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The Chinese New Year Story

The Chinese New Year Story.

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The Chinese New Year Story

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  1. The Chinese New Year Story Long ago, the world was not a safe place; monsters dominated the world. There was one horrifying monster that came out on the same day each year to eat people. This monster was named Nian 年, and the people marked the end of a year by his visits to the human civilization. That is where the Chinese word for year came from.

  2. This monster was the most feared by the people because every time it came out, whole villages would be destroyed at a time. So, every time the monster came, people would huddle together in their homes and stay up all night, wanting not to be eaten. This happened for many years until a wise man thought up a plan to scare the monster away.

  3. This man proposed that the people should light bamboo. The bamboo would crack and make a lot of noise, possibly scaring the monster away. The villagers thought this was a very good idea and started to light the bamboo. The noise was tremendous. The monster was scared by the loud noise and ran back to its cave without eating any people.

  4. The next morning, everyone was present. They were all very excited. The people congratulated each other for the success of the plan. So, from then on, people stayed up late, lit firecrackers (to imitate the lighting of the bamboo), and congratulated each other when the new year came.

  5. Chinese New Year is the most important of the Chinese holidays, and is a time of feasting with the family, celebration, fireworks, and gift-giving. It is a 15-day holiday.

  6. The Chinese calendar is based on the lunar year, so the date of Chinese New Year changes every year. The Chinese calendar follows a 12-year pattern with each year named after an animal.

  7. There are various stories which explain this. The simplest is that Buddha (or the Jade Emperor) invited all of the animals to join him for a New Year celebration, but only 12 animals turned up.

  8. To reward the animals that did come, Buddha named a year after each of them in the order that they arrived, starting with the Rat, followed by the Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat (or Sheep), Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig. Depending on the year you are born, you are believed to have the have some characteristics of that year's animal. • YouTube - Chinese Zodiac Story • YouTube - Chinese Zodiac Sign

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