In ancient times, there was a beast called "Nian". It is several times larger than today's elephants and dozens of times more ferocious than tigers. It specializes in eating people, and once it is eaten, dozens of people, and the number of people who are eaten by it cannot be counted. The people have suffered. One day, "Nian" came again, and a young man hated it so much that he said, "Instead of letting it eat, it is better to fight with it, anyway, it is a death." He rushed up with an axe, and many young people followed suit. But they are not the opponents of "Nian", and young people are eaten by "Nian". Since then, the "year" has become more vicious, and the people are full of anger and hatred.
The soaring anger alarmed the Taibai Venus in the sky, and the earth-shaking hatred alarmed the earth king Bodhisattva underground. As soon as Taibai Venus and the Earth King Bodhisattva discussed, they sent Shennong Lao Zu to the earth to harvest the "year". Shen Nong held the beast whip in his hand, and aiming it at the ass of "Nian" was a whip. The ferocious "Nian" obediently fell to the ground. Shen Nong ran up a few steps, put one foot on Nian's head, and roared angrily: "Animals, you have eaten countless people, and your sins are extremely deep, and today your end has arrived." After saying that, he took two melon bowls from his waist and aimed them at the "year". The "year" that was bigger than the elephant was suddenly combined in a melon bowl. Shennong buried the bowl containing "Nian" under the ground, and before leaving, he repeatedly instructed: "This bowl is buried in the ground, and in the future it will grow melons, and this melon cannot be broken, so it must be said that it is not broken." Later, melons really grew in the place where the bowl was buried, and the people called it "North Melon" according to Shennong's "no" voice. The day on which Shennong removed the "year" happened to be the 30th day of the twelfth month of the lunar calendar, and the people called this day "New Year", that is, to avoid the meaning of "year" and remove "year". On this day, the northern melon is offered in the church to show the suppression of evil spirits, and gongs and drums are beaten, and bamboo lanterns are sounded to commemorate the merits of Shennong's ancestors.
Legend 2
In ancient times, there was a ferocious beast that lived in the deep mountains and dense forests, and people called it "Nian".
"Nian" is huge and fierce. As long as anyone annoys it, it will definitely open the blood basin and eat him in one bite.
At the same time, "Nian" is also very lazy, and it likes to sleep a lot, and it sleeps for three hundred and sixty-five days, when it wakes up from sleep. It always felt like my stomach was grunting. At this time, it went down the mountain to the village and ate whatever it saw. Even the old people and children who lived in the village did not let go, until their stomachs were full. It will walk home satisfactorily and continue to sleep. Then wake up after the next three hundred and sixty-five days and continue down the hill looking for something to eat. In this way, this "Nian" beast came to the village year after year to eat people, which made everyone panic. The village where Ah Bao lived was attacked by nian beasts every year, and his father, mother and sister were all eaten when they went down the mountain last time.
Therefore, Ah Bao especially hated this ferocious beast. This year Chinese New Year's Eve, the people in Ah Bao Village helped the old and the young to go up the mountain to avoid the "Nian" beast.
At this time, an old man begging from outside the village, he was on crutches, shoulder bag, silver beard dragged all the way to the ground.
At this time, everyone was busy sealing the windows and locking the doors, packing their bags, and people shouting and shouting everywhere, a scene of haste and panic. Who has the heart to take care of this poor begging old man? The people just looked at the old man in a hurry and hurried away.
When the old man walked to Ah Bao's house, Ah Bao came out of the house and gave the poor begging old man some food. And advised him to follow everyone up the mountain to avoid the "Nian" beast. Unexpectedly, after begging the old man to listen, he covered his beard. Smiling and squinting, he said, "Little brother, can you let me, a lonely old man, spend the night?" Ah Bao looked at the begging old man in surprise and said, "Old man." Don't you know that the 'year' beast is coming tonight? Now everyone has taken the old and the young, packed up and taken refuge in the mountains, and you should also go with them. The begging old man listened, just smiled and said nothing. Well, if that's the case, then you come in. Po said to the old man. Thank you, well-meaning young man, for having me here, and tonight you don't have to be afraid of anything. With that, the old man lowered the bag from his shoulder and drew two long pieces of red paper from inside, "Come, you paste these two pieces of red paper on the door." Ah Bao didn't know what these two pieces of red paper were for, so he asked, "What do you do with these two pieces of red paper?" The begging old man pinched his beard, smiled slightly, and replied, "You just have to stick it on, and do as I say." "Ah Bao, at the old man's command, placed two pieces of red paper symmetrically on either side of the door, and then helped the begging old man into the house." I still have two candles here, and you can light them when it gets dark in a moment. The old man handed Ah Bao two red candles. Ah Bao took the two red candles and asked, "I also have candles at home, but they are not red, so why do you want me to light them tonight?" The begging old man smiled and pointed to the bamboo piled up in the yard: "Kind young man, I feel a little cold. Why don't you burn those bamboos to warm me up?" Honest Ah Bao didn't think much about it this time, and he immediately started to start a fire. As the sky darkened, Nian leapt out of the mountains and swung into the village. Look east, look west, only to see that the doors of every house are closed, there are only some sesame stalks piled up in front of the door, and there is no shadow on the street. Suddenly there was the sound of firecrackers from the white-haired old man, and the "Nian" beast trembled and trembled, and did not dare to move forward anymore, it turned out that the "Nian" beast was most afraid of red, fire and explosion. At this time, the gate opened widely, only to see an old man in a red robe in the courtyard laughing, and the "Nian" beast was shocked and fled in panic.
The next day, when people returned to the village from the deep mountains, they found that the village was safe and sound, and it suddenly dawned on them that the white-haired old man was a god who helped everyone expel the "Nian" beast, and people also found three magic weapons for the white-haired old man to expel the "Nian" beast. Since then, every year on the Chinese New Year's Eve, every home has posted red couplets, set off firecrackers, and every household is brightly lit. This custom has spread more and more widely, and has become the most solemn traditional festival of Chinese folk "New Year".