CNY Chinese New Year Wreath

I don't know if having a CNY wreath hung on the door is traditionally done. I have never had it and as a matter of fact, I've not seen it in other people's houses either!

I was taking down all my Christmas decorations and I thought it would be nice to make something for the door too. I used the red flowers and berries for Christmas and now being re-used here. I just had to add the 2 ang pows to make it more like Chinese New Year, right!

In the spirit of learning more about Chinese customs and beliefs, the boys ask why does everything have to be so red?

For as long as I can remember, we are always encouraged to wear new red clothes, put up red decorations and lanterns around the house, and receive/give red packets during Chinese New Year. But I never knew why red?

This is what we discovered from the Internet:

According to the tales, there was a mythical beast called the Nian who used to appear at the beginning of Chinese New Year. Nian would destroy the village and eat the villagers. One year, the villagers decided to run away to hide from the beast. But an old man appeared before them and said that he was going to stay the night to get revenge on the Nian. That night, the old man put red papers up and set off firecrackers. When the villagers returned, they saw nothing was destroyed. They assumed that the old man was a deity who came to protect them. They also believed that the Nian was afraid of the colour red and loud noises. From then on, whenever the New Year was approaching, the villagers would wear red clothes, hang red lanterns, and put up red scrolls on windows and doors. They also set off firecrackers to scare the Nian. The Nian never came to the village again.

Interesting that I never knew about this!

I have now hung the wreath up on the front door. Together with the character "Fu" for more red and more good fortune. Lol