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The
Color Red
Long ago, in Han times, there was a monster whose name was
"Nian". This monster came once each year to a little village
and scared everyone! One day, just by luck, the villagers
discovered that "Nian" had a couple fears of his own. He was
afraid of the color red and even more afraid of scary loud
noises! The villagers prepared. When "Nian" appeared, everyone
in the village ran for the red banners and noise makers they
had made. They waved their banners and rattled their noise
makers, which scared "Nian" so much that "Nian" ran away and
was never heard from again! Which explains why people in China
believe the color red signifies joy and luck, and why noise
makers are rattled on Chinese New Year. At midnight, firecrackers,
paper dragons, noise makers, the waving of red ribbons and
banners all help to drive away any lingering evil
spirits from the old year. (In case "Nian" is still lurking
about somewhere!).
Chinese New Year Eve, parents encourage children to stay awake
as long as possible, because legend says that the longer children
stay awake, the longer their parents will live.
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The
Kitchen God was an important ancient deity. Once each
year, right before the new year, this god's job was to
make an annual report about the behavior of the household
to his boss, the "Jade Emperor". Today, as part of the
Chinese New Year celebration, sweets are often exchanged
so that the kitchen god's report will be sweet and flattering.
(Nobody believes in the kitchen god anymore, but almost
everyone likes the treats!)
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Sweeping
during Chinese New Year is very unlucky as you might sweep
the new year luck right out of your house!
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Visit our Feng Shui
page and maybe you can bring good luck to your life!
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