Historical evolution of fireworks
□ Li Xuepu
The high-tech fireworks at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics are dazzling, among which the gorgeous welcoming pine fireworks bloom above the Bird’s Nest, and the pine needles are very realistic.
Fireworks, also known as fireworks, are filled with gunpowder and some metal salts in containers such as paper tubes, which are ignited and then sprayed with various colors. In fact, fireworks have become a common form of folk entertainment in the Song Dynasty. In the North Song Dynasty, Meng Yuanlao’s Dream of China in Tokyo mentioned many times, such as "fireworks rising" and "setting off fireworks on the spot", which was sandwiched between "hundred plays" to increase the atmosphere.
Beijing Winter Olympics welcomes visitors with pine fireworks.
China is the first country to invent gunpowder, and it is also the hometown of firecrackers and fireworks. Emperor Yangdi has a poem saying, "There are thousands of lights on the trees, and seven flowers bloom." It refers to fireworks, which stretch out like branches when they are sprayed. Since Meng Haoran, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, vividly called it "fire tree", the word "fire tree" has also become synonymous with fireworks.
Fireworks are generally considered to be a festive product developed on the basis of firecrackers. When the earliest fireworks appeared, there is no unified statement at present. But there is no doubt that the real fireworks should appear after the invention of gunpowder. As far as the origin of fireworks is concerned, there was a program of "swallowing a knife and spitting fire" in the performance of hundreds of operas in the Han Dynasty. In the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Xiao Qi also quoted Huainanzi as saying: "The skill of spitting fire with thunder comes from the home of thousands of people" (this article has been lost in this edition of Huainanzi). "Containing thunder" describes the sound of firecrackers, while "spitting fire" describes the effect of spraying. This shows that there was the illusion of "spitting fire" in the Han Dynasty, and this illusion performance of "spitting fire" was the embryonic form of fireworks.
In the Song Dynasty, the fireworks production technology and color categories have reached a considerable level, such as starting a wheel, walking a line, shooting stars, field mice and so on. According to records, Li Waining in Bianjing, Kyoto (now Kaifeng) in the Northern Song Dynasty, Chen Taibao and Xia Daozi in Lin ‘an in the Southern Song Dynasty were all famous fireworks designers and performers. Fireworks had become a folk entertainment commodity at that time, and there were fireworks workshops on the market for sale.
Wu Zimu in the Southern Song Dynasty said in "Dream of Liang Lu in December": "The market is full of tin and spring … and there are explosions and fireworks." The scale of fireworks in the court is very large. According to the careful "Old Wulin Story Yuan Xi", more than 100 fireworks were set off in the palace on the night of the last Yuan Festival, and the "Record of the Old Man’s Numerous Victory in the West Lake" in the Southern Song Dynasty described the situation of "setting off five-color fireworks" among the people and the court. It is said that in Song Lizong, Rizong and the Empress Dowager watched the fireworks being set off in the court, and suddenly a "field mouse" broke into the seat of the Empress Dowager, and the Queen Dowager was scared to panic with bursts of noise and dazzling sparks.
The victory of fireworks in Bianjing, Kyoto in the Northern Song Dynasty is also very famous. Historical records also talk about the emergence of "medicine puppet" or "medicine puppet" at this time, and its specific situation can no longer be tested. Some people say that it is the kind that shows the image of opera in fireworks. In the Southern Song Dynasty, although it was partial, Zhou Mi recorded the scene of Xiaozong watching fireworks in the twelfth year of Chunxi (1185) in "Old Stories of Wulin", saying: "The palace leak was deep, and more than 100 fireworks were set off, so the music was everywhere, and the candles were everywhere, but the driving was still going on." It can be seen that the situation is prosperous. Among the dignitaries, there are many people who set up a hundred pieces of ingenuity and set off fireworks all night for fun.
The fireworks industry in Ming Dynasty developed very rapidly. At the end of Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of Ming Dynasty, Tao Zongyi recorded the scientific formula of fireworks in his book Mo E Xiao Lu. Twenty-two kinds of pyrotechnic formulas such as "Golden Lamps and Silver Platforms", "Bai Mudan", "Matsuzaka Plum", "Aquarius Flower" and "Purple Grape" are listed in the sixth volume of the book. There are many kinds of fireworks in Ming Dynasty. According to Shen Bang’s Miscellaneous Notes of Wan Department, "Those who have voices say that they sound guns; Those who rise high say fire, and those who carry guns in the fire say three waves; If you don’t make a noise, you can’t afford to be a mouse on the ground … "In Ji Sheng at the age of Emperor Jing, in addition to the above names, fireworks such as china pink, Golden Pot Fishing for the Moon, Big Pear Flower and Mud Tube Flower are also introduced. Some books, such as A Brief Introduction to the Scenery of the Imperial Capital, Memories of Taoan Dreams, also talk about varieties such as grape trellis, pearl curtain, ever-burning lamp, wasp leaving the nest and beasts spitting fire.
In the Ming Dynasty, there were not only many kinds of fireworks, but also various ways to release them. In order to increase the lively atmosphere, fireworks are often not set off sporadically one by one, but are combined by tying frames, and all kinds of fireworks are tied to wooden frames in groups, and then connected in sequence with gunpowder lines. Once lit, they are kept for a long time. During the period, lights and meteors of various colors appeared, and from time to time, flowers and birds, pavilions and pavilions appeared, which was very spectacular. As stated in Miscellaneous Notes of Wan Department, "A rich family gathers hundreds of ingenuity on the first day of the Yuan Dynasty, and the heat is transferred at the second time, and it is fun all night."
In the early Ming Dynasty, Qu You (word Zongji) had such a poem: "Smallpox blooms in countless months, and five-color auspicious clouds circle the platform." This also refers to the shelf fireworks, the so-called shelf fireworks, that is, on a ladder, stake or bamboo pole one or two feet high, there is a colorful pavilion like the themoon Moon Temple (or on the tower), and all kinds of fireworks and firecrackers are placed in it. Once lit, it crackled, and from time to time, meteors flew and bright bullets burst, and then thousands of flowers broke out, like dragons leaping, like a phoenix startled, and finally lightning thundered and smallpox blossomed. Perhaps this is the scene described in Qu You’s poems.
At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Ma Shiying also made a special fireworks with an organ and presented it to the emperor. It is said that when it was lit, there was a flying dragon hovering between the temple columns, which was temporarily legendary. "A Dream Record" describes the fireworks in the Lantern Festival in the capital of Liang, saying: "On the fireworks stand, there are ingenious stories, and rabbits are placed vertically. There are names such as fire helmets, fire umbrellas, fire horses, braziers, guns hitting Xiangyang, Wulong taking water, archways, etc. The sound of fireworks is deafening. In front of the two learning palaces, there are high-altitude lanterns, fireworks, fires, water rabbits entering the water and piercing the waves, and people are driven by the wind. There are moon races, high-altitude guns, nine dragons taking water, and nine turns to rise. " The so-called walking rabbit hangs a rabbit-shaped firework on a long line, and after burning, it sprays fire at the tail and runs quickly along the line. When the walking line hangs on the water, the rabbit can dive into the water and then jump out of the water to run to the other end of the line, which is also called "water rabbit enters the water and wears waves". The so-called "fire horse" and so on are filled with pyrotechnics in the shape of lacquered animals. "When moving, hundreds of animals burst into fire and trampled vertically and horizontally." Fireworks are also combined with lion dance, dragon lantern and other forms of entertainment, which is more attractive.
"Tao An Meng Yi" recorded "Lu Fan Fireworks" and said: "When fireworks are set off, the scenery in the lamp is collected as the scenery in the fireworks. The world’s lamp watchers look outside the lamp and fireworks, but they don’t flicker in the lamp, light, shadow, smoke or fire. They don’t know whether it is fireworks in the palace or the palace in the fireworks. " Its wonderful degree can be seen from this.
Jin Ping Mei, known as one of the four wonderful books of Ming Dynasty, depicts the plot of setting off fireworks on the Lantern Festival in the 42nd chapter "Setting off fireworks in front of luxurious doors and enjoying the drunken lanterns on the Lantern Festival". Zhang Dai, a writer in the late Ming Dynasty, described the grand occasion of setting off fireworks in Yanzhou, Shandong Province in his Dream of Taoan Volume II, and recorded the scene of watching lanterns and setting off fireworks and the types of fireworks in Beijing Lantern Festival in the Qing Dynasty. The types of fireworks and the setting-off scenes described in these materials can be described as wonderful and ingenious.
The story of setting off fireworks and firecrackers is also involved in Volume 8 of Strange Tales from a Lonely Studio: "Qingcheng is in Zhongyin, and it is sexual. When he was in charge, Yuanxi tied the donkey with sparks and firecrackers, and the head and tail were full. He led him to the door of the prefect, struck him and invited him, confessing,’ A donkey who offered fire was lucky to get a glimpse.’ When the satrap has a beloved son suffering from acne, he is in a bad mood and resigns. Please ask it in solid. The satrap had to make the man unlock the key. Just open the door, fire the engine and push the donkey in. The knocking donkey was shocked and ran wildly; Fei Huo shoots people again, so people dare not approach. The donkey went into the room, broke the ou and destroyed the retort, the fire turned to dust, and the window screens were all burnt. Family uproar. The pox child was stunned and died all night. The satrap hates it and will uncover it. It’s not necessary for you to go to court in all the schools. "
The variety of fireworks in Qing dynasty was more abundant, and the fireworks manufacturing industry developed further. Lvyuan Li, a Qing Dynasty poet, listed dozens of kinds of fireworks in the 104th chapter of The Road Lights, such as "the combination of the sun and the moon", "two immortals preaching", "five-star couplet beads", "respecting morality and washing horses", "Zhang Xian beating dogs", "a monk turning into a donkey" and "Li Sanniang pushing the mill". There is also a record about fireworks in Yanjing’s Chronicle of the Year: "On the Lantern Festival, there is a banquet in the imperial palace, fireworks are set off, and lights are put on in the shops … Fireworks shed makes all kinds of fireworks, which are competitive and curious, including boxes, flower pots, fireworks poles, thread-pierced peony, water-watered lotus, golden plate falling on the moon, grape trellis, two kicks, flying ten rings, five ghosts making a noise, and octagonal. In the Qing Dynasty, fireworks were set off in combination with scaffolding, and there was also a "combined device setting method", that is to say, two or even dozens or hundreds of fireworks were set off "coincidentally into a drama".
Zhao Yi described watching this kind of fireworks in the fifteenth year of Qianlong (1705) in Zhan Exposed Miscellanies, saying: "The medicine thread was ignited, and the results were painted in five colors. Dozens of fireworks, each of which will be finished, will burn out pagodas and pavilions, and dozens of caged pigeons and magpies will fly out by fire. The fireworks are so loud that the sound is like thunder, and the candle is half empty, but seeing millions of red fish jumping in the sea of clouds is a wonder of the world. " In the Qing Dynasty, there was also a monograph describing the production technology of fireworks-A Brief Introduction to Fireworks, which introduced in detail the discharge principle, raw material preparation, production techniques, operating procedures and other matters. Zhao Xuemin, the author, has carefully inspected the fireworks workshop. This book can be said to be a summary of the experience of fireworks production at that time, and it still has high reference value today.
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