[1] When performing iron flower, you need to choose an open venue without flammable materials, and ensure that there is enough safety distance to protect the audience and the surrounding environment.
Farmers believed that by making iron flowers, they could drive away evil, bless peace, and usher in a new harvest season.
Obviously, the original purpose of "iron flowers" is to show the style of the industry, please the masses, and expand its influence, which is equivalent to an advertisement.
Making iron flowers was originally a ritual activity for alchemy Taoist priests to pray for blessings, ward off disasters, and exorcise evil spirits to control the house.
It is also a folk craftsman of gold, silver, copper, iron, and tin who joins the Taoist priests to worship the common ancestor Taishang Laojun every year during the Spring Festival opening.
[7] After the fall of the Northern Song dynasty, the iron flower spread across the country as the Queshan people moved south and north, forming different styles.
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, due to the government's promotion and support from all walks of life, Queshan Tiehua reached its peak, and expanded from the original opening ceremony of craftsmen or Taoist sacrificial activities such as the birthdays of the Jade Emperor, Taishang Laojun, and the Queen Mother to ex-voto, promotions, marriage, high school, etc.
By 1988, after Yang Jianjun's [zh] proposed to the county leaders to hold an event to make iron flowers during the Spring Festival.
[9] Before the iron flower show, a two-story octagonal shed more than ten feet high is set up in the center of the wide square.
More than a dozen craftsmen shuttle back and forth to create iron flowers of different shapes and sizes, and the audience can enjoy the spectacular sight of sparks blooming in the night sky.
It not only shows the exquisite skills of ancient Chinese iron smelting technology, but also carries people's yearning and pursuit for a better life.
[13] During the 2021 Spring Festival, the iron flower performance at the Long live Mountain [zh] Scenic Area in Kaifeng was broadcast on CCTV News.