The origin of Chinese Spring Festival

  Spring Festival is the first day of the lunar calendar. Another name of the Spring Festival is New Year, It is the most grand, lively and important ancient traditional festival in China, and it is the most concentrated expression of Chinese civilization. It is the most grand, lively and important ancient traditional festival in China, and it is the most concentrated expression of Chinese civilization. The Spring Festival generally refers to the New Year's Eve and the first day of the first month (December 30 and January 1 of the lunar calendar). However, in the folk, the Spring Festival in the traditional sense refers to the period from December 8 or December 23 and 24 of the lunar calendar to January 15, of which the New Year's Eve and January 1 are the most solemn. How to spend this holiday has formed some relatively fixed customs in the development of thousands of years of history, many of which are still handed down to this day. During the traditional festival of the Spring Festival, Chinese Han and most ethnic minorities hold various celebration activities, most of which mainly focus on worshiping the gods and Buddha, worshiping ancestors, removing the old and welcoming the new, receiving the blessings of the new year, and praying for a bumper harvest in the next year. The activities are colorful and have strong national characteristics. On May 20, 2006, the "Spring Festival" folk customs were approved by the State Council to be included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage lists.

  There is a legend about the origin of the Spring Festival. In ancient China, there was a monster called "Nian", which had tentacles on its head and was very fierce. "Nian", who has lived on the seabed for a long time, climbs ashore on New Year's Eve every year, swallowing animals and injuring human life. Therefore, every New Year's Eve, all villagers fled to the mountains to avoid the harm of "Nian". One New Year's Eve, a begging old man came from another village. Everyone in the village fled to play in the mountains in a hurry. Only one old woman gave the old man some food and told him to flee to the mountains to avoid the harm of "Nian". The old beggar laughed and said, " If you let me stay at your house for one night, I will drive “Nian” away. The old woman continued to persuade him to escape into the mountains. The old beggar laughed but said nothing. At midnight, "Nian" broke into the village and found that the village was different from previous years: the old woman's door was pasted with red paper, the house was lit with candlelight, and "Nian" shook and shouted. It walked slowly towards the gate. Suddenly, there was a "crackling" explosion in the courtyard. "Nian" shuddered all over and dared not go forward. It turns out that "Nian" is most afraid of red, firelight and explosion. At this time, the old woman's house opened wide and saw an old man in a red robe laughing in the courtyard. "Nian" was shocked and ran away in confusion. The next day was January 1 of the lunar calendar. The people who had taken refuge were surprised to see that the village was safe and sound. At this time, the old woman remembered the old beggar's advice. She quickly told the villagers about the old beggar's experience. This matter soon spread in the surrounding villages, and people all know how to drive "Nian" away. Since then, every New Year's Eve, couplets are pasted at the door of every household and firecrackers are set off. Every household is candlelight waiting for dawn. Early in the morning the next day, The villagers also said hello to each other and went to visit friends. This custom has become the most solemn traditional festival among Chinese people.