There is a saying of "setting off firecrackers" among the Han people. That is, when the new year comes, the first thing for every household to open the door is to set off firecrackers, say goodbye to the old and welcome the new with firecrackers, and drive away nocturnal animals.
Firecracker is a specialty of China, also known as "Firecracker", "Firecracker" and "Firecracker". Its origin is very early, and it has a history of more than two thousand years.
Tracing back to the origin of firecrackers, we can understand the original intention and evolution history of the ancients setting off firecrackers.
"The Chronicle of Jingchu" said: "On the first day of the first month, chickens crow and firecrackers are set off in front of the court to avoid evil spirits." This record shows that firecrackers were an acoustic tool to drive away plagues and evil spirits in ancient times, which made the custom of setting off firecrackers have a certain superstitious color from the beginning. In fact, this is entirely caused by the misunderstanding of the ancients. According to Nerve, in ancient times, people camped through deep mountains and lit bonfires at night, one for cooking and keeping warm, and the other for preventing wild animals from invading. But there is an animal in the mountains, which is not afraid of people or fire, that is, Nian beast, and often attacks people and animals when people are unprepared.
For the sake of the Year of the Animals, people thought of setting off firecrackers in the fire and using the crackling sound of bamboo to keep it away. The animal mentioned here is called "sister-in-law". The ancients said that it can make people cold and hot, and it is ghosts that make people get cold and hot, scaring away mountains, that is, driving away evil spirits and making people lucky and safe. People get up early to set off firecrackers. It is said that this move is to expel "Mandrill". Mandrill is said to be a fierce one-horned ghost in ancient mountains, but it is most afraid of noise, so people scare it away with the explosion of burning bamboo. With gunpowder, people put gunpowder into bamboo tubes to make firecrackers, and then make paper tubes, also known as firecrackers or firecrackers. In modern times, people no longer believe in "mandrill", but they are still used to setting off firecrackers in the Spring Festival to celebrate the festival and cheer up their spirits. So from the night of New Year's Eve to the early morning of New Year's Eve, firecrackers are always on.