Chinese New Year. The Myth of Nian

1.

2.

Talk About It…
What do you know about myths?
What are they?
Why did people invent them?

3.

Myths
A myth is an ancient story or set of stories, usually explaining the early
history of a group of people or dealing with the origin of events (natural or
otherwise).
All of these types of stories were originally oral (meaning they were told
rather than written down). This meant that storytellers had to remember
the key features. These were incorporated into the stories themselves.
What examples of myths can you think of?
Do you know any Ancient Greek or Roman myths?

4.

The Story of Nian
Once upon a time, long, long ago,
there lived a monster in China
called Nian. He lived under the sea
in a cave and slept most of the year.
He only awoke for one day each
year, the last day before the lunar
New Year began.
The warmer weather woke him and
he arose from the sea, hungry, and
ferocious.

5.

The Villages
Nian was a man-eater. He would
come to the villages in China each
year to devour people and wreck
their houses.
Many had tried to battle with the
mighty Nian; many had tried and all
had failed.
The people of one particular village
were so terrified, that every year
they fled to the hills to try to escape
the wrath of Nian.

6.

The Traveler
One year, on the eve of the lunar New Year,
an old traveler came to the village. He was
bent and weary from his travels, and he
desperately wanted food and lodging.
He went to the door of a house to beg for
food, but the woman inside turned him
away. She had no time for beggars because
she was preparing for the move up the
mountain.
The old man tried to ask a young girl on the
street for help, but she was too busy as well.
She had to find her brothers and sisters and
start the long walk up the mountain to
escape the monster.

7.

The Old Woman
The only person who paid the old man any notice at all,
was an old woman. She was sweeping outside her house
and realized that the traveler needed food. She walked
inside and returned to the man with a bowl of noodles.
While the old traveler ate, he sat and watched the villagers
running about.
He asked what all the fuss was about and the woman
explained that because Nian was coming that night, the
villagers were going to hide in the hills to ensure that their
village was overlooked by the monster.
The woman looked worried and the old man asked her
why. The old woman didn’t think she’d be able to make the
trip to the hills that year – her bones were old, and she
was weary.
Photo courtesy of Anja Disseldorp (@flickr.com) - granted under creative commons licence - attribution

8.

The Kindness of a Stranger
The old man smiled to himself.
He knew how to repay the old
woman’s kindness.
He could tell her how to make
sure that the monster Nian never
bothered her village again.
By Wlodek Cieciura (Own work) [CC BY-SA 2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons

9.

New Year’s Day
The next morning, the villagers returned
to their houses. They had spent the night
in the hills and had heard bangs and seen
bright lights coming from the village.
They feared that Nian had destroyed their
homes, but as they walked down the main
street, the people were amazed.
Their houses were still standing!
Everything looked peaceful. The old
woman who refused to come to the hills
was outside her home, smiling.

10.

The News
“How did you survive Nian?” the villagers
asked the old woman.
The old woman explained that the traveler
had told her an amazing secret about
Nian – the monster was afraid of the color
red, loud noises, and fire.
The old woman and the traveler had
covered the village houses with red paper
banners. They had lit firecrackers. They
had found every pot and pan they could
and banged on them loudly. The monster
had turned away from the village because
it was scared by the noise and color.

11.

New Year Traditions
The following year, all of the villagers
stayed behind in the village for the
lunar New Year.
They lit firecrackers, banged on drums,
and wore the color red. Nian was
nowhere to be seen!
From that day to this, the new year is
celebrated in the same way. The
villagers know that Nian is only asleep
and could easily wake up and decide to
attack their town. So each year, they
use firecrackers, drums, and the color
red to keep him away.