The Chinese New Year is now (wide) known as the Spring Festival because it starts from the beginning of Spring. (it) origin (起源) is too old to be known. Several explanations are hanging around. But all agree that the word Nian, which modern Chinese means "year", was originally the name of a monster beast started to eat people the night before the beginning of a new year.
One legend goes that the beast Nian had a very big mouth that would swallow a great many people with one bite. People were very (frighten). One day, old man came to help them, offering to subdue (制伏) Nian. He told people (put) up red paper decorations on their windows and doors at each year's end to scare away Nian in case it came back again, because red was the color the beast feared the most.
Today, the custom of putting up red paper and setting off fire-crackers (be) still around. , people have long forgotten why they are doing all this, except that they feel the color and the sound add to the (excite) of the celebration.
