The History of Fireworks in East Asia: From Noise to Art

How did the primal belief in chasing away evil spirits become a festival lighting up the night sky?

• Understand the origins and development of fireworks in the three East Asian countries: China, Korea, and Japan.
• Compare the social and cultural meanings fireworks held throughout each country’s history.
• Learn how gunpowder technology was used as a symbol of art and power.

The noise and light that chased away evil spirits: the beginning of fireworks

On New Year’s Eve, the sky over East Asia fills with loud bangs and flashes—a long-standing ritual welcoming the new year. Today’s familiar fireworks are more than mere spectacles; they are the crystallization of millennia of hopes and beliefs. But where did these brilliant sparks originate?

The deepest roots of fireworks lie in an ancient Chinese legend about a monster called ‘Nian (年)’. Every New Year’s Eve, this beast appeared to harm people but was afraid of the color red, bright lights, and loud noises. People pasted red paper, lit fires, and created loud sounds by burning things to scare away the ‘Nian,’ which became the origin of the New Year celebration custom called ‘Guo Nian (過年).’

This legend reveals the primal meaning of fireworks as Bixie (辟邪)—the act of warding off evil spirits. Before gunpowder was invented, bamboo was the tool used. When burning a hollow bamboo stalk, the air inside expanded and exploded with a ‘bang,’ believed to scare away evil spirits. This is why the Chinese word for firecrackers (爆竹, bàozhú) literally means ’exploding bamboo.’

Ultimately, the history of East Asian fireworks began as a primal human survival method to overcome the unknown fears of darkness and disaster—defeating darkness with light and breaking silence with sound.

The invention of gunpowder and fireworks in China

Like many inventions that changed human history, gunpowder was also an accidental discovery. During the Tang dynasty, Taoist alchemists seeking the elixir of immortality accidentally invented black powder by mixing saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal. This discovery replaced bamboo with gunpowder as the tool for Bixie and became a catalyst in the history of fireworks.

Gunpowder technology flourished during the Song dynasty (960–1279). Simple ‘firecrackers (爆竹)’ evolved into ‘bian (鞭),’ gunpowder wrapped in paper, and further into ‘yanhua (煙火),’ fireworks with various colors and shapes—the form we recognize today.

The Song court actively used this new technology as a national spectacle. Fireworks transformed from folk magic to ward off evil spirits into a majestic tool to display the emperor’s authority and wealth. The fireworks decorating the night sky symbolized the emperor’s divine power to control celestial fire, expanding the meaning from a protective charm for the community to a symbol of state power.

Of course, where there is light, there is shadow. Gunpowder that created beautiful fireworks was also the material for humanity’s first firearms (fire lances) and bombs. This duality of art and destruction manifested differently as East Asian countries adopted fireworks.

Fireworks as a symbol of power in Goryeo and Joseon Korea

In Korea, fireworks became a powerful tool to establish national authority and intimidate diplomatic rivals. At the royal courts of Goryeo and Joseon, fireworks viewing called Gwanhwa (觀火) was part of the year-end ritual Narye (儺禮) to drive away evil spirits.

Joseon monarchs understood the political and military value of fireworks and skillfully used them on the diplomatic stage. According to the 『Annals of the Joseon Dynasty』, more extravagant fireworks were deliberately displayed before envoys from Japan and the Ryukyu Kingdom (Okinawa) to showcase Joseon’s advanced gunpowder technology and military strength—a calculated performance to deter threats.

Interestingly, this display was not extended to the Ming dynasty, the era’s strongest power. Officials under King Sejong advised, “Our firearms surpass China’s; we must not show them to envoys,” marking fireworks as a top state secret. Thus, fireworks were a sophisticated political act with layered meanings—hospitality, intimidation, and concealed strategic technology depending on the audience.

The military significance of fireworks peaked during the reign of the reformist King Jeongjo. The nighttime military drills called Yajo (夜操) at Hwaseong Fortress were grand performances showcasing military power and royal authority, culminating with fireworks and the use of the divine machine arrows (Shingijeon).

However, as Neo-Confucian ideals emphasizing frugality strengthened, the costly royal fireworks gradually declined.

Japan’s fireworks blossoming into art: Hanabi (花火)

Unlike China and Korea, in Japan fireworks blossomed into a popular cultural flower. The summer symbol ‘hanabi (fire flower)’ began not as a celebration but in deep sorrow and mourning.

Its origin traces back to 1733 when Shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune launched fireworks over the Sumida River to console the souls of those who died from famine and cholera and to pray for the end of the epidemic. This established the unique spiritual foundation of Japanese hanabi culture: memorial rites and warding off evil. The light was a requiem for the dead and a purifying fire praying for the living’s safety.

During the peaceful Edo period and the rise of urban culture, hanabi gradually transformed into popular entertainment. The creators of fireworks and the public enjoying them replaced the role of rulers. The Sumida River fireworks became a legendary contest between two artisan families, Kagiya and Tamaya. Spectators cheered “Tamaya!” and “Kagiya!” with every more beautiful burst, showing that fireworks had become an art form where craftsmanship and public appreciation communicated.

This artisan culture led to the technical and aesthetic advancement of Japanese fireworks. True to the name ‘fire flower,’ artisans developed perfectly spherical round-shaped fireworks, creating a unique Japanese hanabi aesthetic. The fleeting beauty of fireworks reflects the Japanese aesthetic sensibility of ‘mono no aware (もののあはれ),’ the poignant awareness of impermanence.

A glance at the history of fireworks in the three East Asian countries

Conclusion: East Asia’s dreams and hopes reflected in the night sky

The history of fireworks in East Asia, which began from the same spark, developed into diverse lights through each country’s culture. This journey can be summarized in three key points:

1. Overcoming fear: Fireworks originated from the universal human wish to overcome darkness and disaster, rooted in the belief of Bixie (warding off evil).
2. Tool of power and art: Combined with gunpowder technology, fireworks became a symbol of national dignity and authority in China and Korea, and a popular art form embodying craftsmanship and aesthetics in Japan.
3. Visualization of hope: Though meanings changed over time and place, at their core fireworks express human longing to conquer fear, share joy, and hope for a better tomorrow.

Within every spark we casually watch lies the relief of chasing away evil spirits, the pride of diplomatic stages, and the cheers for artisans—a faint echo of history. Fireworks are not just chemical reactions but a brilliant page of history written by East Asians’ dreams and hopes shot into the night sky over thousands of years, continuing to this day.

Next time you attend a fireworks festival, why not look beyond the beautiful lights and reflect on the deep history and stories they carry?