China's traditional festivals have evolved through the centuries from
past major events. For instance,Long ago when people had a bountiful harvest,
they gathered and celebrated their good fortune with gala performannces. When
natural disasters struck, they offered sacrifices to the gods and their
ancestors,hoping for a blessing.The change of the seasons, flowers in spring,
and the bright moon in autumn could all arouse their longing for a more
beautiful life. Thus, creative activities were held to signify these events,
Gradually these activities developed into festivals.
The most important festival in China is the Spring Festival. It is said
that the Spring Festival evolved from an activity known as the Winter Sacri-
fice.It was a custom practiced by the people of primitive society.
As the cold winter began to recede and the warm spring was about to begin,
the people of an entire clan gathered together.They brought out their bounty
from hunting,fishing and the field.They thanked the gods for the blessings of
nature, including the mountains, rivers, the sun ,moon and stars,They thanked
their ancestors,Then they shared and enjoyed the sumptuous bounty of the land,
sea, air and fields as they ate, danced and sang heartily.
In the beginning, their activity had no fixed date. But usually it was
held at the end of each winter.Gradually,through the years,it was celebrated
at the end of the old year or the beginning of the new. With the changes and
disingtegration of primitive society, the form and content of the Winter Sa-
crifice also changed. Ultimately, it became a festival to bid farewell to the
old year and welcome in the new year. So it came to be called the Spring
Festival.
All the traditional festivals in China are based on the Chinese lunar
calendar.The Spring Festival marks the beginning of the Chinese Lunar New Year.
In Chinese, we also say Guo Nian, meaning keeping off the monster of Nian.
There are many legends about the origin of Nian, The most popular one is
this.It is said that Nian was a fierce monster back in ancient times.It looked
like a strong bull with a head like that of a lion. Usually the monster stayed
deep in the mountains and caught and ate other beasts. But during the winter,
it could not find enough food. So it came out of its mountain lair and entered
villages to eat whatever it could catch. Villagers became very frightened and
moved away to escape the ferocious monster.But later the people found that even
though it was fierce, Nian was afraid of three things:the red color,a bright
flame,and a loud noise. After learning this, they figured out how to prevent
Nian from entering their villages.
Just before Nian came again, every household painted their door red and
burned a fire in front of their door-ways.Besides,the people did not go to bed.
Instead, they stayed up all night beating on things to make a loud noise.Ever
since, Nian has never again come to the villages.
Thus, a tradition was established and the customs have been kept through
the years.Later,the people found that bamboo could make a crackling sound when
burned.In time,the nose of crackling bamboo was replaced with bang of firecr-
ackers. This is how the Chinese people began to set off firecrackers for the
Spring Festival.