Chinese New Year The Monster Nian

Lesson Objective Success Criteria To write creatively using a prescribed form. Success Criteria To identify the key features of a text type. To produce a creative writing piece using a set form.

Starter Activity What do you know about monsters? What monsters have you read about before? What types of things are they known for doing? Now – what do you know about myths? What are they? Why did people invent them? Use a dictionary to find out what a myth is.

Myths A myth is an ​ancient ​story or set of ​stories, ​usually ​explaining the early ​history of a ​group of ​people or dealing with the origin of events (natural or otherwise). What examples of myths can you think of? Do you know any Ancient Greek or Roman ones? Any Indian ones?

Myths “Once upon a time…” What features can you think of that give these stories a particular style? You may also think about fairy tales and folktales. All of these types of stories were originally oral (meaning they were told rather than written down). This meant that key features that were easy for tellers to remember were incorporated into the stories themselves. One example is the use of once upon a time as an opener. Can you think of others? “Once upon a time…”

The Chinese New Year Myth From previous experience of Chinese New Year, can you identify the myth the Chinese people use to explain why they celebrate New Year the way they do? Discuss your knowledge with a partner. Chinese New Year supposedly came about because of the actions of a monster called Nian. Does the story of Nian ring a bell? What key words or style of story do you expect when you hear that it is a myth? Read the story of Nian that follows. Write down any key phrases that remind you of other stories of this type that you have read.

The Story of Nian Once upon a time, long, long ago there lived a monster in China called the Nian. He lived under the sea in a cave and slept most of the year. He only awoke for one day each year, the last day before the lunar New Year began. Then the warmer weather woke him and he arose from the sea, hungry and ferocious.

Nian and the Villages Nian was a man-eater and he would come to the villages of China each year on the same night to devour people and wreck the houses. Many had tried to battle with the mighty Nian, many had tried and all had failed. The villagers of one particular place were so terrified that every year they fled to the hills to try to escape the wrath of Nian.

The Traveller One year, on the eve of the lunar New Year an old traveller came to the village. He was bent and weary from his travels and he desperately wanted food and lodging. He went to the door of a house to beg for the food but the woman inside just turned him away. She had no time for beggars, she was preparing for the move up to the mountain. The old man tried to ask a young girl on the street for help next but she was too busy as well. She had to find her brothers and sisters and start the long walk up the mountain to escape the monster.

The Old Woman The only person who paid the old man any notice at all was an old woman. She was sweeping outside her house and realised that the traveller needed food. She walked inside and returned to the man with a bowl of noodles. While the old traveller ate he sat and watched the villagers running about. He asked what all the fuss was about and the woman explained that the Nian was coming that night and the villagers were going to hide in the hills to ensure that their village was overlooked by the monster. The woman looked worried and the old man asked her why. The old woman didn’t think she’d be able to make the trip to the hills that year – her bones were old and she was weary. Photo courtesy of Anja Disseldorp (@flickr.com) - granted under creative commons licence - attribution

The Kindness of a Stranger The old man smiled to himself. He knew how to repay the old woman’s kindness. He could tell her how to ensure that the monster Nian never bothered her village again. By Wlodek Cieciura (Own work) [CC BY-SA 2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons

New Year’s Day The next morning the villagers returned to their houses. They had spent the night in the hills and had heard bangs and seen bright lights coming from the village. They feared that Nian had destroyed their homes but as they walked down the main street the people were amazed. The houses were standing, everything looked peaceful and the old woman who’d refused to come to the hills stood outside her home, smiling.

The News ‘But, how did you survive Nian?’ the villagers asked the old woman. The old woman explained that the traveller had told her an amazing secret about Nian. The monster was afraid of the colour red, loud noises and fire. And so, the old woman and the traveller had covered the houses with red paper banners. They had lit firecrackers. They had found every pot and pan they could and banged on them loudly and the monster had turned away from the village – scared by the noises and colour.

New Year Traditions The following year all the villagers stayed behind in the village for the lunar New Year. They lit firecrackers and banged on drums and wore the colour red and Nian was nowhere to be seen. From that day to this, the New Year is celebrated in the same way. The villagers know that Nian is just asleep and could easily wake up this spring and decide to attack their town. Only the firecrackers, the drums and the colour red keep him away.

Telling a Myth What did you notice when reading the story of the monster Nian. Did you see any traditional story elements that you can remember from stories from your own childhood? Discuss any phrases or ideas that you found as a class. Did you notice the phrases: Once upon a time; Long, long ago; From that day to this? What kind of characters were central to the story? Who helps the old man in the end and why is this important? How many times did the old man ask for help? What other elements are reminiscent (a reminder) of other stories that you know?

Teach Someone Else Imagine you’ve been asked to write a short section for a website in which you tell young children about myths and how to write them. They will need to know what a myth is. They will also need to know what key things go into a myth-type story. Write the words of a website section explaining the elements that go into this type of story so that they will be able to write their own.