The Curiosity Chronicles

We hear them going off all the time in the neighborhood where we live, at seemingly random times of the day or night - the distinctive sound of firecrackers, the rippling, crackling, insanely loud firework that is uniquely Chinese.

A firecracker is a small explosive device primarily designed to produce a large amount of noise, especially in the form of a loud bang; any visual effect is incidental to this goal. They have fuses and are wrapped in a heavy paper casing to contain the explosive compound. Firecrackers, along with fireworks, originated in China. They are usually made of cardboard or plastic with flash powder or black powder as the propellant. This is not always the case, however; anything from match heads to lighter fluid has been used successfully in making firecrackers. The key to super-loud firecrackers however, although in part lying in the propellant substance, is pressure. The entire firecracker must be very tightly packed in order for it to work best. 

Until the mid-1980s firecracker production was extremely low-tech. They were handmade, beginning with rolling tubes. Once the firecracker tubes were rolled by hand (commonly from newspaper) and labelled and then filled with powder, their ends were crimped and fuses inserted, all by hand. These finished firecrackers were usually braided into “strings” and sold in packs which came in many sizes, from the very small (called “penny packs” containing as few as 4 to 6 firecrackers) to the most common size packs (containing 16 and 20 crackers per pack), to larger packs (containing up to 120 firecrackers), to huge “belts” and “rolls” (packages containing strings of several hundred to several thousand crackers - Phantom Fireworks sells rolls as large as 16,000 firecrackers). Firecracker packages were wrapped in colourful and translucent glassine paper, as well as clear cellophane, with glassine the most popular.

Over 2000 years ago, use of the bamboo firecrackers frightened away Chinese evil spirits, one in particular in the guise of a unicorn called Nian. Appearing on the eve of the Lunar New Year, the evil Nian ran from the bursting bamboo, or “baozhu” (cracking bamboo), assuring the people of a prosperous and happy new year. In the 21st century, scaring away Nian continues to kick start the Chinese New Year firecracker and fireworks celebration.

I Am Curious about the incredible culture of celebration here. The Chinese love their fireworks and firecrackers and they are sold everywhere. I remember how mad Singapore went at Chinese New Year and and excited to see it in mainland China for myself - by all accounts it is mayhem in the best possible sense. Firecrackers are simultaneously a reminder of China’s vast history and passionate belief system.

I Am Curious about the overlaps between religious celebration, spiritual tradition and spontaneous joy.