THE STORY OF NIAN
The Lunar or Chinese New Year is steeped with stories and myths . One of the most popular is about the mythical beast Nian (/ nyen /), who ate livestock , crops , and even people on the eve of a new year . ( It is interesting that Nian , the ‘ yearly beast ’, sounds the same as ‘ year ’ in Chinese .)
It is said that a wise old man figured out that Nian was scared of loud noises ( firecrackers ) and the color red . So , people put red lanterns and red scrolls on their windows and doors to stop Nian from coming inside . Crackling bamboo ( later replaced by firecrackers ) was lit to scare Nian away .
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