GodFinder
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Legend of Nian Monster

The Legend of Nian Monster

Chinese people held the first New Year Festival more than 3,000 years ago. Farmers gave thanks for the harvest and prayed. They asked the gods for good crops in the coming year.

But there is a story behind all the celebration, below is the legend of how the Chinese New Year celebration began.

Legend has it that in ancient times, there was a monster called "Nian" ("year") that would come out to eat people and animals on the eve of every New Year. To avoid the monster's attack, people would flee to the depth of the mountains and call this day "Nian Guan" (meaning "the Pass of Nian"). On one New Year's Eve, there came an old beggar in Peach Blossom Village, where an old lady gave him some food and asked him to hide himself in the mountain to avoid the monster Nian. The old man promised that he could drive the monster away as long as he was put up for the night at the old lady's home. Being unable to persuade the old man into hiding in the mountain, the old lady went alone. In the middle of the night, the monster Nian dashed into the village. He trembled and cried when he saw the red paper on the door of the old lady's house, which was brightly lit. Just as the monster reached the entrance, there came blasting sounds that prevented him from moving any further. At that time, the old man, wearing a red robe, opened the door and the monster was scared away.

The following year, the villagers were ready for it. They set off firecrackers, lit all their lamps and decorated their houses in red, they paste red paper on the doors, wear red clothing, hang up red lanterns. They made loud music, play the gong and drums and they dance and burn the fireworks whenever Nian was about to arrive, to scared away the beast.This is how these customs came into being.




List of Gods : "Nian" - 306 records

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15   17
Name ▲▼Origin ▲▼Description ▲▼
God name
"Ilabrat"
Mesopotamian / Babylonian - Akkadian Minor god. The attendant and minister of state of the chief sky god ANU....

"Ion"
Greek The fabulous ancestor of the Ionians, a son of Apollo by Creusa, the daughter of Erechtheus and wife of Xuthus.

"Irus"
Greek A son of Actor, and father of Eurydamas and Eurytion. He propitiated Peleus for the murder of his brother but during the chase of the Calydonian boar, Peleus unintentionally killed Eurytion, the son of Irus, Peleus endeavoured to soothe him by offering him his flocks but Irus would not accept them, and at the command of an oracle, Peleus allowed them to run wherever they pleased. A wolf devoured the sheep, but was thereupon changed into a stone, which was shown in later times on the frontier between Locris and Phocis. Greek
Goddess name
"Is'ara"
Mesopotamian / Babylonian - Akkadian / / western Semitic Goddess of marriage and childbirth. Also a deity concerned with the enforcing of oaths. Known chiefly from early inscriptions and some Akkadian texts. Her Mesopotamian cult center was the Babylonian town of Kisurra, but she is also thought to have been worshiped across a wide area among Syrians, Canaanites and Hittites. Her symbol is the scorpion. Also Es ara....
God name
"Is”um"
Mesopotamian / BabylonianAkkadian Minor god. The brother of SAMAS', the Sun god, and an attendant of the plague god ERRA. He may have been a god of fire and, according to texts, led the gods in war as a herald but was nonetheless generally regarded as benevolent. Known particularly from the Babylonian legend of Erra and Is“um. Also ENDURSAGA....
God name
"Ithomatas"
Greek A surname of Zeus, derived from the Messenian hill of Ithome, where the god had a sanctuary, and where an annual festival, the Ithomaea was celebrated in his honour. Greek
God name
"Ithome"
Greek A nymph from whom the Messenian hill of Ithome derived its name. According to a Messenian tradition, Ithome and Neda, from whom a small river of the country derived its name, were said to have nursed Zeus, and to have bathed the infant god in the well Clepsydra. Greek
God name
"Jagaubis"
Lithuanian Fire god. Lithuanian
God name
"Jagaubis"
Pre - Christian Lithuanian Fire god. Largely eclipsed by GABIJA....
God name
"Javine"
Lithuanian A household god who protects grain in barns. Lithuanian
Spirit name
"Jievaras"
Lithuanian A household spirit who protects grain. Sacrifices to Jievaras are made after the rye harvest. While cutting grain, women would leave a few grain tufts uncut, which would later be braided into plaits. They would also leave some bread and salt under the plait. Lithuanian
Supreme god name
"Jumala"
Finland A generic name for a major deity. Originally the name given by the Finns to the sky, the sky-god, and the supreme god. Later taivas and Ukko were used as the names for the sky and the sky-god. The word means god and was later used for the Christian God. The origin of the word is unknown – some possible explanations are derivation from Jomali, the supreme deity of the Permians and origination from the Estonian word jume.
Goddess name
"Junda"
Lithuanian A goddess of war. Known merely from its name. Lithuanian
Goddess name
"Jurate and Kastytis"
Lithuanian Heroes of a Lithuanian legend. The queen of the amber palace Jurate may be considered a manifestation of the goddess of Sea.
God name
"Kabunian"
Philippines Descended from his home in the sky. On earth he married a virtuous maiden named Bangan. She bore him three children. The first was Kabigat, a boy, second was Daungen, a girl. After the birth of the third child, Kabunian had to return to his home in heaven. As a god, he could not continue living indefinitely on earth. Philippines
God name
"Kakka"
Mesopotamian / BabylonianAkkadian Minor god. He was the attendant and minister of state to both ANU and ANS AR, and is known particularly from the text of Nergal and Ere skigal....
Hero name
"Kalevanpoika (son/ man of Kaleva)"
Finland A giant hero who can cut down Forests and mow down huge meadows, identical with Estonian national epic hero Kalevipoeg.
God name
"Kis”ar"
Mesopotamian / Sumerian / Babylonian - Akkadian Primordial god(dess). The consort or equal of ANS'AR and mother or creator of AN and KI in the creation cosmos....
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15   17