The Origin of Setting Off Firecrackers
爆竹的起源
Setting off firecrackers is one of the most popular customs in the Spring Festival celebration. The crackles of firecrackers will burst reverberating across the heavens the moment the clock strikes twelve on New Year's Eve. Firecrackers are also set off when people pay New Year calls and offer New Year sacrifices to their ancestors. The firecracker is also known as the bamboo-cracker, which is linked with a tale. According to Shen Yi Jing( Classic of Rare Gods)by Dongfang Shuo( 154-93B. C.)，a writer in the Western Han Dynasty,a group of odd people,a little more than a feet tall,lived in the high mountains of west China in ancient times. Naked,they lived on shrimps and crabs and often stole salt from villagers' houses to spice their food. These odd people would make villagers run a fever if the latter encountered them. They feared nothing but the crackles produced by burning bamboo tubes. Hence villagers resorted to burning bamboo tubes to threaten them away. Thinking the way magical，later people burned bamboo tubes on New Year's Eve, supposed to exorcise all evil spirits. In the Song Dynasty people began to set off firecrackers filled with gunpowder, instead of burning bamboo tubes,on New Year's Eve. Now,firecrackers are set off more for heightening the festive air than for the original purpose.
燃放鞭炮是在春节最流行的庆祝活动之一。鞭炮劈啪声会使整个天空回荡当钟在除夕12点敲响的那一刻。当人们拜年或祭祀他们的祖先时也鞭炮。爆竹也被称为竹筒，这与一个故事联系在一起。据沈易经（经典稀的有神）由西汉作家东方朔（154-93B。℃。）所写，一群奇怪的一英尺多高的人，住在中国古代的西部高山上。裸体，他们以吃虾蟹为生，经常从村民的家里偷盐来调味他们的食物。这些奇怪的人会使最后遇到他们的人发烧。他们什么都不怕，除了用燃烧竹筒制成的爆竹。因此，村民们使出燃烧竹筒来威胁他们离开。因为这神奇的思维方式，后来人们在除夕燃烧竹筒来驱除所有的恶灵。在宋代人们在除夕开始使用有火药的鞭炮而不是燃烧竹筒。现在，鞭炮把节日气氛衬托得比原来更为浓重。
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