POWERFUL: Angpow is also called ‘Money to Subdue Sui’.
KUCHING: As a tradition carried out for thousands of years, the celebration of Chinese New Year (CNY) is embellished by myths and legends.
The elders pass on an interesting myth that tells how the festival started without telling when it happened.
The hungry beast – Nian
The legend tells of a ferocious creature by the name of Nian – a monster with an insatiable appetite. It could swallow many animals and men in one bite but was still not satisfied.
In some stories, the man-eating beast had a long head and a sharp horn and dwelt in the deep sea, emerging during Chinese New Year eve to create havoc at a nearby village. It devoured the villagers and their livestock before destroying their crops and farm produce.
Other versions of the same legend described Nian as a monster with a body of a bull and the head of a lion that lived on the mountains and roamed the woods for food. Towards the end of winter and beginning of spring when food became scarce, the beast would savage nearby villagers.
The villagers would take whatever precious possessions they had and hide deep in the mountains to avoid been swallowed alive. However, they could not stop the rest of their belongings from being devoured or destroyed by the hungry beast.
After years of this annual hardship, a grey-haired elderly man appeared at the village on CNY eve. Though old and frail, he refused to hide away like the rest of the villagers despite much persuasion and advice.
Failing to convince him, the villagers went to hide deep in the mountains on CNY eve, as was their usual practice.
The carnivorous monster came as usual. But just when it was about to unleash havoc, deafening blasts went off endlessly, accompanied by a shower of red confetti and flashes of light.
Scared out of its wits, the fearsome beast fled the village and never came back.
When the villagers returned the next day, they found neither the old man nor the monster and their property was intact.
Believing the old man must be a deity sent by Jade Emperor, the Emperor of Heavenly Realm; the people slaughtered pigs and chickens and held a big feast to celebrate.
From that year onwards, every CNY eve, the villagers would set off firecrackers made from bamboo which released confetti on exploding.
As they discovered that Nian was afraid of red colour, every family would decorate their homes with red lanterns, red paper-cuts and couplets.
They stayed awake on CNY eve to make loud noises through merry making. Everyone would wear red to make sure they left no room for another attack from the beast which had bound them for many years.
The practice continues until today.
This is just one version of the Nian legend. Nian in Chinese means ‘year’. To celebrate CNY is to celebrate ‘the passing of the year’.
Of course, there is another version of the story which says that the old man was actually a deity called Hongjun Laozu who came to end the suffering of the people. The beast was tamed by him to be turned into his own mount.
Kitchen God
To monitor every family’s behaviour, the Jade Emperor sent a lesser god of low raking among the deities to reside in the kitchen of each family. They are generally known as kitchen gods.
Every first day of the year, the kitchen gods were to return to heaven to make an annual report to the Jade Emperor, also known as Yu Huang Da Ti, about the deeds of the family they resided with.
To ensure the report would be presented in the family’s favour, the family would try to please him by cleaning the stove properly as that was his dwelling place. Then sweetened rice cake (nian gao – the cake of year) would be offered to the kitchen god for two reasons. One to make sure his mouth was sweet and flattering words would be put across to the Jade Emperor.
The other reason was that the sweetened glutinous rice cake being sticky would make the deity unable to articulate properly. To ensure good words reach the Jade Emperor was important because with good deeds come blessings and good fortune for the coming year. A negative report would bring punishments.
As kitchen gods are lesser minor deities, they are known to like liquor and can easily be manipulated. To get the kitchen god drunk was easy. Just dip his portrait in wine or liquor and he would be so drunk that he would either be too drunk to report properly or he would be late and miss his appointment hour. Missing his appointment was a serious offence and the punishment would fall on him instead of the family.
The legend of ‘angpow’ or red packet
In the olden days, there was a demon known as Sui. Sui was a demon targeting to kill children by placing his hands on their foreheads. Any children touched by him in their sleep would fall ill and die. Sui roamed about, terrorising many and no one could do anything to stop him.
An elderly couple was able to give birth to a son in their old age. They saw their son as the most precious of all they had. When winter ended and spring was about to start, they became nervous because Sui was most active then.
A lot of children died during this time when the weather changed. The old couple prayed to the heavens and eight fairies who happened to pass by heard their prayers.
They turned themselves into eight gold coins and asked the couple to put the coins in a red packet and place it under their child’s pillow. The couple did as told.
Many nights passed and Sui did not come. On CNY eve, he suddenly appeared before the bedside of the couple’s son. When he was about to lay his hand on the boy’s head, a bright shining red light came out from the coins that almost blinded the demon.
He fled from the boy, screaming before disappearing into the night. The next day, the triumphant story spread like wild fire across the whole village and many started to do the same thing in the hope that the money would protect their children from evil and harm.
Anypow is also called ‘Money to Subdue Sui’. That is why every CNY eve, parents must place a red packet (angpow) under their children’s pillow. The money is believed to protect the children from evil and bring them blessings and good luck.