Chinese New Year Monster

The earliest written sources that refer to the nian as a creature date to early 20th century.

Chinese new year monster. Why is the celebration also called guo nian. The centuries old legend of the origins of the chinese new year celebration varies from teller to teller but every telling includes a story of a terrible mythical monster preying on villagers. The lion like monster s name was nian 年 which is also the chinese word for year.

The villagers discovered that burning dry bamboo to produce an explosive sound scared away the monster. Learn about the chinese zodiac. In traditional chinese culture firecrackers were originally used to scare away evil spirits.

The new year begins on the first day of the chinese calendar which usually falls in february and the festivities continue for 15 days. Visit our chinese new year feature. Nian the horrible monster.

Educate entertain and engage with factmonster. Therefore people use red decorations and fireworks to drive away nian. As the legend goes a monster called nian would come out to eat villagers and destroy their houses on each new year s eve.

The character nian more usually means year or new year. As a result it is unclear whether the nian creature is an authentic part of traditional folk mythology or a part of a local oral tradition which was recorded in the early 20th century. Chinese new year story legend of monster nian chinese new year spring festival is the oldest traditional festival in china but a few people concern the origin and story behind the holiday.

Said to be a beast that often came down from mountains when it struck at times devouring very young people the flesh eating nian is credited with inspiring some chinese new year rituals designed to exhaust the creature and render it harmless. In folk culture the spring festival celebration is also called guo nian meaning passing a year. According to chinese mythology a nian is a beast that lives under the sea or in the mountains.