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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

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Name ▲▼Origin ▲▼Description ▲▼
Goddess name
"Kore (tbe girl)"
Greek Youthful goddess of the corn. The more generic name for the goddess PERSEPHONE. Identified as the daughter of DEMETER. She is the spirit of the corn as distinct from her mother who is the giver of the corn. Depicted on coinage as a woman's head adorned with ears of corn. She is integral to the Eleusinian Mysteries in which she is abducted to Hades, resulting in the distress of her mother and the blighting of nature. At Samaria-Sebaste in Syrio-Palestine, Kore was the only deity worshiped, apart from the emperor....

"Kukudhi aka Kukuthi"
Albanian An undead or vampire which grows stronger with time until, after thirty years, it reachs a final stage where he is no longer required to return to its grave and can live in a home during the day. He then typically travels to other lands as a merchant. Albanian
God name
"Kulla"
Mesopotamian / Sumerian / Babylonian - Akkadian God of builders. The god responsible for the creation of bricks....
Spirit name
"Kupole"
Lithuanian The spirit of springtime vegetation and flowers. The Festival of Kupole was åśśociated with Feast of St. John the Baptist. In this festival, women picked sacral herbs, danced and sang songs. Kupolines is also known as Rasos. Lithuanian
God name
"Kus"
Mesopotamian / Sumerian / Babylonian - Akkadian God of herdsmen. Identified in the Theogony of Dunnu....

"Kusta"
Nazorean Kushta, means Truth, and the Monastery (Sangha) and is a name of Miryai, the spouse of Mind in Valentinian theology. Early Nazorean
Goddess name
"Lahamu"
Babylonian In the Babylonian story of creation, Lahama is the daughter of the primordial goddess Tiamat. She guards the gate to the sea; the sea is her dominion. She holds an overflowing vase; she contains, bestows the waters of life. The Seven Tablets of Creation
Deity name
"Lahamu"
Mesopotamian / BabylonianAkkadian Primordial deity. Known from the Babylonian creation epic Enuma Elis as one of a pair who were created by TIAMAT from the primeval ocean and who, it is suggested, were represented by the silt of the sea-bed. Lahamu and LAHMU in turn created ANS'AR and KIS'AR, who created ANU....
Deity name
"Lahmu"
Mesopotamian / BabylonianAkkadian Primordial deity. Known from the Babylonian creation epic Enuma Elis as one of a pair who were created by TIAMAT from the primeval ocean and who, it is suggested, were represented by the silt of the sea-bed. Lahmu and LAHAMU in turn created ANS'AR and KIS'AR, who created ANU....
Goddess name
"Laima"
Lithuanian A goddess trio of life & good fortune, the fates

"Lais"
Greek A courtesan or Greek Hetaira. There were two of the name; the elder was the most beautiful woman of Corinth, and lived at the time of the Peloponnesian war. The beauty of the latter excited the jealousy of the Thessalonian women, who pricked her to death with their bodkins. She was contemporary with Phryne, her rival, and sat to Apelles as a model.

"Laodamas 2"
Greek A son of Antenor, was slain at Troy by the Telamonian Ajax.

"Leucippus"
Greek 1. A son of Oenomaus. 2. A son of Perieres and Gorgophone, and brother of Aphareus. He was the father of Arsinoe, Phoebe, and Hilaeira, and prince of the Messenians. He is mentioned among the Calydonian hunters, and the Boeotian town of Leuctra is said to have derived its name from him. Greek

"Libys"
Greek The name of two mythical personages, one a son of Libya, and the other one of the Tyrrhenian pirates whom Bacchus changed into dolphins. Greek
God name
"Lugal-Irra"
Mesopotamian / Sumerian / Babylonian - Akkadian Chthonic underworld god. Probably a minor variation of ERRA, the Babylonian plague god. The prefix Lugal means ”lord.” Often coupled with MES LAM TAEA, god of war....
God name
"Lulal"
Mesopotamian / Sumerian / Babylonian - Akkadian God of uncertain status. Mentioned as living in BadtIbira in the Sumerian text Descent of Inana. Also linked with a god Latarak....
God name
"Lyre"
Greek A lyre is a stringed musical instrument well known for its use in Clåśśical Antiquity. The recitations of the Ancient Greeks were accompanied by it. According to ancient Greek mythology, the young god Hermes created the lyre from the body of a large tortoise shell (khelus) which he covered with animal hide and antelope horns. Lyres were åśśociated with Apollonian virtues of moderation and equilibrium, contrasting the Dionysian pipes which represented ecstasy and celebration. Greek
Goddess name
"Maa-Ema"
Estonian Estonian earth goddess
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