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Description

Firecracker paper depicting a purple and off-white container holding white and pink flowers and green foliage with silver details. The paper is painted.

Iconographic Meaning

This firecracker label takes the form of a flower vase on a stand, filled with two lotus blossoms, a rebus sign that indicates harmony and fertility. The Chinese character for lotus blossom (he hua or lian hua) is a pun for “harmony” (he) and “successive” (lian), as in the popular blessing, “may you have successive births of illustrious sons.” The lotus gained popularity as the flower of fertility since one can see the large seedpod when the flower blooms. The lotus is widely depicted in the art of the Lunar New Year as an auspicious image that brings both harmony and fertility to the family. The image of the vase is also an auspicious rebus sign since the character for vase (ping) is a homophone for “peace” (ping an).

History Of Use

Invented in China around the 12th century or earlier, firecrackers have been widely used in China to serve a variety of religious and secular purposes. In both the past and present, firecrackers are used to ward off evil spirits, to honour spirits and deities, and to mark special occasions such as weddings, birthdays, funerals, shop openings, or festivals. Firecrackers are by far in greatest demand during the annual Lunar New Year, when they are ignited to purify a space and to blast away negative energies and demons. Firecrackers are also used in “fengshui” geomantic practices, as ritual objects to be hung in the home to stimulate new beginnings, prosperity, and the protection of the household. A large number of firecracker labels were produced from approximately 1850-1910, in the Guangdong region of southern China, to decorate the wooden crates that they were shipped in. Since many of these were produced in Foshan (Fatshan), a city noted for its manufacture of handmade ritual goods, collectors often refer to them as “Fat Shan” labels. They range in size from smaller four-inch squares to larger circular labels with a twenty-four inch diameter. The labels are colourfully painted with auspicious themes, including depictions of deities, legends and myths, historical narratives, and scenes of everyday life. The images enhance the fireworks’ role in dispelling evil while attracting virtue and prosperity. These labels were widely sold in south-central and south-west China, and south-east Asia. Local manufacturers and merchants would order bulk firecrackers, pack them into wooden crates, and decorate the crates with these labels to entice potential distributors and consumers. Aside from their use as firecracker labels, many people in south China used the labels to decorate their rooms and utensils. Few labels survived to today because of their fragility and the small value placed on them at the time. After 1910, these painstaking production techniques were gradually replaced by lithography machines, which allowed artisans to print full colour labels on rice paper.