The science and emotions behind the firecrackers

Cezheng YU

In the booming sound of the firecrackers， one year is gone. Spring wind is sending warmthinto the Tusu wine.

Tens of thousands of homesare bathing in thesun， Always replace the old faded pictures onto new ones.

——Anshi WANG from Song Dynasty

According to the "History of Chinesereal industry"， fireworks came to existence in Tang and thrived in song. For over 1400 years， fireworks have first been used to repel wild animals， later to avoid evil for the royal family， and then for the folk toeliminatebad luck， symbolize auspiciousness during the spring festival， and to express joy and mournfulness in weddings and funerals. Fireworks and firecrackers have become the expression of all kinds of emotions for the Chinese and an important ritual custom for the nation， thus integrating into the traditional Chinese culture.

Appreciate the beauty of fireworks

As the quintessence of Chinese traditional culture for the past thousands of years， fireworks have enchanted every pair of eyes that fancy beauty with its gorgeous colors.

The beauty of flashing colors

With the development and application of new materials， the color of fireworks is increasingly rich -- red， orange， yellow， green， blue， indigo， purple and other colors shine in the sky， providing a sense of pure and bright and a colorful kingdom for us， which best embodies the vitality of spring，the passion of summer， the joy of harvest of fall and the coldness and sternness of winter.

The beauty of different shapes and images

Fireworks come to the vast night sky and form a beautiful picture with different images.We will never forget the"Smiling face"， "Footprints"， "Qinghai-Tibet Railway" and other images of fireworks set off in various large-scale international celebrations.People can oftensee splendid images like the Crown octagonal chrysanthemum， sector-shaped red handle， waterfall in the sky， silver flashing willow， red butterfly and the blue wind chimeswhich land us in reverie and mellow emotions， as if we could really see those images coming into life.

The beauty of melodious rhythm

In the musical fireworks， the unified and coordinated fireworks and therhythm will form a harmonious melody， taking the audience on a journey in accordance with the ups and downs of the music and letting them feel as excited as if standing before the majesty sea.

The beauty of friendship and harmony

Somesay that fireworks are the fairest art in the world. As long as there are fireworks， all people， rich or poor，men or women， from urban or rural areas， can all share the same mood when watching the fireworks. As neighbors in the same community can communicate more while watching fireworks and get resonance in the appreciation of beauty， society will also become more harmonious.

The unique manifestation and profound cultural connotation of fireworks not only bring new colors and charm to Chinese traditional folk culture， but also make them the symbol of East-west cultural exchange， the sharing of happiness and beautyand world peace. At every international event， China's national leaders will entertain international friendswith a grand firework show， such as the Beijing Olympic Games， the Shanghai World Expo， Guangzhou Asian Games， and thenthe 2017 Hangzhou G20 Summit. The grand show of fireworks is the most unique gift that China could offer to the world.

The mystery of fireworks

The composition of fireworks

According to the national standard of Fireworks Safety and Quality （gb10631-2013）， fireworks， made mainly of smoke powder， are flammable and explosive dangerous substance that are used for viewing as they would emit light， sound and smoke and show different color and images through fire or explosion after they were ignited. Fireworks are composed of the base， the launcher， the effect pieces （including thepropellant， the starting fire package and the effect medicine） and the lead. Wherein， the base is used to prevent the launcher from dumping. Different users should choose different launchers -- personal users often have thick paper barrel while professional users metal tube.The propellant is first litto launch the entire effect pieces from the launch tube.The second will be the starting fire package， and finally the effect pieces would play its role， bringing out a variety of effects.

The science behind the blasting off and exploding of fireworks

The propellant in fireworks is made of mixed black powder from potassium nitrate， sulfur yellow powder and charcoal powder. When the propellant is ignited by a lead， it burns rapidly in a limited space， releasing a large amount of gas quickly. But since the launcher is closed in the bottom and side and open only in the upward direction， these gases will shoot into high sky in a great initial promoting speed. The lead attached to the effect pieces will ignite the starting fire package and then blast the effect pieces after burning a while. Similarly， these pieces will explode by releasing a large amount of gas in a closed space， coupled with the heat from the combustion of metal components such as alloy powder.

If you still think it's hard to understand， think of a bullet launch. The principle of the two is the same， that is the interaction of force. As for the explosion， it is because of the heated expansion.

The origin of various images and colors

After knowing the composition of fireworks and the principle of its blasting off and explosion， perhaps you would like to know why fireworks have so many shapes and colors.

In fact， the different shapes of fireworks should be contributed to the different burning times and speeds of fireworks， which in turn are caused by the different kinds of powder in the effect pieces and various ways of arrangement offireworks. The colors come from different metals that cause flame effects when burning – certain metals or their compounds will show flames in accordance with their characteristics when they burn in a colorless flame – thus emitting different colors of light.The splendid colors of fireworks come just out of the colors of various metal powder when they are burned in ardent heat.

Setting off fireworks safely

When the Spring Festival comes， according to the custom， every household will prepare some fireworks and firecrackers for the new year， adding some festive atmosphere. Therefore， we must buy standard and qualified fireworks. Today， every carton of standard fireworks has a label for registering the flow.

When setting off， choose the designated place or an open area first. All fireworks and firecrackers should be set off outdoors and must be kept away from any inflammable and explosive items or places that do not have safe conditions. Secondly， you must read the instructions before setting off. Follow the instructions and never be careless. The requirements and instructions may not be the same for different fireworks， so you should be careful in differentiating them. Third， keep wide sober when you are to set off firework. Dont do it when you are drunk. In addition， remember to place the fireworks on the ground smoothly. When ignited， the setter should immediately walk to a safe location 30 meters away. When unusual conditions occur， do not immediately get close to the product， and wait at least wait 15 minutes before processing. Children should be under the guidance and supervision of adultswhen setting off them. Finally， pay attention to protect your ears， eyes， face and other important parts of the head. If there is an accident， do not panic and seek for medical treatment timely.

The future of fireworks

The composition of fireworks

In recent years， with frequent smog， the sense of environmental protection of consumers grow ever greater so much so that urban fireworks consumption is on the decline and some governments even issued policies to restrict or prohibit fireworks. Yansong Bai， a famous CCTV host once said： "A carpet ban can neither wipe out the blessings and culture contained in the sound of firecrackers nor the traditional folk culture that has thrived for over a thousand years."The report of the 19th national congress of the CPC also explicitly proposed to build ecological civilization and to firmly strengthen cultural self-confidence that originated from the Chinese nation's outstanding traditional culture， of which fireworks culture is an important branch.How to find a balance between inheriting traditional culture and building ecological civilization has become a major challenge for the professionals in the fireworks industry.

Fortunately， the fireworks industry is undergoing a huge change. To accelerate the elimination of backward production capacity， optimize industrial structure， fireworks production areas throughout the country are accelerating industry integration through administrational ways and other means， and leading enterprises have increased research and development investment. Since 2017， production mechanization and the development of environmental protection product have made great progress： in April， the world's first integrated fireworks production line has formally passed the national test； in December， "HuaguanqianshanYBJ-YY-LX-100 integrated fireworks automation equipment"， whichhas achievedhuman-machine separation， human-drug separation and remote intelligent control all along the production line has got the Upgrade Security of Hunan province.

Mechanization and automation is effective in solving the safety issues in this industry， and new materials and new technology research and development is gradually solving the environmental problems. Once these two thorny difficulties are overcome， I believe the fireworks industry will usher in a new spring！

What behind the fireworks is our warm feelings. In carrying forward the traditional culture， we should keep up with the times and be innovative to carry forward and inherit our traditional culture in a new way in this new era.