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." 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 · 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. 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.
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 · Regional Records & Related Items
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.
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. Framed-fire fireworks are a large-scale court firework that has been transmitted to the present; built in the form of tall poles and beams, it uses recoil rockets to automatically ignite back and forth, then is set off high in the air. Yang County's framed-fire fireworks hold important historical, cultural, and scientific value; their craftsmanship, firework forms, and peculiar ignition method are unique in China and the world, providing valuable material for the study of the development history of gunpowder and fireworks, with high academic research value. Liang Zhongmin (per the official archival records of the associated inheritor): Male, Han ethnicity, born in November 1943, from Yang County, Shaanxi Province. Representative inheritor of the fourth national-level batch of the intangible cultural heritage item "Fireworks and Firecracker Making Craft (Framed-Fire Fireworks and Firecracker Making Craft)." A fireworks and firecracker-making technician. In 1962 he apprenticed under Zhang Keqin, the 46th-generation successor of the Great Tang court fireworks of Huoshaobi in Xi'an, to learn firework-making skills; he is now the head of the Zhifang Pole-Frame Fireworks Workshop in Yang County. Over more than fifty years of artistry, on the basis of inheriting traditional skills he has boldly innovated, developing the Great Tang court firework pole-frame flower into the present eleven major categories and more than three hundred varieties. The fireworks he makes come in a great many colors and varieties; when set off the scene is grand, the burning lasts long, with well-arranged layering and clear gradations, producing a strong visual impact. His representative works such as "Great Tang Court Pole-Frame Flower Fireworks" and "Double-Backed Swords" participated in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Fireworks Competitions of the China Xi'an Ancient Culture and Art Festival held by the Xi'an Municipal People's Government from 1991 to 1993, winning three consecutive championships.
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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