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Cases of Multicultural Education

China’s ‘Light that Brings Luck’ Red Lanterns

In China, the Lunar New Year is called Chūnjié. According to the old customs, people would light firecrackers in the yard to drive away evil spirits, and draw chickens or other figures on the door. There is an old legend that has led to this custom. A long time ago, there was a ferocious animal called "Nien", which always appeared on December 30th of lunar calendar every year and ate humans. People always trembled with fear on New Year's Eve, but when an old man set off a bamboo firecracker and put a red lantern on it, Nien got scared of it and never showed up anymore. From then on, people would set off firecrackers on December 30th of the lunar calendar, write letters in red and put them up on the gate of every single house, and hung red lanterns were attached to safely celebrate the New Year. Nowadays, red lanterns are used often as decorations in restaurants because they are thought to not only defeat monsters but also bring blessings and luck.
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