According to China Industrial Records, "Hunan firecrackers were created in the Tang Dynasty, flourished in the Song Dynasty and originated in Liuyang". According to legend, at the end of Sui Dynasty and the beginning of Tang Dynasty, Sun Simiao, a famous alchemist and physician, lived in a cave outside the east gate of Liuyang County, with the aim of practicing alchemy. He put the mined sulfur, saltpeter, charcoal and other materials into the furnace and refined it day and night. After years of cold and heat and repeated failures, gunpowder was finally refined. At this point, he really became the founder of firecrackers and fireworks in Liuyang and even the whole world. In order to commemorate him, later generations called his secluded cave Sun Yin Cliff, the place where he made an alchemy called an alchemy platform, and the well and spring for washing medicine were called a medicine washing well and a medicine washing spring respectively, which have been well preserved so far.

During the reign of Emperor Taizong Zhenguan, drought and flood in eastern Hunan were serious year after year, and the people were in dire straits. At this time, a Liuyang man named Li Yi was determined to exorcise evil spirits. He filled the bamboo tube with gunpowder and put the medicine thread on it. When it was lit, it sounded loud and fragrant, and the evil spirits were finally driven away, so that people could live and work in peace. Since then, Liuyang firecrackers and fireworks have been born. Li Yi, a native of Liuyang, is known as the "originator" of firecrackers and fireworks. In the Southern Song Dynasty, in Tianjiaxiang, Liuyang County, people built ancestral temples to commemorate Li Yi's achievements. At present, Tianjiaxiang in Mashi Street in Liuyang still retains the "ancestral temple" built in the Song Dynasty, dedicated to Li Yi, the "founder" of the firecrackers industry.

As early as the early years of Jiaqing in Qing Dynasty, nearly 90% farmers in Dayao, Jingang, Chengtanjiang, Wen Jia and Huayang in Liuyang were engaged in fireworks production.

Known as "ten hospitals and nine explosions", the annual output exceeds 6.5438+0.4 million cases. Xianfeng exported for five years, and Tongzhi formed a big industry in eleven years, with a maximum annual output of nearly 250,000 cases. Fireworks production technology was also in a leading position in society at that time.

When Yongzheng ascended the throne, in order to change the Yuan Dynasty into a new moon, firecrackers and fireworks were set off in the Lantern Festival in the first year, and the gun industry was instructed to innovate and spend money in Beijing. At that time, Liuyang officials were frightened, posted notices everywhere, accepted talents, and ordered Lee Tae, an expert in gun weaving, to make new flower tributes within a time limit, which made Lee Tae very uncomfortable. One day, he passed by the blacksmith's shop and saw sparks flying under the hammer, long and short, red and white, thick and thin, with material and silk, and his heart moved. Then Lee Tae swept some iron filings, hammered them into pieces at home, and mixed them with gunpowder and rice soup. Iron ore and gunpowder are mixed into different sizes and thicknesses, and then put on a primer powered by black nitric acid to produce colorful flowers with different colors and shapes, such as plum blossom or chrysanthemum. When the new flowers in Lee Tae rose above the Forbidden City, colorful flowers and rain fell, dazzling Yongzheng. Since then, Liuyang has enjoyed the reputation of the hometown of fireworks.

In 1930s and 1940s, Li Simei Fireworks Workshop in Liuyang was the first one to be famous for making fireworks. Li Simei's studio was founded by businessman Li. He recovered and developed the skills lost by his ancestors. At first, he made "radish flower" with mixed raw materials of scrap iron. Later, he used foreign scrap iron and a variety of drugs to make three-level fireworks, namely, Eupatorium macrophyllum, Chrysanthemum macrophyllum, Plum Blossom and Continuous Rising. 19 18, the workshop was named "Li Simei" and hamsters were produced one after another.

Swan holding eggs, two dragons playing with beads, Didi Jin and other toy fireworks. Later, large-scale combined fireworks were developed. When they set out, flowers, trees, birds, animals and all kinds of people were flying in layers, which was very spectacular. Therefore, Liuyang fireworks named after Li Simei's workshop at that time began to enjoy a good reputation at home and abroad.