Chinese New Year and the story of the Nian
First posted: 9th February 2016 In Exploring History Chinese New Year, in Western culture, is dominated by a fascination with the Chinese zodiac; people are often most knowledgeable about which animal represents their birth year. The fable of the race across the river, in which the order of the zodiac was supposedly decided by the Jade Emperor, is relatively well-known. However, the celebration itself, and its customs, originate in a much darker, lesser-known story: the story of the Nian. The Nian was a mythical beast, said to have the head of a lion and the body of a bull, that lived in the mountains and stalked China’s rural villages. Regional variants of the Nian assert that it had similarities to unicorns or dragons, but a constant throughout is it’s ferocious nature and insatiable appetite. Villagers would live in fear throughout Winter, as the Nian emerged from the mountains annually at the end of winter, when there was no food left, and terrorised villagers; it had a partic