Setting off firecrackers is a practice handed down from the remote past, when burning bamboo stems were burnt. Bamboo stems have joints and are hollow inside. When they are burnt, the air inside expands after being heated, and the stems themselves burst open and make a loud cracking sound. Later on, people placed gunpowder in the bamboo stems and thus invented firecrackers. Still later, paper rolls replaced bamboo stems. By the close of the Qing dynasty, there were already special workshops in China making all kinds of firecrackers.

At first, people set off firecrackers for the purpose of keeping away evil spirits and seeking happiness. A legend has it that there was a strange savage beast whose body looked like a human being and who hid itself in remote mountains. Toward the end of every year, it would come out to kill people and animals. However, it was afraid of light and noise. Whenever it heard the noise of firecrackers, it was so scared that it ran away. Therefore, at the beginning and end of every year, people set off firecrackers in order not to be disturbed by the beast.

Recently local regulations have been issued that forbid setting off firecrackers in cities, for they can cause fire accidents and hurt people. Despite these regulations, however, many citizens go out into the countryside to light firecrackers for the New Year celebration.

This article by Yang Tianqing and Daniel Kister.