Match History

History of Matches

During the Southern and Northern Dynasties (420-589) in China, sulphur was dipped on a small wooden stick, and with the help of fire or fire knife flint, the ” “Yin fire” is triggered into “Yang fire”. This can be regarded as the most primitive match.

The article “Hanging Candles” in Tao Zongyi, a beginner in the late Yuan and Ming Dynasty, said: “Hang people cut pine wood into small pieces, which are as thin as paper. It is called hair candles, and it is also called “Cui’er”, because it is used to make fire and replace lamps and candles. History records that in the sixth year of Zhou Jiande, the poor concubines of Qi empress made a living by making candles, so how can they be made by the people of Hangzhou?” The hair candle in the text is Original matches.

“Zizhi Tongjian” records: “In the ninth year of Emperor Chen Xuan’s reign, the concubines of Qi were poor, and even sold candles as a business.”

The Northern Song Dynasty Tao Gu’s “Qing Dynasty” “Yilu” said: “The night is in a hurry, and it suffers from the slowness of making a lamp. A wise person will dye the cedar strips with sulfur and set them aside for use. Once they meet the fire, they will get the flames. Since they are divine, they will attract the light slaves. Now Those who had the goods were renamed Huo Cun.” This means that it was very popular among the people at that time to use a kind of fir sticks coated with sulfur to start fires, which also shows that the original matches should have been created before the writing of Qing Yi Lu. Already invented, that is, before 950 AD. According to an important historical record: “The King of Huainan in the Han Dynasty invited scholars of alchemy, and Yan Bakong and others wrote “Hongbao Wanbi Fang”. Fazhu is one of them. , started from Liu An.” The Fazhu here is the hair candle, which is the predecessor of the match. According to Gao Cheng’s account, we can know that the original match was invented by an early alchemist in the 2nd century AD. We also know that sulfur is the main medicine of alchemists, so it makes more sense for them to invent primitive matches.

During the Southern Song Dynasty, there were hawkers selling matches all over the streets of Hangzhou. It was someone who had cut pine into paper-thin pieces and smeared one end of it with sulphur. But it is not called “match”, but “hair candle” and “Cui’er”. This is already an early match, but people have not paid attention to it.

In Europe, matches appeared in ancient Rome. At that time, some hawkers sold firewood soaked in sulfur. The wood, which is soaked in sulfur, does not start a fire itself, but can be used to start a fire. People hit flint with iron and let the sparks fall on the firewood to get fire. In the Middle Ages, Europeans replaced firewood with reeds as a material for starting fires.

In 1669, German H. Brand extracted yellow phosphorus. People take advantage of the fact that yellow phosphorus is very easy to oxidize and ignite, and smear sulfur on one end of a small wooden stick, and then dip it into yellow phosphorus to emit light. In 1805, the Frenchman Chancellor glued potassium chlorate and sugar to a small wooden stick, dipped it in sulfuric acid, and got angry. These are the prototypes of modern matches.

In 1826, the British J. Walker glued potassium chlorate and antimony trisulfide to the end of a small wooden stick as a medicine head, and put it in a box with sandpaper on the side of the box. Hold the small wooden stick and rub the medicine head on the sandpaper vigorously, and it can catch fire. This is the earliest practical match.

In 1831, Frenchman C. Soria added yellow phosphorus instead of antimony trisulfide into the medicine head to make yellow phosphorus matches. This kind of match is easy to use, but it is too sensitive to fire, which is easy to cause fire, and in the process of manufacture and use, because yellow phosphorus is highly toxic, it seriously endangers people’s health.

In 1845, Austrian A. Schleuter developed red phosphorus (also known as red phosphorus), which is an allotrope of yellow phosphorus with relatively stable performance and non-toxicity. In 1855, the Swedish JE Lundstr?m created a new type of match, which is to stick a mixture of potassium chlorate and sulfur on the matchstick, and apply red phosphorus to the side of the matchbox. When in use, lightly scratch the match tip on the phosphorous layer to make fire. Due to the separation of strong oxidant and strong reducing agent, the safety in production and use is greatly enhanced. It is called a safety match and is widely used.

In 1898, French H. Severna and ED Caen replaced yellow phosphorus with tetraphosphorus trisulfide to make matches, called phosphorus sulfide matches. This kind of match, like yellow phosphorus matches, can be rubbed everywhere without the toxicity of yellow phosphorus, but it is still not as safe as safety matches.

The match industry started in Europe. In 1833, the world’s first match factory was built in the city of Beria in Kalmar, Sweden. In 1865, matches began to be imported into China, which were called “foreign fire” or “natural fire” at that time. The first match factory in China was the Qiaoming Match Factory founded by Wei Shengxuan in 1879 in Foshan County, Guangdong Province. By 1900, 19 match factories had been opened in China. In 1921, Liu Hongsheng founded Hongsheng Match Factory in Suzhou, which improved the formula of matches, improved production management, and produced “beautiful” brand matches of high quality and low price. In 1930, Liu Hongsheng founded the Shanghai Great China Match Company. After 1949, China’s match production gradually realized mechanization and semi-automation. In 1967, the first match automatic continuous machine was successfully trial-produced. In 1982, the first continuous production line in China was built in Jinan Match Factory.

On September 6, 2012, Hebei Botou Match Co., Ltd. will hold an asset disposal auction, and the last batch of equipment will be auctioned, which marks that the largest match manufacturer in Asia has completely entered the history. Hebei Botou Match Co., Ltd., formerly known as Bozhen Yonghua Match Co., Ltd., was founded in 1912. Feng Guozhang, then the acting president of the Republic of China, invested 40,000 yuan in the company, rewriting the history of Chinese people relying on “foreign fire”. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, it became the largest match manufacturer in China and even in Asia. Now, the local cultural relics department has protected the main match production equipment of “Botou Match”, and will set up a special exhibition hall for display.