LUNAR New Year festivities have developed an array of lively traditions—hanging red banners, lighting firecrackers, preparing bountiful feasts. But how did these customs originate? An ancient fable reveals their surprising origins in villagers’ attempts to defend themselves from a monstrous threat.
The mythical monster Nian
According to age-old Chinese legend, a hideous underwater beast named Nian would emerge once a year on Lunar New Year’s Eve to attack a vulnerable seaside village. With sharp horns, teeth and a fierce temper, Nian had a taste for human flesh. Understandably, no one stuck around to witness Nian’s gruesome rampages on the holiest eve of the year.
As soon as the rumor of Nian’s impending arrival spread, panicked villagers grabbed essentials and fled to remote mountains where they’d camp until returning weeks later once the danger had passed. This went on for years, displacing the gutted village annually.
An unlikely savior
One fateful Lunar New Year’s Eve, as everyone hastily escaped the ghost town, a defiant elderly man appeared adamant on staying put. Villagers warned about blood-thirsty Nian, but the stoic stranger insisted on holding his ground.
Shockingly, the next morning the village remained fully intact. Astonished villagers found the audacious elder who recounted an astounding story from the night before. Upon first roar of Nian’s emergence, the cunning elder had placed red banners across doorways, set off firecrackers and dressed himself entirely in red. Witnesses say the colorful display had frightened Nian away for good.
Origins of timeless traditions
To the local villagers, the unidentified elder emerged an admirable hero who outsmarted the mythical Nian through simple colors and sound. If such basic tools could successfully scare off a savage beast, then the customary red and gold hues and resounding pyrotechnics must surely summon luck and prosperity in their own lives moving forward.
To commemorate those acts of salvation, people proudly incorporated red clothing and decor into the existing Lunar New Year palette of festive yellows and gold. The days preceding the fixed holiday date became dedicated to preparing auspicious red banners inscribed with lucky phrases to be proudly hung across doorways. In honor of the mystical elder’s firecrackers, celebratory explosions of light and sound were integrated into midnight cheering on Lunar New Year’s eve.
The dramatic tale and resulting customs have been passed down for generations as symbols of virtue, hope and unity against adversity. Much as the unlikely hero arrived in a time of need, Lunar New Year came to represent the promise of overcoming whatever figurative or literal beasts may come in the year ahead through community support. Of course, thrilling pyrotechnics never hurts either!
While the mythical origins can’t be verified, the Nian legend and ensuing traditions still resound in the noises, sights and flavors that families worldwide delight in when honoring their ancestors by ringing in another Lunar New Year.
