Chinese New Year Traditions: Guo Nian, Gong Xi or "Congratulations, You Survived the Nian Beast"

On Chinese New Year's Eve, families gather together for New Year's Eve dinner, which is a great feast that I have written about in previous posts. After dinner, they usually watch New Year's specials on TV until a few minutes before midnight. Right around midnight they go outside to pray for good luck in the coming new year, and to make a lot of noise to scare away the Nian Beast. 

The family in the 2021 Lego set is assembled outside right before midnight. They have already set off a few bottle rockets, and they are preparing to light the big string of fire crackers hanging from their door at the stroke of midnight. They also have firepots to keep warm and more bottle rockets ready for the midnight battle with the Nian Beast.

In some places, lion dancers go out in the streets late at night to participate in the noisy midnight celebration. Our Lego lion dancers are all set up for their performance along the main street of the village.

According to legend, at the stroke of midnight, the Nian Beast will come to eat the villagers and destroy their homes. By making noise and burning fires, the villagers hope to scare the Nian Beast and "guo nian" or survive the Nian Beast for another year. 

The Nian Beast arrives at the stroke of midnight. It faces lion dancers, people dressed as animals from the Chinese zodiac, and families with fire pots, bottle rockets, and loud strings of firecrackers popping over their entries. Everyone is screaming and making noise. The lion dancers get into the Nian Beast's face. They are supported by the loud drumming and clashing cymbals from their musicians. 

The noise hurts the Nian Beast's ears, and the fires and lion dancers scare him. He turns around and runs back to his lair in the mountains. 

Everyone congratulates each other for surviving the attack of the Nian Beast. Then, they all go to bed because they want to have fun going out with their families on Chinese New Year's Day. (The lion dancers will have another gig...) "Surviving the Nian Beast" is supposed to be the reason that Chinese people say "gong xi" or "congratulations" to each other on Chinese New Year.