Do you know what the earliest firecrackers were?

Firecrackers originated from ancient firecrackers. Firecrackers are also called "firecrackers" and "firecrackers". In the Tang Dynasty, they were written as "explosive poles". They are also called "paper cannons" and "ring cannons" in various parts of the south. If many individual firecrackers are connected into a string, they are called "firecrackers", "whips" and "whips".

Firecrackers originated very early and have a history of more than 2,000 years. The Records of the Years of Jingchu written by Zongmao of the Liang Dynasty in the Southern Dynasty recorded: "On the first day of the first lunar month, the rooster rises. Firecrackers are fired in front of the court to avoid the evil spirits from the mountains." This means that when people get up together at the beginning of the first lunar month, the first The first thing is to burn bamboo in the fire. The sound of bamboo bursting in the fire can drive away monsters and evil spirits.

In the early Tang Dynasty, some people put saltpeter into bamboo tubes and set them off. This was the earliest prototype of saltpeter firecrackers. Later, when gunpowder appeared, people filled bamboo tubes with saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal and burned them, creating "firecrackers." In the Tang Dynasty, firecrackers were called "explosive poles". There is a line in Lai Hu's "Early Spring Poems" that "Half the paper has just been opened in the new year, and the ashes of the firecrackers are still gathering in the small courtyard." The "firecrackers" in the sentence refer to "firecrackers."

In the Song Dynasty, people began to use paper tubes and hemp stems to wrap gunpowder and weave them into strings to make "weipao" (i.e. firecrackers). Regarding the evolution of firecrackers, "Popular Choreography" records: "Firecrackers in ancient times were all fired with real bamboo, so the Tang Dynasty poems were also called firecrackers. Later generations rolled paper for them. They were called "firecrackers."

During the Ming and Qing dynasties, there were more types of firecrackers, and the time for setting off firecrackers was no longer limited to the early morning of the New Year. It started on New Year's Eve and reached its climax at midnight, which is commonly known as "welcoming the gods". All have to set off firecrackers. Li Jiarui's "Beiping Customs and Customs" quoted "Hutian Lu" as saying:

"The capital is densely populated and the most popular in the world. Rich families buy thousands of firecrackers and burn them." Even if a poor family is struggling to find food and asks for help from Kong Cheng, they will still make several explosions and burn a pillar of incense to eliminate the trivial matters of the early years and predict the coming years. This custom is similar to the same. "Xie Wenqiao of the Qing Dynasty's "Jiaomen New Year's Words": "Firecrackers went off all night, fireworks came from Shengdi Capital, torches and silver flowers were noisy in the middle of the night, and singing and wind music in Six Streets were in full swing. "Reflects the scene of setting off firecrackers in Beijing at that time.

The varieties of firecrackers are quite rich, the most common ones are "single blast", "double blast" and "whip". Large single blast firecrackers are also It is called "Marezi", and the double-shot firecracker is also called "two kicks". The paper tube of the double-shot firecracker is divided into two layers. The lower layer of gunpowder is used to send the firecracker into the sky, and the upper layer of gunpowder explodes in the air. , and also developed multi-ring firecrackers. Fucha Dunchong of the Qing Dynasty said in "Yanjing Sui Shi Ji": "The fireworks shed produced various fireworks, competing for cleverness and wonder. There were box flower pots that flew ten times." "The Ten Flying Rings have now evolved into "flash thunder" - a long paper tube containing a number of ammunition. After being ignited, the ammunition is shot out one after another, and explodes in the air with a silvery flash, hence the name flash thunder. Because of its strong firepower, It is easy to hurt people. Therefore, since the Spring Festival in 1987, the setting off of flash firecrackers has been banned in all major and medium-sized cities across the country.

There are also many types of firecrackers - the gunpowder is tightly wrapped in kraft paper, and the sound is heard when it explodes. It is as crisp and loud as steel. One steel whip can be used as a whip, and the number of "overlord whips" can be as many as ten thousand. Special firecrackers added to a hanging whip at a fixed point are called "section whips". Usually, one cracker is set off after ten blasts. There can be a sound rhythm. "Flower whips" wrapped with colored paper are popular in southern towns. The colored paper that is broken by the gunpowder falls down one after another when it is set off. It is very beautiful. For example, the pink paper wrapped in medicine is called "Peach Blossoms Everywhere", and the light yellow paper is used to wrap the medicine. It is called "Colorful Falling Flowers", and if it is golden yellow, it is called "Sprinkling Golden Whip".