1. The festival of New Year’s Eve evolved from the expulsion in the pre-Qin period. The so-called "Zhuchu" means that the ancients used drumming on the day before the New Year to drive away the "ghosts of plague". This can be found in "Lu's Spring and Autumn Season Jidong Ji", and "Zhuchu" is the name of the "New Year's Eve" festival. origin. The earliest record of New Year's Eve should be "Feng Tu Ji" and other historical books written by Zhou Chu of the Western Jin Dynasty.
2. Legend has it that in ancient times there was a four-cornered and four-legged evil beast - Xi. When heavy snow closed the mountains, Xi would gather nearby to harm the neighbors in search of food. At the end of the twelfth lunar month, people would pack their clothes and help the elderly and their families. When I was young, I went to the nearby bamboo forest to hide from Xi.
3. This year, when the villagers were preparing to evacuate, a kind-hearted mother-in-law rescued a child who was fainting from hunger on the roadside and took him to the bamboo forest to avoid Xi. The mother-in-law told the child that Xi chased her here and saw people cutting bamboo and left in a hurry. After thinking about it, the child told everyone that he had a way to get rid of Xi, and asked everyone to cut more bamboo sections to take with them, and hang a piece of red cloth outside the door of each house after returning home.
4. Xi attacked again. The child came forward to attract Xi's attention and asked the villagers to throw broken bamboo knots into the fire, but everyone froze because of fear. At this moment, "Xi" picked up the child with his horns and threw him heavily to the ground. The villagers reacted when they heard the sound of the child falling to the ground and threw bamboo sticks into the fire. Because it had just been cut down, the wet bamboo joints exploded one after another when exposed to the strong fire, making a crackling sound! "Xi" heard the sound and turned around and scurried away, without damaging anything in the village.
5. Xi was scared away. The house was saved because of the red strip hanging in front of the door. Xi did not enter, but the smart kid who saved the village died. And this day is the first day of the first lunar month. This smart boy's name is "Nian".
6. Because "Xi" is not dead, every year on the 30th day of the twelfth lunar month, everyone waits at the Broken Bamboo Festival, hoping to get rid of "Xi" as soon as possible. But year after year, no one has seen "Xi" again. There are only firecrackers set off by everyone to prevent the arrival of "Xi" and red cloth strips hung in front of the door. However, this legend and Chinese New Year have been left to us. customs.
7. It is said that in ancient times, there was a ferocious animal that was so powerful that people called it "Nian". "Year" appears every 365 days. As soon as the "year" comes out, it will harm mankind and cause great disasters to people. "Nian" comes out at night, so people put out their lights and stay up all night to avoid disasters. Later, I discovered that wearing red clothes and the sound of burning firecrackers can drive away the "year". Therefore, every year at the end of the year, when they feel that the "year" is about to appear, people set off firecrackers to ward off evil spirits and pray for good luck in the coming year. Therefore, the custom of setting off firecrackers during the New Year has been passed down to this day.