Fireworks and The Year of the Rabbit

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It is time to celebrate the Chinese New Year, also known as Spring Festival. According to Chinese Zodiac, tomorrow is the start of the Chinese New Year of the Rabbit— a kind, energetic, and resilient animal that represents patience and treating others with respect.

Just like decorating Christmas tree, or looking at the twinkly lights are part of the holiday tradition in the United States, it would not be a complete Chinese New Year celebration without?setting off firecrackers or fireworks, at least that was my childhood memory. Although the roar of fireworks and the flash of the colorful lights only last seconds, memory of the joy often lasts for a lifetime.?

Chinese New Year fireworks are not only spectacular to watch but also hold cultural significance. The fireworks are believed to scare away evil spirits and bring good luck for the coming year. It is also a way of celebrating the end of the old year and the start of the new one. People gather together with family and friends to watch the fireworks and enjoy the festivities.

The predecessor for firecracker is called Baozhu (爆竹）which literally means "exploding bamboo” in Chinese. it is thought that, as early as 200 B.C., Chinese had stumbled upon a sort of natural firecracker: They would roast bamboo, which explodes with a bang when heated due to its hollow air pockets, in order to ward off evil spirits.

After gunpowder was discovered during the Tang Dynasty (618–907), people found that a loud blast could be produced by inserting gunpowder into the hollow of a bamboo stick and then throwing it into a fire. The first firecrackers were born. Red paper tubes, a lucky color for Chinese, eventually replaced the bamboo stalks and firecrackers became increasingly popular to enhance celebrations and religious ceremonies.

The most important component of a firework is, of course, the gunpowder. The colors in fireworks stem from a wide variety of metal compounds – particularly metal salts. The heat given off by the combustion reaction causes electrons in the metal atoms to be excited to higher energy levels. These excited states are unstable, so the electron quickly returns to its original energy state, emitting excess energy as light. As different elements ignite they release different wavelengths of light which translate as different colors.

Meanwhile in the United States, fireworks and the 4th of July have become somewhat synonymous, going all the way back to the very first Independence Day in the United States – a tradition that continues every 4th of July when we celebrate as John Adams had hoped “with pomp, parade….bonfires and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other.”

Interestingly, the tradition of fireworks is quickly being replaced in China by using large swamps of small drones for large celebrations which avoid the air pollutions and safety hazard associated with fireworks. With that said, fireworks is not likely heading to the museum anytime soon after entertaining people for over two thousand years.

I wish everyone good health, abundance, and much happiness in the Year of the Rabbit!

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