Tuesday, February 5, 2013

The Colour Red

I've always thought that the Chinese wore red clothes on Chinese New Year merely for good luck but I didn't know that there was a legend behind this practice until my Malay friend told me the story! Shame on me!!! Tsk! Tsk!
Long ago, in ancient China, Nian, a man eating beast, would visit villages on the first day of the Chinese lunar year to devour livestock, crops and especially children. During one of the attacks, the Nian freaked out at the sight of a child wearing red and slinked away. For some reason, the beast was scared of the colour red.
From then on, the villages would hang red banners and lanterns, wear red clothes and set off red firecrackers every year in anticipation of the Nian's annual visit but the beast was never seen again. After many years, the Nian was eventually captured by an ancient Taoist monk, Hongjun Laozu and turned into his mount.

This explains why the Chinese New Year is referred as Guo Nian in Chinese which translates as the passing of Nian.
Every year, red lanterns are strung around our condo during the Chinese New Year for a festive vibe.

23 comments:

  1. I did not know this..thanks for the fun and interesting information!!

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  2. That's so cool! I thought it was because the color brought good luck.

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  3. I like the color red...Happy New Year...the year of the snake.

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  4. Happy Wordless Wednesday.
    Visit from http://www.blogshe.net
    hope to see you around.
    Have a great Wednesday.
    Nan
    http://www.blogshe.net/2013/02/wordless-wednesday.html

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  5. Red is one of my very favorite colors. Happy New year! And yes it is the year of the snake!

    Happy WW! :-)

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  6. Happy New Year! Thanks for visiting!

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  7. Very interesting Veronica! The colour red is so beautiful. Lovely shots. Have a good Wednesday.

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  8. So interesting...

    Great pictures too.

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  9. I love the colour splash image at the end, excellent editing!

    Mollyxxx

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  10. Love the shot of the lanterns! Very interesting background info; I never knew the meaning behind the use of red in the Chinese New Year.

    Thanks for linking up over at Tales of a Pee Dee Mama!

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  11. Great photos! Thanks for linking up!

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  12. Oh my! I love those hanging red lanterns! Happy Wordless Wednesday and thanks for stopping by!!



    Heather from Mommy Only Has 2 Hands

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  13. That's a great story! I love the color red. I like it because it pops out. Red Orange is my favorite.

    It's so neat seeing the lanterns hanging about!

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  14. Great post and I LOVE red! Thanks for linking up with me at NanaHood.com

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  15. Beautiful and interesting thanks for sharing

    Have a colourfultabulous week :-)

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  16. wow the red just pops in the last picture!

    Happy #WW.

    @ParentClub

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  17. Great pics, and what an interesting story! Thanks for sharing that and happy WW.

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  18. I almost forgot about the Chinese New Year.

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  19. Fascinating legend and striking photos!

    ♥ aquariann
    Featured Photo: Pegasus Sculpture

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  20. I had no idea about the color red and why it was always hung up. Thanks! And Thanks for joining us at Wordless Wednesday Bloggers!

    If you haven't signed up for a weekly reminder, visit http://bit.ly/WPj6rK

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  21. How fascinating! I had never heard that story either.

    Love all your festive images!

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  22. I always learn of new things when I stop over ;)
    thanks for yet another informational post for me to have learned from! love that last picture

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  23. This was very interesting and I love the photos! Thanks for visiting and leaving a comment on 1camera1mom.

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