According to tales and legends, the beginning of the Chinese New Year started with a mythical beast called the Nian. Nian would eat villagers, especially children. One year, all the villagers decided to go hide from the beast.
An old man appeared before the villagers went into hiding and said that he's going to stay the night, and decided to get revenge on the Nian. All the villagers thought he was insane. The old man put red papers up and set off firecrackers. The day after, the villagers came back to their town to see that nothing was destroyed. They assumed that the old man was a deity who came to save them.
The villagers then understood that the Nian was afraid of the color red and loud noises. When the New Year was about to come, the villagers would wear red clothes, hang red lanterns, and red spring scrolls on windows and doors. People also used firecrackers to frighten away the Nian. From then on, Nian never came to the village again. The Nian was eventually captured by Hongjun Laozu, an ancient Taoist monk. After that, Nian retreated to a nearby mountain. The name of the mountain has long been lost over the years.
传说中,有一头叫做“年”的神兽,每到冬末春初,它就会跑出来吃掉村民,尤其喜欢吃小孩。有一年,村民们决定躲到山里去避祸。在村民们藏起来之前,有一个老人跟大家说他不走,他要留下来给”年”一个教训。村民们都认为他疯了。
当晚,老人把两条红纸挂在自家门上,燃放鞭炮……
第二天,当村民们回到村子里,发现老人还活着,也没有什么东西被“年”破坏。他们想,这位老人必是来拯救他们的神,“年”害怕红色以及鞭炮发出的震天响。从此以后,当新的一年即将到来,村民们都会穿上红色的衣服,门前挂起红色的灯笼,门口和窗上贴上红色的春联,到了晚上还燃放鞭炮把“年”吓走。从那以后,“年”就再也没来祸害过这个村子。故事的最后,“年”被一位叫做“鸿钧老祖”的老道士捕获,又躲到附近的一座山里,而今这座山的名字已经没人记得了。