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The better angels of our nature Legend of Spring Festival
(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-01-19 16:35 The story was soon spread far and wide and everybody was talking about it. They concluded in the end that the old beggar was surely the celestial being who came to expel the calamities and bless the people, and that red paper, red cloth, red candles and the exploding firecracker were certainly the magic weapons to drive out the monster Year. To celebrate the arrival of the auspiciousness, the raptured villagers put on their clothes and new hats and went one after another to their relatives and friends to send their regards and congratulations. This was soon spread to the surrounding villages, and people all got to know the way to drive away the monster Year. From then on, on each New Year's Eve, each family stick on their doors antithetical couplets written on red paper, blow up firecrackers, keep their houses brilliantly illuminated and stay up late into the night. Early in the morning of the 1st of the first lunar month they go to their relatives and friends' to send their regards and congratulations. These customs are spreading far and wide and kept for generations. It becomes the most ceremonious traditional festival of the Chinese people.
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