12/04/2019
Long ago in the mountains, there lived a horrible demon creature named Nian. Every year, on the first day of the year, the creature would awaken and descend upon the village. He would eat all the grain and livestock. And if there were any unfortunately children stuck outside, they would disappear.
For years, villagers lived terrified and locked themselves in on New Year’s Day. One day, an old man visits them and says there are so many of you, and only 1 dragon. He definitely cannot eat all of you? However, they still were afraid. So for many moons, this old man kept riding the dragon starving him, the dragon was so tired, he’d just sleep after the ride.
Eventually, the old man said, I can’t do this forever, I have other duties to tend to. He was one of the Chinese Gods. He let the villagers in on a secret- the dragon was easily scared of the colour red, loud noises and strange creatures. So he advised them to hand red signs on every door, burst firecrackers through the day and for kids to wear demon, dragon, mythical creatures masks to scare away Nian. He never returned again.
In Chinese, the word for New Years is Guo Nian. Literally translated it means to "pass over Nian" or "overcome Nian". That is exactly what the villagers did.
This is the story of Chinese New Year or the Spring Festival. It’s the most important 7 day holiday in Chinese culture where families unite. Chinese expats from everywhere in the world travel back home to be with their family.
Popular greetings are 新年快乐 xin nian kuaile! And 恭喜发财!gong xi fa cai
Lots of food is made and the week is spent visiting family and friends. Lamps and lanterns are lit, red decorations are hung all around and money is given out in red envelopes for good luck.
We have also previously shared a post on this festival with