1, origin one
(1) Lucky money originated from "winning money" and originated in the Western Han Dynasty, but it did not circulate in the market in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China. Generally, auspicious characters such as "Long live the Millennium" and "Disaster Relief" and auspicious patterns such as dragons, phoenixes, turtles, snakes and Pisces are cast on the front of coins.
(2) It is an ancient coin, which is used as an auspicious thing or an evil thing in the Han nationality. As an ornament worn by children, its original meaning mainly falls into two categories: eliminating evil and rejoicing and blessing. The "lucky money" is also used as money for bathing children (money given to children when babies bathe in the full moon), which later evolved into the "lucky money" for the Spring Festival.
2. Origin 2
(1) There is a story about lucky money. Legend has it that in ancient times there was a small demon named Chong, with black and white hands. Every year on New Year's Eve, he comes out to touch the forehead of a sleeping child. Children will have a high fever after being touched, talk in their sleep, and become "precious" after the fever has gone down.
(2) It is said that there is a big family, and the husband and wife cherish it when they are old and have children. On New Year's Eve, in order to prevent the "baby" from hurting the children, the two played unpacking games with the children, unpacking eight copper red envelopes and then unpacking them. Later, when I was really sleepy, I put the copper red envelope on the child's pillow and fell asleep.
(3) In the middle of the night, an evil wind blows, and the black and short "Chong" will touch the child's head with his bare hands. Suddenly, the child's pillow burst into a golden light, and Chong ran away screaming. So I dare not bother again. Soon, the story spread and everyone followed suit. On New Year's Eve, they wrapped it in red paper and put it under the child's pillow, so I didn't dare to bother again. It turned out that these eight copper coins were bought by the Eight Immortals, which helped the children secretly scare away these precious money. Therefore, people call this money "lucky money".
3. Origin 3
(1) According to the historical book "History of Song Dynasty", during the Northern Expedition in Song Shenzong, an incident happened to Nanchang, the youngest son of Wang Shao, a court official at that time: On the night of the Spring Festival, Nanchang was taken away by bad people on the street in the capital of Song Dynasty, and adults watched the lights.
(2) The villain wants to extort a sum of money from Nanxun's family. However, on the way to escape, the villain happened to meet a car passing by the court. The resourceful Nanchang hurriedly called for help, and the villain was afraid, so he let go of Nanchang and fled hastily. Therefore, Nanchang was able to enter the Palace with the Royal Car and met with the Emperor Song Shenzong.
(3) Song Shenzong asked about the incident and gave Nanxun some money to calm him down. This incident originally happened in the palace of Bianliang, the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty, but it soon spread and spread widely among the people.