The first "firecrackers" of the Han dynasty were likely chunks of green bamboo, which someone had thrown onto a fire when dry fuel ran short.
Bamboo grows so fast that pockets of air and sap get trapped inside of the plant's segments.
When heated, the air inside of the hollow reeds expands, and eventually bursts through the side with a long bam! The sizzled and blackened rods were the first bamboo bangers!
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