WEBVTT - The Invention of Fireworks 0:00:03.040 --> 0:00:05.360 Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind production of My 0:00:05.480 --> 0:00:14.680 Heart Radio. Hey you welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. 0:00:14.760 --> 0:00:17.680 My name is Robert Lamb and I'm Joe McCormick, and 0:00:17.760 --> 0:00:21.599 today we're doing fireworks. Hey, Robert, did did you grow 0:00:21.680 --> 0:00:25.240 up in a place where, whatever the actual law was, 0:00:25.400 --> 0:00:28.760 you at least thought that fireworks were illegal and that 0:00:28.920 --> 0:00:32.680 setting them off in your yard might summon the police. No. 0:00:33.320 --> 0:00:36.960 I I grew up in places where it seemed that 0:00:37.040 --> 0:00:40.120 fireworks were just part of life, and you could just 0:00:40.320 --> 0:00:43.400 go out and play with a bunch of firecrackers in 0:00:43.440 --> 0:00:45.720 the afternoon by yourself, and it wasn't any big deal, 0:00:45.800 --> 0:00:48.720 you know, strap them to Joe there in um build 0:00:48.800 --> 0:00:51.159 little volcanoes out of dirt and then blow them up 0:00:51.600 --> 0:00:54.800 to get some scotch tape and see how many, um 0:00:55.080 --> 0:00:59.320 what bottle rockets you could uh lash together and still 0:00:59.360 --> 0:01:01.280 achieve some thing that would fly through the air, that 0:01:01.360 --> 0:01:03.880 sort of thing. So definitely, when I was a little kid, 0:01:03.920 --> 0:01:07.480 I had the impression that using fireworks was illegal. I 0:01:07.480 --> 0:01:09.320 don't know if it was, but I think that's because 0:01:09.360 --> 0:01:11.880 you couldn't buy them in the county where I lived. 0:01:11.959 --> 0:01:14.600 So when Fourth of July or New Year's or whatever 0:01:14.760 --> 0:01:16.400 was coming up and we wanted to get fireworks, we 0:01:16.440 --> 0:01:18.039 had to go on a road trip up or down 0:01:18.080 --> 0:01:21.800 the interstate to to one of the more lawless evil 0:01:21.880 --> 0:01:25.200 counties where you could go to Big Daddy's Firecrackers, or 0:01:25.319 --> 0:01:27.920 you know, one of these other places. I remember when 0:01:27.920 --> 0:01:30.720 I was a kid one time buying a you know, 0:01:30.880 --> 0:01:34.480 using my little allowance money to buy a firecracker that 0:01:34.680 --> 0:01:38.360 was very exciting looking because it was shaped like a tank. 0:01:38.640 --> 0:01:41.840 It was made of cardboard, and I thought, now, this 0:01:41.920 --> 0:01:44.319 thing is going to be like a piece of mobile artillery. 0:01:44.400 --> 0:01:47.240 It's going to roll around and shootout stuff. I recall 0:01:47.319 --> 0:01:49.600 it didn't really do much, and it was one of 0:01:49.600 --> 0:01:53.080 my earliest experiences of spending money on something expecting it 0:01:53.120 --> 0:01:55.560 to be great and it being a total flop. I 0:01:55.560 --> 0:01:59.400 remember being really impressed with the like the tanks and 0:01:59.480 --> 0:02:03.040 the little sort of novelty items, because basically we when 0:02:03.080 --> 0:02:05.600 Fourth of July or New Years would roll around, they'd 0:02:05.640 --> 0:02:07.480 set up a ten er a couple of tenths in 0:02:07.560 --> 0:02:10.200 town in the place where I grew up, and and 0:02:10.400 --> 0:02:12.519 you know, they would sell the fireworks there. I always 0:02:12.560 --> 0:02:15.480 wanted to get things like the tank, but generally a 0:02:15.680 --> 0:02:20.560 parental or grown up unit that was present would would say, no, no, no, 0:02:20.600 --> 0:02:22.079 that's that's a waste of money. You want something that 0:02:22.120 --> 0:02:24.720 goes up in the air and blows up. My my 0:02:24.840 --> 0:02:28.520 fondest memory I remember, I think my grandparents got this 0:02:28.520 --> 0:02:31.680 one was one that went up, exploded and dropped tiny 0:02:31.720 --> 0:02:35.960 parachute men out of it, like yeah, and that was 0:02:36.280 --> 0:02:38.760 that was crazy. That was awesome because it's dropping something. 0:02:38.760 --> 0:02:41.720 Then you then find that's not just total garbage. I mean, 0:02:41.760 --> 0:02:44.760 it's essentially garbage, but not total garbage. No, that's great 0:02:44.800 --> 0:02:47.320 because then you strap a firecracker to that army man 0:02:47.360 --> 0:02:51.799 and put it up. Yeah, I guess um. But then 0:02:51.840 --> 0:02:54.080 I also remember being really impressed by the ones that 0:02:54.160 --> 0:02:57.359 looked like actual rockets. The more rockety, the better, right, 0:02:58.200 --> 0:03:01.639 And I distinctly remember sucking my my parents into getting 0:03:01.639 --> 0:03:04.280 this this one rocket and then we we we brought 0:03:04.320 --> 0:03:06.000 it home. And as it turned out, one of the 0:03:06.000 --> 0:03:08.040 problems with this particular rocket is it's supposed to have 0:03:08.040 --> 0:03:10.400 a launching rod, you know, like a rod that sticks 0:03:10.400 --> 0:03:12.520 into the ground that ensures that it takes off in 0:03:12.560 --> 0:03:17.040 a you know, a with a straight skyward trajectory. That 0:03:17.160 --> 0:03:20.240 rod had been misplaced prior to purchase, so it did 0:03:20.240 --> 0:03:23.160 not have one. So we set this thing off and 0:03:23.360 --> 0:03:25.919 it instead of going straight up into the sky and exploding, 0:03:26.240 --> 0:03:29.079 it went straight up and made a turn and then 0:03:29.120 --> 0:03:33.960 went through a a a narrow gap in the sliding 0:03:34.000 --> 0:03:37.400 glass door of our house, and it hit my uncle 0:03:37.440 --> 0:03:41.200 in the face. Fortunately didn't like blow up in his 0:03:41.280 --> 0:03:43.760 face or anything, but like, you know, kind of punctured 0:03:43.800 --> 0:03:46.240 his cheek a little bit, and then like skidded around 0:03:46.240 --> 0:03:49.720 on the carpeted floor shooting sparks everywhere. Uh So that 0:03:49.800 --> 0:03:52.640 was exciting. Did you get to keep playing with fireworks 0:03:52.680 --> 0:03:56.840 after that? Uh? Yeah, I guess it did inspire me 0:03:56.880 --> 0:03:58.560 to be a little maybe I was a little more 0:03:58.600 --> 0:04:01.000 careful after that, and I certainly to get into the 0:04:01.080 --> 0:04:04.680 total recklessness of you know, people launching Roman candles at 0:04:04.680 --> 0:04:06.360 each other, that sort of thing that you hear about. 0:04:06.640 --> 0:04:10.720 I was generally it was about Yeah you hear about 0:04:10.800 --> 0:04:13.840 or your horror stories about but or or that your 0:04:13.880 --> 0:04:16.359 friends did in high school. Yeah, for me, it was 0:04:16.440 --> 0:04:20.280 just firecrackers and in bottle rockets, so that you know, 0:04:20.640 --> 0:04:24.480 low level uh and firework ammunition here, not getting into 0:04:24.560 --> 0:04:27.320 like cherry bombs and so forth. I have personal stories 0:04:27.320 --> 0:04:29.920 about firecracker use in high school that I'm just not 0:04:30.000 --> 0:04:32.000 going to share on the podcast because I do not 0:04:32.080 --> 0:04:34.919 want to inspire imitators and and have kids get body 0:04:34.920 --> 0:04:38.400 parts blown off. Yeah, I have to say as a parent, 0:04:38.800 --> 0:04:43.880 I certainly am far more protective when it comes to fireworks. Hey, 0:04:43.960 --> 0:04:46.320 I'm not like super into them as an As a 0:04:46.360 --> 0:04:49.719 grown up, um, I like watching professional fireworks every now 0:04:49.800 --> 0:04:51.560 and then, But then again, I'm not going to really 0:04:51.560 --> 0:04:53.360 go out of my way to see them. If they're around, 0:04:53.480 --> 0:04:57.000 I will look up, you know. And I'm I'm more 0:04:57.000 --> 0:04:59.000 protective of my son, like I don't. I don't really 0:04:59.000 --> 0:05:01.719 like the idea of him even playing with fireworks to 0:05:01.760 --> 0:05:04.279 the degree that I did growing up. Well, you know, 0:05:04.440 --> 0:05:08.960 one safe alternative that has always puzzled me is one 0:05:08.960 --> 0:05:11.920 of the most bizarre genres of home media that I've 0:05:11.920 --> 0:05:14.240 ever seen. I recall seeing these, I think in the 0:05:14.279 --> 0:05:18.719 gift shop area of a cracker barrel and DVD's of 0:05:18.839 --> 0:05:24.520 fireworks displays. Oh man, I vaguely remember seeing because I 0:05:24.520 --> 0:05:27.080 never watched one, that's for sure. Yeah I didn't either, 0:05:27.160 --> 0:05:29.320 But I'm just wondering, what, So does somebody buy this 0:05:29.440 --> 0:05:31.840 DVD and take it home and just put it on. 0:05:31.960 --> 0:05:33.839 It's like, yeah, I just want to watch some fireworks 0:05:33.839 --> 0:05:35.880 in the living room. I guess, you know. I mean, 0:05:36.120 --> 0:05:39.160 is it that different from watching the Hearth on Netflix 0:05:39.320 --> 0:05:42.920 every Christmas? I think it's somewhat different. I mean, neither 0:05:42.960 --> 0:05:45.320 one's going to give off heat the way that it 0:05:45.360 --> 0:05:48.160 would in reality. But you know, a real fireworks display, 0:05:48.200 --> 0:05:51.440 you sort of feel the sound. There's this booming thing, 0:05:51.520 --> 0:05:54.520 and and it's live, so you're usually experiencing it along 0:05:54.600 --> 0:05:58.239 with many other people who are celebrating something. Just having 0:05:58.279 --> 0:06:01.280 one on the TV. I don't know that I feel 0:06:01.279 --> 0:06:03.880 like he get closer to the reality of a fire 0:06:03.920 --> 0:06:06.920 burning in your fireplace with a fire on the TV. Yeah, 0:06:07.040 --> 0:06:10.520 probably so, probably so. Uh then again, I do I 0:06:10.560 --> 0:06:12.960 do know that they televise, or at least in the past, 0:06:12.960 --> 0:06:16.159 they would televise some of these big fireworks shows and 0:06:16.160 --> 0:06:19.920 and I remember I remember those being on TV when 0:06:19.960 --> 0:06:22.839 I was a kid. Yeah, I guess so, so as 0:06:23.080 --> 0:06:26.279 as everyone can guess, here we are talking about fireworks today. 0:06:26.320 --> 0:06:28.640 This is going to be one of our Invention themed 0:06:28.720 --> 0:06:33.240 episodes are an exploration of the origin of fireworks, which 0:06:33.279 --> 0:06:35.640 is a fascinating story that I think a lot of 0:06:35.720 --> 0:06:38.599 us probably know like the broad strokes of it. I 0:06:38.600 --> 0:06:41.120 think a lot of people are probably at the very 0:06:41.240 --> 0:06:44.440 least vaguely aware of the Chinese origins that we're going 0:06:44.480 --> 0:06:47.920 to be discussing here, But even just the Chinese origins 0:06:47.960 --> 0:06:51.240 of fireworks, it's it's just such a wonderful tale, full 0:06:51.240 --> 0:06:55.599 of mystery and magic and and also goblins. And then likewise, 0:06:55.600 --> 0:06:57.839 when we get into the European history of it as well, 0:06:58.080 --> 0:07:00.360 there is a lot of magic and miss red there 0:07:00.360 --> 0:07:02.760 as well. Totally, So we're not going to run through 0:07:02.800 --> 0:07:07.039 the entire history of pyro technology here, but suffice to 0:07:07.080 --> 0:07:12.080 say that the human ability to manipulate, sustain, control, and 0:07:12.160 --> 0:07:16.480 produce fire is key to technological advancement as a whole. 0:07:16.720 --> 0:07:19.520 I mean, it's just difficult to overstate the importance of 0:07:19.640 --> 0:07:23.400 fire mastery in human history. It's not just key, it's 0:07:23.480 --> 0:07:28.840 the master key. It's the thing that unlocks almost everything else. Again, 0:07:28.920 --> 0:07:34.880 there's a reason that broadly historical technological regimes are characterized 0:07:34.920 --> 0:07:37.480 in terms of metal working, like what types of things 0:07:37.520 --> 0:07:40.040 you could make tools out of, And you couldn't really 0:07:40.040 --> 0:07:43.280 have metal working without fire, That's right. If you want 0:07:43.440 --> 0:07:46.320 a more detailed breakdown of sort of like the basic 0:07:46.640 --> 0:07:51.360 fire technology history of humanity. Check out our what was it? 0:07:51.400 --> 0:07:53.320 A three part series we did on the match Stick 0:07:53.400 --> 0:07:57.200 for Invention our our other show which has now been 0:07:57.200 --> 0:07:59.600 folded back into this show, but all those episodes about 0:07:59.600 --> 0:08:02.920 the match are still available for your listening. The fire 0:08:02.960 --> 0:08:05.080 Extinguisher too. We talked to us, right, yeah, we kind 0:08:05.080 --> 0:08:07.000 of can we continue? So it's ultimately more like a 0:08:07.440 --> 0:08:12.400 six part journey through uh, some major moments in pyrotechnology. 0:08:12.480 --> 0:08:15.320 I feel like this show is maybe against our wishes, 0:08:15.400 --> 0:08:18.680 revealing some freudy and preoccupations going on in both of 0:08:18.680 --> 0:08:23.240 our brains. But with explosive fireworks, we can't stop thinking 0:08:23.240 --> 0:08:27.760 and talking about firecrackers, fire setting fire to stuff. Yeah, yeah, 0:08:27.800 --> 0:08:31.400 I guess so. Well. Also, we're coming up on July four, 0:08:31.480 --> 0:08:33.760 and I think that was one of the main issues 0:08:33.800 --> 0:08:35.679 here too, is we've been talking about doing a fireworks 0:08:35.679 --> 0:08:39.960 episode forever and then finally um Work asked asked, us, hey, 0:08:40.000 --> 0:08:42.720 do you have anything in the catalog that's July four themed? 0:08:42.720 --> 0:08:46.280 And we're like, well, no, not really, but we've been 0:08:46.320 --> 0:08:48.920 wanting to do fireworks, so here we are. So one 0:08:48.960 --> 0:08:51.480 of the things that we touch on in those pyrotechnology 0:08:51.520 --> 0:08:55.240 episodes is that in many ways, the camp fire itself, 0:08:55.320 --> 0:08:59.520 the longstanding and important aspect of a human culture, is 0:08:59.600 --> 0:09:02.600 in its off, an ancient laboratory, a place where humans 0:09:02.640 --> 0:09:07.600 experimented with the addition of various fuels and substances to 0:09:07.760 --> 0:09:11.960 learn what burns, what doesn't burn, and sometimes what burns 0:09:12.120 --> 0:09:15.760 really well or what combusts. You know, I didn't think 0:09:15.760 --> 0:09:17.800 of this until just now, but this is also bringing 0:09:17.840 --> 0:09:20.880 to mind the recent episodes we did about buildings made 0:09:20.960 --> 0:09:23.719 out of mammoth bone that we're found in what is 0:09:23.760 --> 0:09:27.319 now Russia and Ukraine. But in this ancient Ice Age culture, 0:09:27.760 --> 0:09:29.680 and a big part of that culture seemed to be 0:09:29.720 --> 0:09:33.679 based around the burning of bones as fuel, something we 0:09:33.679 --> 0:09:36.880 wouldn't even normally think of as possible. Yeah, exactly, Like 0:09:36.920 --> 0:09:39.760 bones are one example of of a of a combustion 0:09:39.920 --> 0:09:43.040 uhh source that that has played an important role in 0:09:43.080 --> 0:09:46.560 human history. Another one, of course, is dung um. Some 0:09:46.559 --> 0:09:49.559 some listeners of particularly some cultures, may not be aware 0:09:49.559 --> 0:09:53.160 of just how important dung has been and still is 0:09:53.920 --> 0:09:56.520 in many cases as a fuel. You know, you can 0:09:56.559 --> 0:09:59.400 almost still feel the instinct in yourself, or at least 0:09:59.400 --> 0:10:01.600 I can when ever, you are sitting around to fire 0:10:01.679 --> 0:10:04.360 and you have some kind of novel item, there's almost 0:10:04.360 --> 0:10:07.520 this primordial urge to just see what it's like if 0:10:07.559 --> 0:10:09.160 you just throw that in the fire. What does it 0:10:09.200 --> 0:10:11.880 look like when it burns? What does it do? Yeah? 0:10:11.960 --> 0:10:14.840 I see that with my son especially, we recently were 0:10:14.840 --> 0:10:17.679 putting up we were we had some tomato plants and 0:10:17.679 --> 0:10:20.960 we're like, oh, let's get some sticks to brace these suckers, 0:10:21.000 --> 0:10:22.600 and then we realized, oh, no, the last time we 0:10:22.640 --> 0:10:25.480 had a fire in the backyard, the boy burned everything, 0:10:25.840 --> 0:10:31.320 like every every piece of dry wood was consented. So, oh, 0:10:31.360 --> 0:10:34.439 I sympathize. So it shouldn't come as any surprise then 0:10:34.480 --> 0:10:37.040 that there there are, you know, various accounts of pre 0:10:37.240 --> 0:10:41.440 fireworks substances and materials that would combust or burn in 0:10:41.440 --> 0:10:43.880 a certain way that was notable. And one of the 0:10:44.080 --> 0:10:47.200 really key examples here that is central to the origin 0:10:47.240 --> 0:10:51.600 of fireworks is bamboo. Now bamboo, I think everyone's familiar 0:10:51.640 --> 0:10:55.480 with bamboo, but it is a hollow hearted grass. It's 0:10:55.559 --> 0:10:57.880 especially common in East Asia, but you'll find it throughout 0:10:57.880 --> 0:11:01.360 the world's tropical regions. Now, I know many of you 0:11:01.440 --> 0:11:05.120 have enjoyed this exact experiment. Uh, and if you haven't, 0:11:05.360 --> 0:11:07.560 I suggest you try it the next time you have 0:11:07.559 --> 0:11:11.439 a campfire, if it all possible. Dry bamboo can burn 0:11:11.559 --> 0:11:14.480 quite readily, and in some cases the drying out process 0:11:14.520 --> 0:11:17.600 causes those hollows in the bamboo to crack open, but 0:11:17.720 --> 0:11:21.320 other times there remains a sealed pocket of air in there. 0:11:21.640 --> 0:11:23.920 So if you throw the bamboo into the fire, the 0:11:23.920 --> 0:11:27.240 heat will cause the air within that hollow to expand, 0:11:27.760 --> 0:11:31.160 and it will expand enough that it pops and produces 0:11:31.160 --> 0:11:35.120 a startling bang when it explodes. I've never done this personally, 0:11:35.120 --> 0:11:38.640 but now I really want to. Yeah, it's it's tremendous fun. 0:11:38.720 --> 0:11:42.160 I mean it. We can well imagine that this was 0:11:42.200 --> 0:11:44.520 one of the key attractions. It's like we put this 0:11:44.559 --> 0:11:48.000 into the fire and it's it's it's alarming, it's entertaining, 0:11:48.480 --> 0:11:52.160 it's uh, you know, it's it's raising your your awareness. Uh. 0:11:52.200 --> 0:11:53.959 It's something that I think, you know, we can when 0:11:54.200 --> 0:11:58.080 we experience it. We're experiencing the the primal experience of 0:11:58.160 --> 0:12:01.400 burning bamboo as well. Now, this property of bamboo is 0:12:01.440 --> 0:12:06.120 something that has been recognized since ancient times. Yes, absolutely, Um, 0:12:06.160 --> 0:12:08.840 you know. It also brings to mind another interesting idea 0:12:08.840 --> 0:12:14.040 that we recently discussed in our Phartonomicon episodes um Mary 0:12:14.160 --> 0:12:18.080 Roach and her her book what was it? Uh gulp. 0:12:18.280 --> 0:12:22.040 I believe she has his conversation with the University of 0:12:22.040 --> 0:12:26.120 Alabama's Stephen Secor about snakes, and he has this theory 0:12:26.240 --> 0:12:31.439 that uh hypothesis, rather that perhaps the myth of fire 0:12:31.480 --> 0:12:36.200 breathing dragons has some origin in dead constrictor snakes bloated 0:12:36.240 --> 0:12:39.720 with prey bring being brought to the fireside, and then 0:12:39.720 --> 0:12:44.000 a post mortem exhalation of stomach gases ignites the flames, 0:12:44.080 --> 0:12:47.360 that makes the flames roar up um, which you know, 0:12:47.360 --> 0:12:48.800 I don't know if there's a whole lot of evidence 0:12:48.840 --> 0:12:51.920 for that, but it was an interesting idea. Yeah, highly speculative, 0:12:51.960 --> 0:12:53.960 but I like it. Yeah, And it gets again, it 0:12:54.040 --> 0:12:56.320 kind of touches in the same area that we're touching 0:12:56.400 --> 0:12:59.839 on here with bamboo. Uh, the idea that this inevitable 0:12:59.840 --> 0:13:02.280 and use meant to be had in burning it in 0:13:02.280 --> 0:13:05.560 the fire, So it would it would seem impossible to 0:13:05.640 --> 0:13:09.280 truly date how far back this practice goes of observing 0:13:09.280 --> 0:13:13.320 that bamboo pops in the fire. But given the necessary components, 0:13:13.840 --> 0:13:16.440 you know, and the obvious lack of archaeological evidence. We 0:13:16.480 --> 0:13:18.600 have to consider that it goes like pretty much all 0:13:18.640 --> 0:13:21.200 the way back in uh, as far as there have 0:13:21.240 --> 0:13:24.120 been peoples around bamboo that are capable of producing fire, 0:13:24.760 --> 0:13:27.200 and in Chinese history, we at least can consider it 0:13:27.320 --> 0:13:30.640 as long as we've had Chinese writing and uh, and 0:13:30.640 --> 0:13:32.560 that is where we see some some you know, early 0:13:32.600 --> 0:13:35.880 evidence that this was an established thing. So I was 0:13:35.960 --> 0:13:40.120 reading some writings by um hiwang Yuan of Western Kentucky 0:13:40.240 --> 0:13:43.080 University where he's a professor of Library science, but he's 0:13:43.080 --> 0:13:46.559 also a guest professor of the Foreign Languages College at 0:13:46.800 --> 0:13:49.320 Nankai University in China, and he's written several books on 0:13:49.400 --> 0:13:52.560 Chinese proverbs and legends. In two thousand eight, he wrote 0:13:52.600 --> 0:13:55.560 a piece on Chinese fireworks, and he points out, uh 0:13:55.600 --> 0:13:59.680 that what we're talking about here is bao jou, which 0:13:59.720 --> 0:14:02.080 is bloating bamboo, like that's the word for it, and 0:14:02.120 --> 0:14:05.760 it later becomes used for fireworks. And he points to 0:14:06.080 --> 0:14:09.000 a few early mentions of of this sort of thing. 0:14:09.000 --> 0:14:12.640 He points to the Song Dynasty writer Woang and Anshi 0:14:12.840 --> 0:14:16.320 who lived ten twenty one through six, who wrote a 0:14:16.360 --> 0:14:19.400 poem in which one of the lines translates as follows 0:14:19.680 --> 0:14:23.520 quote admits the crackling of exploding bamboo, a year is 0:14:23.560 --> 0:14:26.800 gone in the warmth of a spring breeze, we drink 0:14:26.880 --> 0:14:30.440 the wine of suzu. Now, to me, that's availing itself 0:14:30.440 --> 0:14:33.680 of multiple interpretations. When the year is gone amidst the 0:14:33.720 --> 0:14:37.880 crackling of bamboo. Is that because crackling bamboo is meant 0:14:37.920 --> 0:14:40.240 to signal the turning of the new year? Or is 0:14:40.280 --> 0:14:42.760 it that a year is gone in a flash as 0:14:42.800 --> 0:14:46.360 as fast as as bamboo cracks. Yeah, it's nice. There's 0:14:46.400 --> 0:14:49.120 some wonderful poetry to it that certainly it does seem 0:14:49.160 --> 0:14:52.360 to be describing, uh, you know, whatever it's getting alluding to, 0:14:52.720 --> 0:14:56.080 you know, metaphorically. It is also alluding to the Chinese 0:14:56.120 --> 0:15:00.520 custom that the New Year spring festival celebration of burning 0:15:00.560 --> 0:15:05.320 bamboo to create loud, startling noises as a part of celebrations. 0:15:05.760 --> 0:15:10.120 This was actually making me wonder about the linguistic conceptual 0:15:10.360 --> 0:15:15.560 history of exploding or the idea of an explosion. Before 0:15:15.680 --> 0:15:20.880 a culture had combustible chemicals like say, black powder, would 0:15:20.960 --> 0:15:24.240 the culture have had a concept or a word that 0:15:24.360 --> 0:15:29.320 means exactly what explode means to us today. I'm trying 0:15:29.360 --> 0:15:33.760 to think what other chances to observe natural explosions would 0:15:33.760 --> 0:15:36.800 have been obviously, bamboo seems like a good one. But 0:15:36.920 --> 0:15:40.200 what beyond that? You can think of volcanic eruptions, But 0:15:40.240 --> 0:15:44.280 that wouldn't be something that people observed often enough you 0:15:44.320 --> 0:15:48.200 would think that to have its own dedicated word for it. Uh. 0:15:48.200 --> 0:15:50.880 And it seems to me like many early writings about 0:15:51.360 --> 0:15:55.520 chemical combustion actually use words related to other, much more 0:15:55.520 --> 0:15:59.640 common natural phenomenon that aren't exactly explosions, things like thunder 0:15:59.720 --> 0:16:04.240 and lightning. Yeah, because I guess my mind does instantly 0:16:04.280 --> 0:16:07.800 go to things that are more I guess a bursting 0:16:07.880 --> 0:16:13.000 or rupturing. For instance, um, the popping of a of 0:16:12.520 --> 0:16:15.600 of of a pimple or or a blister or or 0:16:15.640 --> 0:16:18.400 some sort of you know, skin ailment, or the bursting 0:16:18.440 --> 0:16:21.800 of say a blood filled kick, that sort of thing. 0:16:22.000 --> 0:16:23.960 But those are again, it's more of a bursting or 0:16:23.960 --> 0:16:26.800 a rupturing, and I would you know, we wouldn't necessarily 0:16:26.800 --> 0:16:29.240 compare it to an exploding. Likewise, if you were doing 0:16:29.280 --> 0:16:33.600 something with, say, bladders of animals that have been inflated 0:16:33.640 --> 0:16:36.320 with air or water, and then you're bursting them in 0:16:36.400 --> 0:16:40.400 some fashion, it's still probably a different thing than just explosion. 0:16:41.080 --> 0:16:43.920 I can imagine that with a bladder, because it seems 0:16:43.920 --> 0:16:46.880 like the important phenomena are the ones of like suddenly 0:16:46.960 --> 0:16:50.120 relieving large amounts of pressure with a sound or some 0:16:50.240 --> 0:16:53.880 kind of some kind of like tactile blasts that you 0:16:53.920 --> 0:16:56.080 can feel. Yeah, and you're just not going to get 0:16:56.080 --> 0:16:59.520 that with a with with a blood filled tick or 0:16:59.600 --> 0:17:02.480 the pimple. I mean, if you could, that'd be pretty impressive. Yeah, 0:17:02.520 --> 0:17:04.800 I mean it's kind of a mental popping sound, but 0:17:04.840 --> 0:17:06.680 it's not really an audible sound. It's just more of 0:17:06.720 --> 0:17:10.040 an experience. Um And then again, we're probably to what 0:17:10.119 --> 0:17:13.120 extent or were we thinking about explosions when we engage, 0:17:13.240 --> 0:17:15.439 and you know, it's like the the the the idea 0:17:15.480 --> 0:17:18.560 of the explosion then informs how we're thinking about rupturing 0:17:18.560 --> 0:17:22.800 and bursting. So um I mentioned there was another um 0:17:23.160 --> 0:17:27.119 uh bit of poetry here that Yawn refers to. He 0:17:27.200 --> 0:17:30.000 refers to writings in the Book of Songs, one of 0:17:30.000 --> 0:17:33.040 the five classics of of Chinese poetry, said to be 0:17:33.080 --> 0:17:36.120 compiled by Confusus himself, and this is from the late 0:17:36.160 --> 0:17:39.639 Western Joe dynasty, which would be ten s b c 0:17:39.800 --> 0:17:42.679 E through seven seventy one b c E and it 0:17:42.720 --> 0:17:47.280 translates as follows, how goes the night. It's not yet midnight, 0:17:47.600 --> 0:17:50.920 but the ting lao is already blazing. So king lao 0:17:51.040 --> 0:17:54.400 apparently refers to a kind of torch made of bamboo, 0:17:54.680 --> 0:17:59.119 and as it burns, it makes these crackling, perhaps popping noises. 0:17:59.160 --> 0:18:01.720 So it's an upgrade eating of the bamboo popping effect 0:18:02.000 --> 0:18:06.680 into a different sort of pyrotechnic device, not just desultory 0:18:07.040 --> 0:18:09.720 poking into the fire with a piece of bamboo such 0:18:09.800 --> 0:18:12.440 that it pops, but making a torch that is designed 0:18:12.440 --> 0:18:15.840 to pop as it burns. Yes, that's that's my understanding 0:18:15.840 --> 0:18:19.439 of it. Yes, it's easy to simply extrapolate our modern 0:18:19.560 --> 0:18:22.119 enjoyment of such pops and bangs to ancient people's. And 0:18:22.359 --> 0:18:24.720 I do think it's perfectly fair to assume this is 0:18:24.760 --> 0:18:27.560 a large part of it. You know, like a startling 0:18:27.840 --> 0:18:31.479 sound is amusing, and uh, you know, you start, you're 0:18:31.520 --> 0:18:33.480 scared for a second, and then you're relieved and you're 0:18:33.520 --> 0:18:35.520 laughing like that's I think that's just part of the 0:18:35.640 --> 0:18:38.119 universal human experience, and it's been that way for for 0:18:38.200 --> 0:18:41.600 a very long time. Yeah, I'm reminded of the psychological 0:18:41.600 --> 0:18:44.600 attraction people have to popping bubble wrap? Why do people 0:18:44.680 --> 0:18:47.320 like doing that so much? I think we hypothesized in 0:18:47.320 --> 0:18:49.600 a previous episode of Invention that it might have something 0:18:49.600 --> 0:18:53.240 to do with grooming instincts maybe, but back to pimple 0:18:53.280 --> 0:18:56.440 popping and tick bursting, right exactly. But I think part 0:18:56.440 --> 0:18:59.240 of it also, especially when you see children do it, 0:18:59.240 --> 0:19:02.760 it seems a little it less like anxiety relieving grooming 0:19:02.840 --> 0:19:05.359 behaviors with them and and more like a game of 0:19:05.760 --> 0:19:08.280 Jack in the Box or Pop Goes the Weasel or 0:19:08.280 --> 0:19:11.920 Peek a Boo or something. It's just repeatedly startling yourself 0:19:11.960 --> 0:19:15.159 with the sound and enjoying it absolutely. And so I 0:19:15.440 --> 0:19:17.320 think it again, it's perfectly fair to say this is 0:19:17.560 --> 0:19:20.040 a large part of what we're talking about here. But 0:19:20.160 --> 0:19:22.600 another part of the tradition is the use of loud 0:19:22.640 --> 0:19:27.600 noises to frighten away uh spirits or monsters. Uh. The 0:19:27.640 --> 0:19:31.760 more recent version of this is the idea of frightening 0:19:31.800 --> 0:19:36.080 away the New Year's beast, the nun Shao. Now there's 0:19:36.080 --> 0:19:39.280 some discussion about whether this is actually you know, how 0:19:39.320 --> 0:19:41.480 how old this tradition goes back. There's some that say 0:19:41.520 --> 0:19:44.720 that it's essentially a recent tradition that's popped up, and 0:19:44.760 --> 0:19:46.959 this gets into you know, some of the the Chinese 0:19:46.960 --> 0:19:50.000 New Year celebrations that most of us are familiar with seeing, 0:19:50.320 --> 0:19:52.399 you know, the idea of like a lion dance taking 0:19:52.440 --> 0:19:55.840 place and firecrackers going off, that sort of thing. But 0:19:55.920 --> 0:19:59.840 it also correlates to an ancient tradition that Juand discusses, 0:20:00.400 --> 0:20:04.439 the shan Zhao. According to the Han dynasty classic the 0:20:04.440 --> 0:20:08.320 Book of Gods and Spirits, these strange creatures would harass 0:20:08.480 --> 0:20:11.800 camp fires in the night, and they were also said 0:20:11.840 --> 0:20:14.359 in some traditions to carry a disease that could cause 0:20:14.440 --> 0:20:17.679 chills and fevers. So what you did is you use 0:20:17.800 --> 0:20:21.800 bamboo firewood, because that would of course pop at regular 0:20:21.840 --> 0:20:27.200 intervals and create these frightening noises that would keep these monsters, spirits, creatures, 0:20:27.640 --> 0:20:29.879 whatever you want to call them, away from your fire. 0:20:30.359 --> 0:20:34.119 So it is not just amusing to have exploding bamboo around, 0:20:34.160 --> 0:20:38.679 but it's also somewhere between a real repellent of maybe 0:20:38.720 --> 0:20:41.560 some kind of creature that would threaten your campfire, or 0:20:41.680 --> 0:20:44.679 at least imagined as some kind of apotropaic magic to 0:20:44.760 --> 0:20:50.280 keep the demons away. Yeah, exactly so. So obviously, quite unexpectedly, 0:20:50.440 --> 0:20:53.080 goblins were popping up in the research, so I decided 0:20:53.119 --> 0:20:55.720 to look a little deeper. Um. And one of one 0:20:55.720 --> 0:20:58.280 of the sources we came across as a book by 0:20:58.480 --> 0:21:02.040 Richard von blonde idled The Sinister Way, the Divine and 0:21:02.080 --> 0:21:05.640 the Demonic and Chinese religious culture, and in it uh 0:21:05.800 --> 0:21:09.280 he says that shan zhao has sometimes translated as mountain 0:21:09.359 --> 0:21:15.200 goblins uh and described as being ape like in various ways. Uh. 0:21:15.240 --> 0:21:18.879 And he says that basically these are quote a class 0:21:18.920 --> 0:21:23.440 of petty demons, change link spirits inhabiting the wild mountains 0:21:23.440 --> 0:21:26.959 and forests. Yeah. Overall he seems to characterize them as 0:21:27.000 --> 0:21:29.879 a kind of a very classic type of monster. Actually, 0:21:29.880 --> 0:21:33.080 the monster that in that embodies the chaos of the 0:21:33.119 --> 0:21:37.320 wilderness as opposed to the order of civilization. Yeah. And 0:21:37.359 --> 0:21:40.000 of course you see this in European traditions. You see 0:21:40.000 --> 0:21:42.960 this uh in cultures around the world. Right. I mean 0:21:43.000 --> 0:21:46.400 that the dark is frightening, the wilds are frightening, especially 0:21:46.440 --> 0:21:49.040 if they're not your wilds. And that's something that he 0:21:49.080 --> 0:21:53.000 points out of Von Glan points out that after the 0:21:53.040 --> 0:21:56.560 loss of Northern China to foreign conquerors in three seventeen, 0:21:56.960 --> 0:21:59.600 the Chinese rulers were displaced to the south where they 0:21:59.640 --> 0:22:04.879 encounter or a dense, humid subtropical environment along with rugged mountains, 0:22:04.920 --> 0:22:09.160