Although the exact’s origins of Chinese New Year are unknown, one of the most popular explanations revolves around a legend, passed down through generations. Although many accounts of this story have varied or changed in modern times, this is the traditional version of the story:

Thousands of years ago in China, there lived a mythical creature deep in the mountains and seas close to a village. The name that the villagers gave the ferocious monster was “Nian” (which translates into “year” in Chinese), and each year, every year, on the last night of the lunar year without fail, the monster would appear and attack the villagers. 

Although descriptions varied as the legend grew and twisted over time, the consensus was that Nian bore the body of a dragon, the strength of a behemoth, and a singular long sharp horn on the top of it’s head, capable of piercing through metals and bone as it often demonstrated.

Year after year passed, with the monster preying upon villagers, livestock, and crops without distinction between rice nor pork- although it has been said that as time passed, the monster had developed a particular predilection and insatiable appetite for the taste of human flesh. 

The villagers lived in perpetual fear of Nian, until one day an old beggar woman in rags arrived at the village on the last night of the lunar year. The villagers all turned her away from their houses, instead shuttering their doors in fear- all save but one. A kindhearted villager welcomed her into his house for the night, warning her of the danger that Nian presented.

The old woman listened to the fearful description of the monster and paused. She offered to drive the monster away that night in exchange for a bowl of rice gruel, on the condition that the man was not to shutter his doors like the others. 

After much arguing and pleading, most reluctantly he agreed, thinking the woman mad. As the sun began to set, the old woman set to work layering the interior of the house with red; a festoon of red string and firecrackers here, a red lantern and ribbon there. With great precision, she arrayed metal pots and pans on the floor near the entrance of the building, then sat down near the stairs to wait. 

Passing hours of darkness and silence, a shadow emerged from the thrush and began padding it’s way softly towards the nearest house it could see. To it’s great surprise and pleasure, the door laid ajar, with nothing obstructing it’s entry in the slightest. Upon moving through the doorway, warm wood turned into cold iron as it stumbled onto the pots and pans arranged there, creating an incessant din. 

At once, the old woman ignited the fireworks and lanterns, engulfing the room in sparks and flames. To the horror of the monster, everywhere it moved or turned, it saw red, and the deafening cacophony did not help it’s agitation in the slightest. Aghast, it fled from the house and the village never to be seen again, howling and vowing to itself to find a village with less resistant villagers to prey upon. 

In the morning light, the same kindhearted villager awoke to discover the fruits of the old woman’s success, with his benefactor nowhere to be seen. He soon spread the word to his neighbors, who in turn passed it on to their friends and family. Although the monster never reappeared, the villagers began to decorate their houses with red lanterns, hung up red scrolls with auspicious sayings, and set off firecrackers in subsequent years. 

This eventually evolved from a protective ritual against the wrath of a monster into a celebration as people began to forget the reason behind this tradition. The legend of the Nian eventually became deeply ingrained with the celebrations of the Chinese New Year, and to this day, the color red is associated with luck and prosperity.