Every year on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the Chinese traditional major festival Spring Festival has just passed, and immediately ushered in the lively and festive Lantern Festival, the first month is the first month of the lunar calendar, the ancients called the night "supper", so the fifteenth day of the first month is called the Lantern Festival. The Lantern Festival in 2022 is coming, before the annual Lantern Festival, all over the country will be illuminated to carry out a variety of forms of celebrations, in addition to guessing lantern riddles, viewing lanterns, eating Lanterns, which is the most popular custom is to set off fireworks.
Lantern Festival is the first full moon night of the year, whenever night falls, followed by the explosion of "crackling", fireworks like scattered flowers of the goddess bloom in the air, attracting many small friends to watch. With the in-depth promotion of the implementation of the ban on fireworks and firecrackers in various places, many places have cancelled the Lantern Festival fireworks display activities.
The Lantern Festival takes friends to set off fireworks, and childhood can never go back, all that remains is memory. Netizens said that they resolutely support the requirements of "fireworks and firecrackers prohibited", consciously abide by laws and regulations, after all, there are many hidden safety hazards behind the fireworks and firecrackers, and do not have a fluke mentality to set off fireworks. The little partner said that we can't set off fireworks and watch fireworks, we can go to the scenic spot together to watch the "iron flower", more than 1600 degrees of high temperature molten iron splashed into the night sky, a golden iron flower is gorgeous, and the "iron flower fire rain" splashed in the air is also amazing!
When it comes to the lantern festival to see the folk activity of playing iron flowers, some friends will think of the tree flowers in Wei County, Hebei Province, people will splash the molten iron on the city wall, splashing out ten thousand golden flowers, like the leafy canopy and called "tree flowers", its magnificence is no less than fireworks. The West Castle Scenic Area in Nuanquan Town, Wei County, stages the iron flower playing activity every Saturday, and the tree flower has become the finale folk culture project of the West Castle Scenic Area.
Folk proverb of Nuanquan Town, Wei County: The rich set off fireworks, and the poor beat trees and flowers. It is said that in the past, there were many blacksmith workshops in the town of Warm Spring, and every Lantern Festival, the rich set off fireworks to celebrate. Poor blacksmiths have no money to buy fireworks, they get inspiration from the sparks splashed during the iron, and at night they splash the molten iron on the brick walls, and the iron flowers bloom like a canopy, and their lively celebration overwhelms the rich people who own fireworks, and this special "fireworks" also attracts more and more ordinary people to watch.
Many people will also think of the iron flower in Qishan County, Henan Province, which is known as the "best of folk fireworks" and was announced as the second batch of intangible cultural heritage in The country in June 2008. The molten iron of the iron flower is made by melting the damaged plough or pig iron in a small iron-making furnace, and the molten iron is heated to 1600 degrees to 1700 degrees, and then the molten iron is added to the wood chips on the sky or brick wall with wooden planks, forming a scene of "iron spark fire rain" in the air.
"Striking iron flowers" is a very physically demanding work, each time it takes several people to cooperate, divided into two parts: "palm furnace" and "palm spoon", the furnace holder is responsible for smelting and carrying molten iron, and the spoon holder is responsible for the iron flower performance. At nightfall, the master of the furnace will put the smashed pig iron into the crucible for smelting, and after the pig iron is melted into boiling iron juice, the master of the furnace will carry the molten iron to the master of the spoon to complete the task.
Some netizens said that playing iron flowers is a game of the brave, and if the molten iron of more than 1600 degrees falls on people's skin, the master of the spoon will definitely be burned. The difficulty of playing iron flowers is very high, and there is no room for sloppiness. In order to avoid accidents, the daring iron flower masters of the art are wearing thick cotton coats and straw hats. Why can't I take a spoon with a blacksmith? The iron spoon melts as soon as it dips more than 1600 degrees of molten iron, and the iron flower master uses a willow spoon and a willow board to scoop molten iron and hit iron flowers. The structure of the willow wood is tight, and it needs to be soaked in water for three to five days after the willow spoon is prepared, so that the wooden spoon will not be dissolved by the molten iron.
There is a folk saying that "the iron flower is rich in grain, and the rainbow head descends from the sky". Hitting tree flowers and striking iron flowers are the fireworks of folk traditions in the Yujin and Jin dynasties, and the intangible cultural heritage with rich cultural characteristics in mainland folk customs and folk art, which are the crystallization of the wisdom of the working people and the expectation of a better life. (Wang Jian'an Photography)