Respect the Chinese

Fireworks were first invented in China during the Song dynasty. Well, without the historical labeling, we’d say, in about 2000 years ago. “Invented” might not be the correct term to describe the birth of fireworks because the big bag happened accidentally. However, afterwards, they became ultra-hip experiments by Chinese alchemists. Sadly, without what we westerners today call “health and safety regulations”, the Chinese had been gleefully burning their flesh and shedding their blood for our entertainment.

 

 

Taunt the Evil Spirits

The original function of fireworks is to scare evil spirits. The Chinese will light their fireworks and firecrackers usually at the lunar New Year’s Day to ward off the baddies and bring good luck to the country. Yes, we’d say “country” because fireworks were exclusively for the royalties. It wasn’t until a thousand years later that ordinarily rich could afford to have their hands on fireworks. In the pre-colonial period, the British troops used fireworks to frighten the Native Americans. Today, to our delights, fireworks and firecrackers become lifesavers fending off annoying neighbours, chavs, chavettes and their pitbulls.

 

Kudos to the Italians

Though the Chinese made them fireworks, the Italians perfected it. Of all the wondrous delights from the Orient, explorer Marco Polo chose to bring fireworks and firecrackers back to Europe. No, he wasn’t a retarded prick. He did have a vision. A few centuries later, in the peak of the Renaissance, the Italians were first to develop aerial shells that burst in the sky and showered silver and gold sparkles, essentially turning fireworks into an art form! Decades later fireworks became spectacles, not only for royalties, but also peasants like us.

 

 

Make One?

Yes, you may follow the original Chinese formula of charcoal, sulphur, saltpeter and a good dollop of honey. The honey doesn’t have to be organic or farmed in China. It can be African, Jamaican or even English. What is it for? Possibly gluing things together. On that note, we might as well improvise and replace it with Marmite. Ok, back to being serious, one firework shell consists of the following: a fuel (in forms of charcoal and sulphur), an oxidizer, iron or steel powder, and a binder (Honey, Marmite!).

 

How Does It Work?

This is, indeed, a more complicated matter. Let’s start with the term “pyrotechnic star”. What’s that? It’s just the posh name of the five compounds we mention earlier. They work to generate colours in fireworks. In the old days, you could only have fireworks in gold and silver, but our modern day scientific studies inform us of other colour-producing chemicals and a chlorine donor. The latter helps strengthen the coloured flame. So, you put them all in together in a shell that can be fired into the sky to explode. The shapes of the fireworks depend on how each colour-producing chemicals are lined. In the sky, the chemicals will be bouncing off each other creating visual layers of colours and patterns.

 

What about the noise? The bang, the crackle, the hummer, the whistle are the result of manipulation by the shape of the container and added extras in the compounds. For instance, tiny tube fireworks will give you the humming noise and the screeching sound from is created from the powder burning down a long tube.

Mind the Legal

The ways a firework operates are similar to how cannon balls and gunpowder work. If you put loads of forks—yes, forks!—into the compounds and let the shell explodes, you’ll have a proper killer tool. So, whatever you do, be warned. You could end up hung, beheaded and dismembered just like Guy Fawkes, who might have just wanted to light some fireworks from the tunnel of the Parliament. Alasssss!

 

Have a Green One

A quintessential, 21st century question! Can we have an environmentally friendly firework? The answer is “No” if you don’t shoot one, but “Yes” if you light one. Yet, again, it depends—this might sound absurd—on the colours of the fireworks. Why? Very basic rules: we use different chemicals to create colours, and some chemicals are more toxic than others. Interestingly, the colour green is made from one of the most toxic chemicals. How ironic.

 

 

 

 

Words: Poonperm Paitayawat