Nian, the New Year Beast

The noise, red decorations and fireworks of Chinese New Year all trace, in legend, to a fearsome monster called Nian. Storytellers describe him as a hulking beast with the body of a bull and the head of a lion, dwelling deep beneath the sea or in remote mountains. Once each year, on the eve of the new year, Nian would surge into villages to devour livestock, crops and even children, and terrified families would flee to the hills. One year an old wandering beggar arrived and refused to run; an elderly woman took him in, and in return he promised to drive the beast away. When Nian charged, he found the door hung with red paper, candles blazing inside, and the crack of bursting bamboo splitting the air. The monster, it turned out, feared the colour red, bright light and loud noise, and it fled in panic. The villagers learned the secret, and ever after they welcomed the new year with scarlet banners, glowing lanterns and thunderous firecrackers to keep Nian at bay, customs still practised across the Chinese world today.