Known as the “fireworks of the poor,” Dashuhua is a 500-year-old firework ritual celebrated in Nuanquan, China, to welcome the Lunar New Year.
The small town of Nuanquan, located in Hebei province in northwestern China, is home to one of the most dangerous yet mesmerizing firework displays in the world.
Although fireworks have been part of Chinese celebrations since around 800 AD, they have not always been as widely accessible and affordable as they are today.
Therefore, about half a millennium ago, local blacksmiths devised a more feasible yet equally impressive alternative to traditional fireworks: throwing molten iron against cold walls to create beautiful yet hazardous sparks.
This is a rather dangerous firework ritual.
As you can imagine, having molten iron raining down from above is not the safest situation in the world, and those brave enough to partake in the annual celebration have proven just that.
Although blacksmiths typically wear large hats and cover themselves with sheepskin, accidents can still occur, so participants must exercise extreme caution and implement safety measures.
For example, the wooden ladle used by the blacksmith to scoop molten iron must maintain a distance from the furnace, which can reach temperatures of 1,600 degrees Celsius, so you definitely wouldn’t want it near your skin.
Participants must exercise extreme caution and implement safety measures.
The splattering of heated liquid iron is a process of energy transformation. When the blacksmith throws the iron bar out of the furnace, most of the kinetic energy of the molten iron converts into potential energy, with the remaining kinetic energy causing the explosive splatter.
The explosion of molten iron is essentially a reaction of oxidization of finely dispersed iron droplets combined with the scattering phenomenon upon collision with walls. Additionally, carbon impurities in the iron react with oxygen to produce carbon dioxide, which causes the carbon in the molten iron to come into contact with oxygen, resulting in sparks.
Dashuhua is the only location in Nuanquan where residents still save scrap iron to donate to blacksmiths in preparation for the annual celebration.
In return, the blacksmiths also incorporate other metals such as copper and aluminum into their displays to create green and white sparks alongside the orange ones.
Although there are very few young blacksmiths left in Nuanquan to carry on the work from previous generations, Dashuhua currently still boasts a handful of skilled artisans.
Having existed for over 500 years, there are no recorded instances of blacksmiths suffering serious injuries or any major incidents.
