Pelfy’s Journey Of Love

Legend says that once upon a time, there was a beast named Nian. It had a big mouth that would swallow many people with one bite. Many people were afraid of Nian.

One fine day, an old man rescued the people around by offering to subdue Nian. He said, “I heard you are capable, but can you swallow other beasts on earth instead of eating people who are not your opponents”? Nian agreed, thus he swallowed other beasts that destroy other people’s animals.

Before he left with Nian, he advised the people to put up red paper decorations on their windows and doors at each year’s end to scare away Nian, just in case it sneaked back as red is the colour the beast feared most.

His kindness had turned him into an immortal god. Now that Nian and other beast have left, people are beginning to enjoy their peaceful lives.

Since then, the tradition of observing the invasion of Nian is passed on to generations. The term “Guo Nian” (in Mandarin) which means “Survive the Nian”, becomes “Celebrate the (New) Year” as the word “guo” in Chinese means “pass-over” and “observe”.

The tradition of decorating windows and doors with red papers to scare away Nian is not applicable to today’s world anymore. People have forgotten the reason they are doing all this, except to decorate to add some colours to welcome the Chinese New Year celebration.

Picture taken from: tourismpenang.gov.my