuation and development. The firecrackers and fireworks of Shangli in Pingxiang originally had more than four hundred varieties in four major categories; now there are more than twelve hundred varieties in nine major categories, among which more than twenty products such as high-altitude rockets are most famous.
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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