First of all, explain the types of couplets:
Divide by purpose
1, Spring Festival couplets: special couplets for Chinese New Year. Such as: Kyushu willow spits green; Peach and apricot compete for spring in May.
2. Greeting couplets: used for birthday, wedding, housewarming, having children, opening business and other festive occasions. Such as: a pair of red hearts for the four modernizations; Two new hand-painted pictures. (Xi Lian), as happy as the East China Sea; Life is better than Nanshan. (Shoulian) [6]
3. elegiac couplet: used to mourn the dead. For example, books have a strong future and will shock the world; Let the spirit shine forever and then benefit the people.
4. Gift giving: praise or encourage others to use it. Such as: wind, rain, reading, the sound in the ear; Family affairs, state affairs and everything in the world care about everything.
5. Self-encouragement: Self-encouragement. For example, books about the country are often read; Nothing is useless to body and mind.
6. Industry Association: Different industries are posted at the gate or in the store. Such as: to know things from ancient times to the present; I have to read five books. (Bookstore) Although it is a clean business; But it's top kung fu. (Barber shop) welcomes guests in spring, summer, autumn and winter; Entertain people from east, west, north and south. (Hotel)
7. Yan Zhilian: the use of ambition. Such as: I would rather be Zhao's ghost; Not for him, minister. antithetical couplet
Divide by word
1, short link (within the cross)
2. Zhonglian (within 100 words)
3, long couplets (100 words or more), etc.
By skill
1, dual form: word pair, object pair, right pair, opposition, worker pair, width pair, running pair, palindrome pair, thimble equivalence.
2. Rhetoric: metaphor, exaggeration, backchat, pun, rhetorical question and homophonic.
3. Wording skills: embedding words, Tibetan words, compound words, reduplicated words, radicals, word analysis, word segmentation, numbers, etc.
4. Logical structure: juxtaposition, turning, choice, cause and effect.
Divide by location
1, couplets: hung on posts and used in houses, institutions, temples, historical sites and other places.
2, door couplet: posted on the gate.
3. Main hall couplets: couplets hung in conspicuous places in the living room and bedroom to match calligraphy and painting.
According to the source of couplets
1, sentence-set couplet: a couplet composed entirely of ready-made sentences in ancient poetry.
2. Ci couplets: couplets composed of ancient Copybook for calligraphy articles and characters.
3. Sentence-picking couplets: Couplets made by picking antithetical sentences directly from other people's poems.
4. Create couplets: couplets independently created by the author.
According to artistic characteristics
Couplet: The same word appears continuously.
Compound word combination: the same word appears discontinuously and repeatedly.
Thimble: The bottom word of the previous clause serves as the center word of the next clause.
Embedded couplets: including embedded ordinal number, orientation, solar terms, year number, surname, name, place name, name of things (such as medicines), etc.
Split couplets: split a combined word into several independent words; Some people divide it into "word segmentation, word combination and word analysis".
Phonological association: including homophones, homophones and rhyming words.
Humor association: take the meaning of humor.
Don't love: the meaning of couplets doesn't matter, but the words are neat. Most loveless couples are interesting and can be classified as humorous associations.
Palindrome: read backwards, read backwards, the meaning is exactly the same.
The longest pair of couplets: The author was a scholar Zhong in Jiangjin in the late Qing Dynasty, who wrote it in Chengdu Prison in the 30th year of Guangxu in Qing Dynasty (A.D. 1904) to express his resentment.
Second, explain the characteristics:
1, the unity of uniqueness and universality.
It is generally believed that couplets are the most unique literary form in China. Its uniqueness is mainly manifested in structure and language. Couplets can be called "dual structure" style. Standard couplets always consist of two opposing parts. The former part is called "Lian", which is also called "sentence", "antithesis" and "antithesis". The latter part is called "bottom link", which is also called "antithesis", "antithesis" and "antithesis". These two parts are paired. Only the upper part or the lower part can be regarded as semi-joint.
Many couplets, especially those written and hung, have horizontal comments in addition to the upper couplet and the lower couplet. Horizontal criticism is an organic part of this kind of couplets, which is often a summary, the finishing touch or compatible with couplets. Generally, it is four words, but also two, three, five and seven words.
From the linguistic point of view, the language of couplets is neither a verse language nor a prose language, but a special language that pursues antithesis and is full of musicality. The special "language structure" of couplets is completely determined by the special nature of Chinese and its characters. The uniqueness of this "language structure" makes the creation of couplets different from other literary forms in conception, conception, layout and writing. With the same objective object and content, we always try to observe and describe things from two aspects and angles, and strive to "shape" the language into a binary and symmetrical structure.
2. Unity of parasitism and tolerance.
The so-called parasitism refers to couplets developed from parallel prose in China's ancient ci and fu. In short, they are a pair of compound sentence, so they can be parasitic in various styles. Poetry, words, songs, fu, parallel prose, and even prose, drama and novels all have neat antitheses.
On the other hand, couplets are extremely inclusive. It can combine the characteristics of other styles, absorb the expressive techniques of other styles, especially long couplet and super-long couplet, and simply combine the achievements of Chinese stylistic techniques. For example, the refined meaning of poetry, the exaggeration of fu, the long tone of words, the significance of songs, the free and easy prose, the short rhyme of scriptures, etc., are all eclectic and innovative.
3. Unity of practicality and artistry.
As a form of Chinese classical literature, couplets are naturally literary and artistic. It embodies the artistic style of Chinese characters in China with unprecedented flexibility and perfection in poems, words and songs. The beauty of couplets lies in symmetry, contrast and unity of opposites.
In Song Dynasty, Hu Zai recorded it in Fu Zhai Man Lu, the last volume of Tiao Xi Yu Yin Cong Hua. Yan Shu once invited Wang Qi to dinner and said his last sentence: "I can't help spending it", but I hated it. Answer: "I have seen Yan before." Yan Shu was overjoyed and wrote this wonderful antithesis into the word Huanxisha. Yang Shen called this antithesis "a beautiful second language, a natural equivalent". This is the artistic charm of couplets.
The artistry of couplets can be summarized by a pair of couplets written by Bai, a contemporary scholar:
For the non-trail, true and sincere, it can be satirized and sung, comparable to poetry and prose, like a pearl reflecting Baoyu; Combining this grand view has a long history and is also interesting. It adds luster to halls, mountains and rivers and people, just like old trees and new flowers.
4. The unity of popularity and elegance.
No literary form rewards the elegance and vulgarity of couplets. Like couplets, they are scholars in the upper class and obedient children of women in the lower class. They can walk into the ivory tower and the people in Long Mu, including people from Chun Xue and the lower classes in Ba Li. The reason for this wonderful unity is that couplets are a simple and complex, pure and rich art.
The rules of couplets are not complicated, especially the color and style of language, and there is no requirement for theme and content. They are generally short and widely used in social life. Different from other literary forms, they have an elegant face and are easy to learn, understand, remember and write. As long as it is right, regardless of the vulgarity and elegance of the language, the size of the theme and the depth of thought, it will become a couplet.
Couplets are both vulgar and elegant. The rules of couplets are simple and the form is pure, but they are profound and endless in Taoism and art.
5. The unity of seriousness and playfulness.
Couplets have always been regarded as a pen and ink game by many people. Although it is biased, it also shows the characteristics of couplets as games. Because couplets pursue antithesis, it is natural that the more stable the better. This is not only a literary creation, but also contains elements of thinking the game and language games. If you simply develop the right job and skills, it will become a Chinese-style, ideological struggle. In fact, many game couplets are purely for recreation and wits. They are often written by various rhetorical devices and ingenious ideas with the help of the special situation of sound, form and meaning of Chinese characters.