Therefore, every New Year's Eve, people in the village fled to the deep mountains to avoid the harm of quot animals.
On New Year's Eve this year, people in Taohua Village were taking refuge in the mountains when an old beggar came from outside the village. He was leaning on crutches, carrying a bag on his arm, with elegant silver whiskers and staring at Matthew.
Some villagers sealed windows and locked doors, some packed their bags, some herded cattle and drove sheep, and people shouted boo everywhere, which was a scene of panic. At this time, who still has the mind to take care of this begging old man?
Only an old woman in the east of the village gave the old man some food and suggested that he go up the mountain to avoid quot wild animals. The old man smiled and said, quot If my mother-in-law let me stay at home for one night, I will definitely let quot wild animals drive away.
The old woman looked at him carefully in surprise and found that he was handsome, energetic and different. But she continued to persuade and begged the old man to laugh without saying a word. My mother-in-law had no choice but to leave home and take refuge in the mountains.
At midnight, quot wild animals broke into the village. It found that the atmosphere in the village was different from previous years: the old woman's house at the east end of the village had red paper on the door and bright candles in the room. Quot year quot The beast trembled and let out a long cry.
Quot years quot glared at her mother-in-law's house for a while, and then came barking. As we approached the door, the hospital suddenly heard the noise of explosion from country to country, and the year quot trembled and dared not go any further.
It turns out that quot year quot is most afraid of red, fire and explosion. At this time, my mother-in-law's door was wide open, and I saw an old man in a red robe laughing in the hospital. Quot year quot scared to shame, fled in panic.
The next day was the first day of the first month, and the people who came back from refuge were very surprised to see that the village was safe and sound. At this time, the old woman suddenly realized and quickly told the villagers the promise of begging for the elderly.
The villagers flocked to the old woman's house, only to find red paper on her mother-in-law's door and a pile of unburned bamboo still in the yard. Poppy quot exploded, and several red candles in the room were still glowing. ...
In order to celebrate the auspicious arrival, ecstatic villagers put on new clothes and hats one after another and went to their relatives and friends' homes to congratulate and say hello. The story soon spread in the surrounding villages, and people knew to drive away the road of quot beast in quot year.
Since then, every year on New Year's Eve, every family has posted red couplets and set off firecrackers. Every household has a bright candlelight, so it is better to wait for the New Year. In the early morning of the first day, I want to say hello to my relatives and friends. This custom has spread more and more widely, and has become the most solemn traditional festival among the people in China.
The legend of enduring a year
In our country, people have the habit of keeping watch on New Year's Eve. Watching the new year begins with eating New Year's Eve dinner. This New Year's Eve dinner should be eaten slowly, starting with lighting lanterns, and some families have to eat it until late at night. According to the Chronicle of Jingchu in the Song Dynasty, at least in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, there was a custom of New Year's Eve.
The custom of observing the old age not only includes the feeling of farewell and nostalgia for the fleeting time, but also expresses the good hope for the coming New Year. The ancients wrote in the poem "Shousui": Invite to stay in Arjun's house, and the candle will be red and the sand will be sprinkled; Thirty-six years have passed, and I cherish the years since this night. Quot It is human nature to cherish the years, so the great poet Su Shi wrote a famous sentence: quot Without next year, my worries will be in vain; Try your best today, young people can still boast! Quot This shows the positive significance of keeping old on New Year's Eve.
30-year-old, commonly known as quot endured for a year quot. Why is it called quot? Put up with it for a year, quot, and then what? There is an interesting story handed down from generation to generation: in ancient times, there was a fierce monster scattered in the deep mountains and forests, and people called them quot year quot. Quot Year quot Its appearance is ferocious, its nature is ferocious, it only eats birds, animals and insects, and its taste changes every day, from kowtowing insects to living people, which makes people talk about the color change quot Year quot. Slowly, people have mastered the quot year quot. It turns out that every 365 days, it has to rush to places where people live to taste fresh food. The haunting time is after dark, and when the rooster crows at dawn, they return to the mountains. Accurately calculate the date when the year quot ravaged, men and women will take this terrible night as an obstacle, called quot annual leave quot, and come up with a set of quot China New Year Pass quot solutions: every night, every household prepares dinner in advance, turns off the fire, cleans the stove, then ties up all the chicken coops and cowsheds, then seals the door of the house and hides in the house to eat quot New Year's Eve quot-because of the ominous meaning of this dinner, so, In addition to the whole family eating together to show harmony and reunion, it is also necessary to make sacrifices to ancestors before eating and pray for the ancestors' gods to bless them to spend the night safely. After dinner, no one dared to sleep, so they sat together and got up the courage to chat.
It's getting dark, quot year quot fled the deep forest and touched into the village where people live together. I saw every household's door closed, sesame stalks piled in front of it, but there was no one in the street. I almost didn't sleep a wink all night; There is nothing in the year quot, so I have to chew some sesame stalks to satisfy my hunger. After a while, the rooster crowed, and these cruel and stupid monsters had to go home disgruntled. Quot through the annual leave People were overjoyed. They should thank the ancestors of heaven and earth for their protection, and congratulate each other on not having dinner in the quot year, but also opening the door to set off firecrackers to welcome the congratulations of friends and relatives in the neighborhood ... When people meet, they bow to each other and express their congratulations, and they are glad that they have not been eaten by Nian beast. After many years, nothing happened, and people relaxed their vigilance against Nian beast. On the evening of 30th one year, Nian beast suddenly fled to a village in the south of the Yangtze River. A village was almost eaten up by Nian beast, and only a pair of newly-married couples in red curtains were safe and sound. There are also a few childlike innocence, lit a pile of bamboo in the yard to play, red. After the bamboo was burned, the ground exploded and Nian beast moved here. He turned and ran away when he saw the fire. From then on, people know that Nian beast is afraid of red, light and noise. At the end of each year, every household sticks red paper, wears red robes, hangs red lights, beats gongs and drums, and sets off firecrackers, so that Nian Beasts dare not come again. In The Book of Songs Xiaoya Tingliao, there is a quot record that the light of the court is quot. Liao Quot in the imperial court is a torch made of bamboo poles or something. After the bamboo pole burns, the air in the bamboo joint expands, the bamboo cavity bursts and makes a crackling sound, which is the origin of quot firecrackers quot. However, villagers in some places don't know that Nian beast is afraid of red and is often eaten by Nian beast. This incident later spread to the sky in Wei Zi. In order to save people, he is determined to destroy Nian beast. One year the beast came out, knocked it down with a fireball and chained it to a stone pillar with a thick chain. From then on, every New Year, people always burn incense and ask Zixing to come down to keep safe.
This phenomenon has gradually become a continuous custom of uot China New Year quot and quot Happy New Year quot; Happy new year quot customs are rich in content, and the usual order is: quot worship heaven and earth first, then ancestors, then the main hall, and then go out to visit relatives and friends. There are also all kinds of exquisite things such as worshipping one's own family on the first day, worshipping the Yue family on the second day, and worshipping relatives on the third day, until the fifteenth day of the first month, the so-called quot enjoys his old age quot.