The origin of year
Story 1 Long ago, the Emperor of Heaven sent a monster, the Nian, to destroy the world on New Year because he was angry that people weren’t taking care of their animals properly。
Everyone was very frightened。 Each family had a farewell feast on New Year’s Eve and waited through the night for the world to end。
Finally, day came and there was still no sign of the monster。 The people realized the Emperor of Heaven had forgiven them and rushed outside to say congratulations to all their friends and neighbours。
On New Year’s Day, people still greet one another in this way, congratulating them on surviving into the new year。 Story 2 One legend has it that the monster, Nian, was terrifying everyone。
It had a huge mouth that could devour many people with one bit。 One day, an old man came to their rescue。 He said to the Nian, “I hear people say that you are very mighty, but can you swallow other animals of prey on earth instead of humans? Humans are not worthy to be your opponents。
” The Nian soon stopped eating people and turned its attention to these beasts of prey。 A while later, the old man disappeared, riding on the Nian。
He was actually an immortal god and before he left, he told the people to put up red paper decorations on their windows and doors each year to scare away the Nian in case it ever returned。
Red was the colour the monster feared most。 From then on, the tradition of celebrating the conquest of the Nian was started。
The term “Guo Nian”, which can mean “Survive the Nian”, has now become “Celebrate the (New) Year” because the word guo in Chinese means both “pass over” and “observe”。
This is the original reason why we put up red decorations and light firecrackers to scare away the Nian in case it ever comes back。
答：福字的来历 说法甚多。其一，是把朱元璋和马皇后扯进来，给予褒贬。有一年，京城举办灯会，欢庆元宵节。朱元璋微服出去私游，看到一户人家的马灯上，画一只马猴抱着一双绣...详情>>
