While many people in today’s China watch the state media CCTV’s gala show on Chinese New Year’s Eve, about 1,000 years ago children took part in a special and playful routine to celebrate a custom called “selling ignorance”. Known in Chinese as mai meng dong or mai chi dai, the practice began during the North Song dynasty (960-1127), a period of advancing culture and economy. It involved groups of mischievous children running through streets after eating the New Year Eve dinner and shouting...