Shangli, Pingxiang is the birthplace of Chinese fireworks and firecrackers. The local production of fireworks and firecrackers has a long history. Li Ting, the inventor of fireworks and firecrackers, was from Shangli. According to the "History of the Tang Dynasty", "Li Ting was born on April 18, the fourth year of Wude in the Tang Dynasty (621 AD) with the firecrackers he invented to help Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin, expel the evil spirit of the baboon and make his dragon body recover, so he became the ancestor of firecrackers. The "China Industrial Annals" compiled in 1935 recorded: "The manufacture of firecrackers in Hunan Province began in the Tang Dynasty and developed in the late Song Dynasty and the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty." According to the Republic of China edition of the "Liling County Annals", "The firecracker industry developed from Shangli City to Jingangtou in Liuyang, and gradually spread to Fuli, Baitutan, and Mashi in Liling." It can be seen that the production of firecrackers in Shangli was earlier than that in Liuyang and Liling. According to the recollections of old artists, Pingxiang Shangli started making firecrackers in the Ming Dynasty, and by the Qing Dynasty, it was common for every household to produce them. After Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty, Shangli became a distribution center for the production and sale of firecrackers. In the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, there were hundreds of manufacturers and workshops engaged in the production and operation of firecrackers in Shangli, with an annual output of more than 20,000 boxes of firecrackers. During the Republic of China period, Shangli firecrackers showed a more prosperous development momentum. Not only did foreign businessmen gather in Shangli to set up shops to purchase and resell, but some local firecracker owners also changed from simple production to production and acquisition and resale in parallel, making them famous local wealthy businessmen, such as "Rongmaolong". The main types of firecrackers produced at that time were "Dunbian", "Bakou", "Jiahua", "Mandihong", "Cunjin", "Dingtang", etc. From the end of the Qing Dynasty to the 1970s, the production technology of Shangli fireworks basically followed the traditional manual skills. Taking the production of firecrackers as an example, from paper to finished products, there are generally 15 processes, namely paper cutting, pulling tubes, backing tubes, washing tubes, waist tubes, scraping the bottom, drying, applying saltpeter, sealing, drilling, inserting guides, tying necks, tying whips, packaging, and boxing. After the 1980s, through the historical technical accumulation and the development and innovation of science and technology, Shangli people opened up their minds and explored new methods and new processes for the production of fireworks and firecrackers, and produced various machines for making firecrackers. Some traditional manual production skills were gradually replaced by mechanized production or semi-mechanized production, which greatly improved labor productivity, reduced production costs, increased safety factors, and improved the market competitiveness of products. The main tools for the production of traditional firecrackers are waist paper knives, racks, guides, saltpeter tubes, sticks, scrapers, pulling stools (reels), knocking knives, drilling boards, drills, plates, saltpeter tubes, etc.; modern firecracker production tools mainly include paper splitters, tube pulling machines, guide machines, saltpeter machines, bottom scrapers, cutting machines, dryers, inserting guides, tying whips, and packaging machines. The people of Shangli have always had the tradition of worshipping the god of firecrackers and setting off fireworks and firecrackers. The belief and worship of Li Ting, the ancestor of firecrackers, has existed since ancient times. As early as the third year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty, the "Shrine of Li Ting, the ancestor of firecrackers" was established in Yousheng Temple on Shangli South Street. Every year on April 18, Li Ting's birthday, people engaged in the firecracker industry in Shangli come here to mourn the ancestor. In addition, Shangli people will set off firecrackers to celebrate when there are happy events; during festivals, they usually buy a few strings of firecrackers to worship the gods and ancestors, especially during the Spring Festival, when people will continue to set off firecrackers until the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. After the founding of New China, especially since the reform and opening up, the fireworks and firecrackers industry in Shangli has developed rapidly, and the production technology has developed from traditional handmade production to mechanized production. The varieties have developed from the original four categories of more than 400 varieties to 12 categories of more than 1,200 varieties, and 21 new products such as "High-altitude Rocket Group" and "Huluncia Tangerine Tree" have won the titles of provincial and ministerial excellent products. In August 1987, the Jiangxi delegation won the second place in the 24th International Fireworks Festival Grand Prix held in Spain, and seven products produced by Shangli, including "Green Forest Army" and "Meicheng Night Scene", won awards. In May 2000, Shangli County established the Fireworks and Firecrackers Industry Administration. By 2006, Shangli County had 1,059 newly built and existing fireworks and firecrackers factories, mainly distributed in Shangli, Jinshan, Tongmu, Jiguanshan, Changping, Futian, Chishan, Dongyuan and other towns, and its products were exported to provinces and cities across the country and more than 30 countries and regions.