Author: CHUNG Yoon Ngan
Date: 05-11-07 21:38
新年的傳說 The legend of Chinese New Year
Chinese ancient legend had it that Nian (年) was a very fierce and horrible
animal. Nian was very afraid of heat and loud noise and it loved to sleep.
It usually went to sleep deep in the forest for a whole year.
When the weather was very cold and snowing, it woke up and came out of the
forest looking for food to eat. Nian would eat anything that he could find.
It ate crops and even humans. Whenever people saw Nian coming to eat them
and their crops they took their families and hid in a far away place.Time
and again people fled from Nian.
Many generations later, people began to organize themselves and fight back
against Nian, the fierce animal. People knew that Nian was afraid of heat
and noise. So people cut a lot of bamboos and dried them. Dried bamboos
could burn fiercely and produce the sound of explosions (爆竹 bamboo-cracking)
. When the people saw Nian coming to eat them they burned the dried bamboos
which produced the sound of explosions and heat. Nian was so frightened
by the explosions and the heat that it fled back to the forest and went back
to sleep.
Again the next year, during the cold weather people shouted:
"年來了! 年來了! Nian lai le! Nian lai le! Nian is coming! Nian is coming!"
Again people burned dried bamboos to frighten Nian away and the day Nian
supposed to come and eat them was over (過了年). People celebrated when
the day when Nian had gone away and not coming back. Year after year people
used the same method, burning dried bamboos, to chase away Nian which eventually
disappeared in the forest and the evil day of Nian was over. People called
that day Guo Nian (過年) or the Nian was over.
The custom of celebrating the day that Nian was over (過年) continued until
today. People called the new day when the day of Nian was over "Guo Nian
過年". Later generations called that day Guo Xin Nian 過新年 or a New Year
without Nian. Nowadays people also call it New Year 新年.
CHUNG Yoon-Ngan (鄭永元)
All rights reserved
|
|
The Asiawind forums are provided to you by
InTechTra Inc.
