MONSTER (NIAN)

The word Nian, which in modern Chinese solely means "year", was originally the name of a monster beast that started to prey on people the night before the New Year. This monster had a very big mouth that would swallow a great many people with one bite. People were very scared.

Later on, they found out a way to scare away the beast Nian by putting up red paper decorations on their windows and doors at each year’s end because red is the color the beast feared the most.

From then on, the tradition of observing the conquest of Nian is carried on from generation to generation. The term "Guo Nian", which means "Survive the Nian" becomes today "Celebrate the (New) Year" as the word "guo" in Chinese having both the meaning of "pass over" and "observe". The custom of putting up red paper and firing firecrackers to scare away Nian should it have a chance to run loose is still around. However, people today have long forgotten why they are doing all this, except that they feel the color and the sound add to the excitement of the celebration.