Our Spring Festival

Author: Yue Lu Shu She
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-03-01
Features: It is said that the "Nian" was an ancient man-eating beast that gnawed its teeth and sucked blood. The ancestors were terrified upon hearing of it. Eventually, Shennong, the legendary figure, subdued it with a magical artifact, and this happened on the 30th day of the 12th lunar month. The common people then called this day "Nian," with the character "guo" implying removal, meaning that "celebrating Nian" was to remove the beast. The tradition of setting off firecrackers during Nian, as it exists today, originally had the primal meaning of driving away the beast. This belongs to mythology. Nian is a booming festival with bursts of noise. The boom is the characteristic of Nian.