The origin of "Year"? What was the name of "nian" in ancient times?

What is "year"? It is a fictional animal, which will bring bad luck to people. When the year is over, the withered grass will not grow; A year has passed, everything grows and flowers are everywhere. How to spend the year? Firecrackers are needed, so there is a custom of setting off firecrackers. 1993, the Beijing Municipal People's Government promulgated a law prohibiting the setting off of fireworks and firecrackers, making this centuries-old custom a thing of the past.

In ancient China, the word "Nian" was placed in the Grain Department, indicating that the weather was favorable and the crops were plentiful. Because cereal crops are usually harvested once a year. "Year" is extended to the name of the year.

So how did the year come from? There are several folk sayings:

Legend of "nian" beast

According to legend, there was a monster named Nian in ancient China, with long tentacles and a ferocious face. Nian lived on the seabed for many years, and climbed ashore every New Year's Eve, devouring livestock and killing people. Therefore, every New Year's Eve, people in the village fled to the deep mountains to avoid the harm of the "Nian" beast. On New Year's Eve this year, people in Taohua Village were taking refuge in the mountains when an old beggar came from outside the village. He was leaning on crutches, carrying a bag on his arm, with elegant silver whiskers and staring at Matthew. Some villagers sealed windows and locked doors, some packed their bags, some herded cattle and drove sheep, and people shouted boo everywhere, which was a scene of panic. At this time, who still has the mind to take care of this begging old man? Only an old woman in the east of the village gave the old man some food and suggested that he go up the mountain quickly to avoid Nian beast. The old man smiled and said, "If my mother-in-law lets me stay at home for one night, I will definitely drive Nian beast away." When the old woman looked at him carefully, she found that he was young, healthy, energetic and had an extraordinary world outlook. But she continued to persuade and begged the old man to laugh without saying a word. My mother-in-law had no choice but to leave home and take refuge in the mountains. At midnight, Nian beast broke into the village. It found that the atmosphere in the village was different from previous years: the old woman's house at the east end of the village had red paper on the door and bright candles in the room. The beast Nian trembled and let out a long whistle. Nian stared at her mother-in-law's house for a while, then screamed and rushed over. When we were near the door, there was a sudden explosion in the yard, and Nian trembled and dared not go any further. It turns out that Nian was most afraid of red, fire and explosion. At this time, my mother-in-law's door was wide open, and I saw an old man in a red robe laughing in the hospital. "Nian" was frightened to disgrace and fled in confusion. The next day was the first day of the first month, and the people who came back from refuge were very surprised to see that the village was safe and sound. At this time, the old woman suddenly realized and quickly told the villagers the promise of begging for the elderly. The villagers flocked to the old woman's house together, only to see red paper on her mother-in-law's door, a pile of unburned bamboo still exploding in the yard, and a few red candles still glowing in the house ... In order to celebrate the auspicious arrival, the ecstatic villagers put on new clothes and hats one after another and went to relatives and friends' houses to congratulate and say hello. The story soon spread in the surrounding villages, and people knew the way to drive away the "Nian" beast. Since then, every year on New Year's Eve, every family has posted red couplets and set off firecrackers. Every household has a bright candlelight, so it is better to wait for the New Year. In the early morning of the first day, I want to say hello to my relatives and friends. This custom has spread more and more widely, and has become the most solemn traditional festival among the people in China.

The legend of enduring a year

In our country, people have the habit of keeping watch on New Year's Eve. Watching the new year begins with eating New Year's Eve dinner. This New Year's Eve dinner should be eaten slowly, starting with lighting lanterns, and some families have to eat it until late at night. According to the Chronicle of Jingchu in the Song Dynasty, at least in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, there was a custom of New Year's Eve.

The custom of observing the old age not only includes the feeling of farewell and nostalgia for the fleeting time, but also expresses the good hope for the coming New Year. The ancients wrote in the poem "Shousui": "Invite Shousui Arong's family to spread red to blue gauze with candles; Thirty-six years have passed, and I cherish the years since this night. " It is human nature to cherish the years, so the great poet Su Shi wrote a famous sentence: "There will be no years next year, and I am worried about waste; Try to do it tonight, and the teenager can still boast! "This shows the positive significance of New Year's Eve.

Keep your age at 30, commonly known as "endure the year." Why is it called "Endure the Year"? There is an interesting story circulating among generations of people: in Archean, there was a fierce monster scattered in the deep mountains and forests, and people called them "Nian". Nian has a ferocious appearance and a ferocious nature. It specializes in eating birds, animals and scale insects, and changes its taste every day, from kowtowing insects to living people, which makes people talk about "Nian". Slowly, people mastered the activity law of "Year". It turns out that every 365 days in 2008, I went to places where people lived to taste fresh food, and the time of haunt was after dark. When the rooster crowed at dawn, they returned to the mountains. After calculating the ravaged date of 2008, men and women regarded this terrible night as "New Year's Eve" and came up with a whole set of methods for "New Year's Eve": every family cooked dinner in advance on this night, turned off the stove, tied up all the barns, sealed their doors, and hid in the house to eat "New Year's Eve"-because the dinner was fierce. After dinner, no one dared to sleep, so they sat together and got up the courage to chat. It's getting dark, and I escaped from the deep forest in and touched the village where people live together. I saw every household's door closed, sesame stalks piled in front of it, but there was no one in the street. After turning for more than half a night, I found nothing, so I had to chew sesame stalks to satisfy my hunger. After a while, the rooster crowed, and these cruel and stupid monsters had to go home disgruntled. Those who have survived the "Year Pass" are delighted. They want to thank the ancestors of heaven and earth for their protection, congratulate each other on not being eaten by Nian, and open the door to set off firecrackers to greet their neighbors and relatives to congratulate them ... When people meet, they bow and congratulate each other and are glad that they have not been eaten by Nian beast. After many years, nothing happened, and people relaxed their vigilance against Nian beast. On the evening of 30th one year, Nian beast suddenly fled to a village in the south of the Yangtze River. A village was almost eaten up by Nian beast, and only a pair of newly-married couples in red curtains were safe and sound. There are also a few childlike innocence, in the yard lit a pile of bamboo to play, red. Bamboo exploded after burning, and Nian beast turned around and fled when it saw the fire. From then on, people know that Nian beast is afraid of red, light and noise. At the end of each year, every household sticks red paper, wears red robes, hangs red lights, beats gongs and drums, and sets off firecrackers, so that Nian Beasts dare not come again. In The Book of Songs Xiaoya Tingliao, there is a record of "the light of Tingliao". The so-called "pavilion" is a torch made of bamboo poles and the like. After the bamboo pole burns, the air in the bamboo joint expands, and the bamboo cavity bursts, making a crackling sound, which is the origin of "firecrackers". However, villagers in some places don't know that Nian beast is afraid of red and is often eaten by Nian beast. This incident later spread to the sky in Wei Zi. In order to save people, he is determined to destroy Nian beast. One year the beast came out, knocked it down with a fireball and chained it to a stone pillar with a thick chain. From then on, every New Year, people always burn incense and ask Zixing to come down to keep safe. This phenomenon has gradually become the custom of "Happy New Year" and "Happy New Year", which is rich in content. The usual order is: "First, worship the heavens and the earth, then worship the ancestors, then go to Gaotang, then go out to visit relatives and friends, and there are also various kinds of rituals such as ancestor worship on the first day, ancestor worship on the second day, ancestor worship on the third day, and so on, until the fifteenth day of the first month.

Another way of saying it is:

In ancient China calligraphy, the word "Nian" was placed in the Grain Department, indicating that the weather was favorable and the crops were plentiful. Because cereal crops are usually harvested once a year. "Year" is extended to the name of the year.

Although there was a custom of Spring Festival in ancient China, it was not called Spring Festival at that time. Because the Spring Festival referred to at that time refers to the "beginning of spring" among the 24 solar terms.