The story was soon spread far and wide and everybody was talking about it.
They concluded in the end that the old beggar was surely the celestial being who
came to expel the calamities and bless the people, and that red paper, red
cloth, red candles and the exploding firecracker were certainly the magic
weapons to drive out the monster Year.
To celebrate the arrival of the auspiciousness, the raptured villagers put on
their clothes and new hats and went one after another to their relatives and
friends to send their regards and congratulations. This was soon spread to the
surrounding villages, and people all got to know the way to drive away the
monster Year.
From then on, on each New Year's Eve, each family stick on their doors
antithetical couplets written on red paper, blow up firecrackers, keep their
houses brilliantly illuminated and stay up late into the night. Early in the
morning of the 1st of the first lunar month they go to their relatives and
friends' to send their regards and congratulations. These customs are spreading
far and wide and kept for generations. It becomes the most ceremonious
traditional festival of the Chinese people.
