The custom was started in Song dynasty. According to the famous "The recording book of history", when Shengzong was the emperor, the son of the vice leader, Wang Shao, of the department for the confidential cases was stolen by a thief when he walked with some adults on street in an evening in the Spring festival. The thief would blackmail his family with him. The child, named Nanhai, was very clever. He shouted loudly when he saw some carts of the government on the street. The thief feared and put him down and escaped.
Nanhai was saved. The emperor heard about the brave and clever child, and called him in the palace. In the palace, to comfort him, the emperor granted him some money. Since then folk present children money in Chinese New Year festival to wish them good lucks in the new year.
In ancient China, small money were made of copper. There was a hole in the middle of each copper coin. People bound together copper coins with strings to be able to carry them easily. The copper coins presented as Chinese New Year luck money were normally bound together with red strings, because red is the auspicious color for Chinese New Year. In rich families Chinese New Year luck money could be silver or golden, and the silver and golden usually were made in auspicious and beautiful forms, such as, plum flower, Buddhar hand, etc. In the last 100 years, copper, silver and golden were no longer common currency, Chinese New Year luck money have become papper currency put in red envelopes.
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