ok too cute to be the nian monster
But thats not the folktale I would be talking about today. There was this particular one i heard from my JC chinese tutor, which was rather less common. and I cant be sure of the accuracy of the folktale (but a folktale is a folktale) so here it goes:
At year end, the people heard a rumour that the Jade Emperor were unpleased with them, due to their wasteful habits and crimes committed, and wanted to punish them by reducing their life span, and dying on the first day of new year. (holocast ah? wts)
The people were naturally afraid, and after discussion with the village head, they decided to pray to the Stove Deity (灶神 if u are familar with) , and hope that he could go meet the Jade Emperor to put in a good word for them. And to make sure that the Stove Deity would only speak good things about them, they decided to offer him a lot of sticky and gooey sweet stuffs, which would 'glue up his mouth' and so all that he says will only the good things.
So on the 23rd of the twelve lunar new year, the people sent off the Stove Deity (腊月二十三要送灶神上天) and decided to wait for his good news. The days crept by, and on the eve of the new year, they still heard no news from the Stove Deity. Thinking it was their last day on earth (Remember they heard the rumour that they would die on the first day of the year?), they decided to kill all their life stock (pigs, chickens etc) and cook up a good last meal for themselves before they died on the new year. So for their last meal, families got together, and enjoyed a last good meal together. (Thats also how the reunion dinner concept came about, all members of the family getting together)
And after the last meal together, all members of the family huddled together, and decided to spend their last hours together with their families, awaiting midnight. (there's also the chinese tradition, of 守岁, which means that children have to spend the night of CNY eve with their parents, so as to bless them with longevity. SO SHAME ON YOU IF YOU GO CLUBBING AFTER UR REUNION DINNER. HAHA)
And on the stroke of midnight, they realised that they were still living, and thus it dawned on them that maybe the Stove Deity had managed to convince the Jade Emperor! In delight, they put off fire crackers, and tried to find some food left in their kitchen to cook to celebrate. Since they had eaten most of the food during the supposedly last dinner, they only managed to find some left over pork, so they made them into dumplings 饺子 and cooked them and celebrated throughout the night. (there's also the tradition of of eating dumplings in the wee hours of the first day of the lunar new year)
After everybody woke up in the morning, they congratulated fellow villages, to have a happy new year (which can be translated to: Congratulations, you aren't dead! and neither am i dead!)
And of course, nobody's dying on the first day of CNY, so don't go around congratulating people that they aren't dead come thursday!
So what morals can NTU students learn from this above folktale?
1) Similarly to offering the Stove Deity sweet and gooey stuffs before going to meet the Jade Emperor to negotiate on their behalf; so, before your peer evaluation, it doesn't hurt to offer your tutorial mates sweets. Just to make sure that what comes out of their mouth are sweeet stuffs.
2) And similar to congratulating each other on CNY day; do the same for Results Day. if you did well, share the joy! Tell your friends your GPA. Share your GPA when people ask you for it. Don't be like competitive NBS students who ham and haw when people ask for your GPA.
"erm I did okay la"
"How much did you get?"
"I did quite okay lor. why do you ask?" (it doesnt hurt to say even if you have a GPA of 4.99999 first class honours + Deans list. SHARE. Spread the joy.)
3) And of course. Don't go clubbing on CNY eve after your reunion dinner! remember the 守岁 tradition. Stay up with your parents throughout the night to bless them with longevity.
PS part 2 was written by a NBS writer, who is quite irked by NBS students having a habit of not telling people their GPA, but only when probed. :B
And, for our readers, a Happy Chinese New Year! And thank you for all the support you have given @therealfakeNTU ! :B
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