Holiday customs

Author: Li Yian / Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-08-01
Features: Among China's traditional festivals, the Spring Festival is the most grand and lively. But do you know it? The name "Spring Festival" was only officially used after the 1911 Xinhai Revolution. Before that, it was always called "Gongnian" (literally "passing the year"). There has always been an interesting legend about Gongnian. It is said that "Nian" is a fierce monster with horns on its head. Every 365 days, at the end of winter, it would come out to harm farmland, devour livestock, and harm the people.
Once, "Nian" came out to cause trouble and happened to reach the door of a bamboo craftsman's house. The craftsman was roasting bamboo in the courtyard, and the crackling sound of the bamboo made "Nian" tremble with fear. It turned around and ran away. But soon, it bumped into a passerby dressed in bright red clothes. The red color terrified "Nian," so it had to escape again. Finally, it ran to the eaves of a house and tried to catch its breath. When it looked up, it saw that the lanterns hanging at the door were shining brightly, making it unable to open its eyes. With no choice, it had to keep running.
As a result, people discovered "Nian's" fatal weaknesses: it feared the sound of explosions, the color red, and firelight. They then came up with a good way to deal with "Nian." Every night when winter turned to spring, when "Nian" was supposed to come out to harm people, every household would set off firecrackers (which later evolved into firecrackers with louder sounds), paste red paper (later inscribed with words to drive away evil and wish for blessings, gradually becoming Spring Festival couplets), and hang red lanterns to scare "Nian" away.
When "Nian" was driven away, people were very happy. They held feasts and celebrated joyfully, blessing each other. This day came to be called "Gongnian." In fact, the modern Spring Festival was originally just a ritual activity in ancient times to celebrate the harvest of five grains and pray for favorable weather in the coming year. The ancients believed that the first day of the lunar calendar was the beginning of the year and held it in great importance, so they set this ritual on that day. Over time, it evolved into a festival called "Yuandan" or "Duanwu" ("Yu" means beginning, and "Dan" means morning, so "Duanwu" is the first morning of the year). The common folk called it "Gongnian," and many legends and stories were created to add to the festive atmosphere.
By the time the Xinhai Revolution overthrew the imperial system and began using the Gregorian calendar, there couldn't be two "Duanwu." So, they decided that January 1st on the Gregorian calendar would be called "Duanwu," while the first day of the lunar calendar was renamed "Spring Festival." P3-5