Duality, couplet, a pair of dual phrases
Couplets are the elegant names of "couplets". Couplets are independent chapters composed of two neat antitheses. Its basic characteristics are that the number of words is equal and the tone of words is relative; Similar parts of speech and syntax; Semantic relevance and linguistic potential equivalence. As a literary genre and cultural phenomenon, antithetical couplets are conceived in "Parallel Prose" and "Regular Poetry", formed after "Parallel Prose" and "Regular Poetry", and independent of "Parallel Prose" and "Regular Poetry". Contrary to the art of calligraphy, it is developed on the basis of "parallel prose" and "regular poetry". As a literary brand and a cultural phenomenon, antithetical couplets have the most China characteristics, and cannot be translated, rewritten or transplanted.
Couplets vary in length, only one or two words are short; It can be as long as 1000 words. There are various forms of couplets, such as pairs, pairs, flowing pairs, couplets, set sentence pairs and so on. However, no matter what kind of couplets and forms are used, they must have the following characteristics:
First, the number of words should be equal and the sentences should be consistent. In addition to deliberately leaving a place for a word to achieve a certain effect, the number of words in the upper and lower couplets must be the same, neither more nor less.
Second, it is necessary to be honest and have a harmonious tone. The traditional habit is to "pucker up and fall flat", that is, the end of the last sentence of the first couplet is puckered up and the end of the last sentence of the second couplet is flat.
Third, the parts of speech should be relative and the position should be consistent. It is generally called "virtual to virtual, real to real", which means that nouns to nouns, verbs to verbs, adjectives to adjectives, quantifiers to quantifiers, adverbs to adverbs and related words must be in the same position.
Fourth, the content should be related and run through from top to bottom. The meaning of up and down links must be interrelated, but they cannot be repeated.
In addition, the traditional practice of hanging couplets must be written straight and pasted vertically, from right to left and from top to bottom, and cannot be reversed.
The horizontal criticism closely related to couplets can be said to be the title and center of couplets. Good reviews can make the finishing point and complement each other in couplets.
Couplets are one of the unique literary forms in China, and their wonderful combination with calligraphy has become a colorful artistic creation of the Chinese nation. Couplets are called "couplets", which are named after the pillars hanging in halls and houses in ancient times. "Song history according to? According to the records of the aristocratic families in Shu, Meng Chang, the king of Shu after five dynasties, once wrote a couplet of "Happy New Qing Yu". When Changchun was five years old, he hung it in the palace to welcome spring and pray for blessings. Later generations began to take this as the first example of couplets, which has a history of more than 1000 years. Since the Ming Dynasty, the custom of using couplets has become more and more popular, and the Spring Festival couplets related to the Chinese New Year have gradually broken through the original scope, such as sightseeing, praising the scenery, or expressing feelings and thoughts, and become widely used cultural expressions.
China's calligraphy is profound and charming. All forms of seal script are cursive, or they are good at being vigorous, graceful and simple, or beautiful and elegant, giving people a kind of elegant and smart aesthetic feeling. Couplets are concise, neat and rigorous, and the number of words in couplets ranges from four to eight. Five-character or seven-character poems and eight-character sentences are common and rich in content. A few poems, aphorisms, proverbs and even vernacular Chinese can be beautiful and beautiful. It's really a chapter that shines on people's eyes. Therefore, combining calligraphy with couplets, appreciating the poetic philosophy of beautiful words in calligraphy and the charm of beautiful books between words is indeed a perfect embodiment of humanistic art. Throughout the ages, book music has been rewarded by this, and literati like to hang this elegance on the wall as the charm of their beautiful books and essays, which makes people fondle it and last for a long time.
The state attaches great importance to the protection of intangible cultural heritage. On May 20th, 2006, this folk custom was approved by the State Council to be included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage list.
Pick up the fun of couplets.
Yan Tao
Entering the twelfth lunar month, the root of the year is approaching, and it is time for thousands of families to exchange old peaches for new ones. In ancient times, people hung two red wooden boards with the door gods painted or engraved with their names, thinking that they could ward off evil spirits and drive away special things. On New Year's Eve, they put Spring Festival couplets on it, so they borrowed the symbol of peach to refer to Spring Festival couplets.
Couplets, also known as couplets, couplets and couplets, are composed of upper and lower couplets. They are antithetical sentences written on paper, cloth, engraved or hung on wood, bamboo and columns. There is no rule on the number of words, so you can type them neatly. Spring Festival couplets are just a kind of couplets. In addition, it is called a happy couplet when you get married, a birthday couplet when you celebrate your birthday, an elegiac couplet when you mourn the dead, and so on.
According to Ji Xiaolan in the Qing Dynasty, the earliest couplets in China were inscribed on the mahogany board of the bedroom door by Meng Chang, a young master of Shu after the Five Dynasties, "Welcome Qing Yu in the New Year and celebrate the festival in Changchun" (see Biography of Shu). Recently, some people think that the inscription on Fu Tao in Dunhuang, written in the middle of Tang Dynasty, is the earliest preserved couplet found in China.
According to rhetorical devices, couplets are divided into many, color-oriented, multi-homophonic, multi-double, same-root, multi-disjunctive, couplet (namely, turning couplet), palindrome, literal contradiction couplet, transformation couplet, etc., which is ingenious and novel and can be called clever couplet. If it is so clever that no one can match the couplets below or above, the ancients called the couplets that are difficult to pair "unique couplets" or "linked couplets". According to legend, Huang Tingjian, a great poet and calligrapher in the Northern Song Dynasty, left Jiangzhou (now Jiujiang) for Suzhou and Hangzhou by boat when he was young. Hearing that he was a local genius, the boatman tried his hand and sang, "Drive a boat with one leaf, paddle two oars, support three or four sheds, take five or six passengers, and cross Qilitan to Bali Lake, ten miles from Jiujiang." There are one to ten numbers and place names in this couplet, which makes Huang Tingjian not only incorrect at that time, but also puzzling after many years of fame, and no one can continue it so far. Also in the Northern Song Dynasty, Wang Anshi and Su Dongpo, prime ministers of Zongshen, had three difficulties. One of them made three pairs of courtship couplets: "February, spring, February, August, two spring and autumn on earth", "Qili Mountain Pond, three and a half miles to half soup" and "Tieweng City West, Sambo Yinshan". That year coincided with the leap in August, and beginning of spring was divided into the first month and the twelfth month, so he had the first sentence. From Suzhou Jinlongmen to Qilichang Road at the foot of Huqiu Mountain, the locals call it "Shantang", and there is a place called "Li Sanban" in the middle, so the second couplet is here; The third is also a coincidence, because Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province was called Tiewengcheng in ancient times, and it is near the Yangtze River. There are Jinshan, Yinshan (also known as Jiao Shan) and Yushan (also known as Beigushan), and there are gold, silver and jade in the couplets, which are truly "three treasures". Even if Su Dongpo is a genius and thinks hard for a long time, he can't be a couple. During the reign of Guangxu in the late Qing Dynasty, Jiang, the magistrate of Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, stood up for his words, but was killed by foreign priests, which angered the whole country. Jiang held a memorial service in Taoranting Park near the South Second Ring Road in Beijing. At that time, someone wrote a couplet, demanding "Jiangxi Jiangting Jiang Memorial Service", but so far no one can continue. In Yunan County, Guangdong Province, there once lived a talented woman named Baihua. The first couplet she wrote was "Living in Chang 'an, working in Dong 'an, looking better than Pan An, correcting better than Xie 'an, cultivating self-cultivation." The first two "An" are place names, the middle two "An" are names, and the last two "An" are from Confucius' famous sayings in The Analects of Confucius. She also made a pair of couplets of "beehive maple knot, the wind blows maple leaves to cover the bee door" to ask for couplets, but it was also fruitless for a long time.
Some of them must be getting older and older, and only some of them can continue. Once upon a time, in Baita Street, Luzhou, Sichuan, there was a blacksmith, blacksmith, blacksmith, blacksmith, blacksmith, blacksmith, blacksmith, blacksmith, blacksmith, blacksmith, blacksmith, blacksmith, blacksmith, blacksmith, blacksmith, blacksmith. Now, some people talk about "Danshui Bay, bitter farmers, wearing cool clothes to connect the seven colors and six flavors, and adding the word" cool ",while their wives, children, blacksmiths, blacksmiths, blacksmit Some people use "Confucius and Mencius and Mozi are the saints of the Chinese nation" to continue Wang Anshi's "Tieweng City West, Jade Silver Mountain Three Treasures". The conjunctions of quatrains are far-fetched and far from artistic conception. The famous Tang poem "Liu Tang in Yansuochi" contains Jin Mu's five elements of fire, water and earth. Since the Ming Dynasty, there have been many continuous couplets, such as Ji, hanging a brocade threshold with a lamp, sinking a desk lamp with a bell, Zhenjiang City with a gun rack, and Gun Town Tower. The author thinks that although the couplets meet the requirements of the same part, the artistic conception is too far apart. Except for the last couplet, all the couplets are suspected of dog tail and mink hair.
In practical application, couplets are not punctuated, and different sentences have different meanings, even on the contrary, which will produce many humorous and interesting things. Once upon a time, Zhu Zhishan, one of the "Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou", wrote a pair of Spring Festival couplets to a rich man who was addicted to money. The rich gentry read, "Tomorrow is a good spring, but it's unlucky. It's less luck and more money all year round." I was very happy, so I paid a lot of money. After the banquet, he personally sent Zhu Zhishan out of the village. Who knows that just entering the house, I heard someone outside read: "Tomorrow is spring, and I am going to be unlucky; Bad luck all the year round, less money and more money. " The rich gentry were so angry that they had to admit that he was unfortunate because he had suffered. Zhu Zhishan has done this kind of thing more than once. In order to teach a stingy rich man a lesson, he wrote a couplet for his new house. While chanting, he wrote: "This house is very safe and can be lived for a long time; Good host, don't be sad. " The rich man was happy, but all the guests were snickering. Because if you don't stop talking, this is clearly "how long can this house live?" Master is so sad! "
Once upon a time, there was a son who lost his reputation in Sun Shan for many years. He came to Pagoda of Six Harmonies on the Qiantang River and stared at it. In pessimism and disappointment, he wrote a couplet on the tower wall, "Look at the sky every day", but he didn't want to leave an absolute sentence that no one can be right so far. Some people take the words "good", "match", "why" and "ask" out of eternity: "A good woman is born, who can match at the door?"
Couplets are a unique art form handed down from our ancestors, which can be called: broad and profound.
Reading couplets
Couplets are the treasures of China traditional culture, and China's unique literary form has a history of more than 1000 years. The works with the theme of reading couplets have always been loved by poets, masters and the masses because of their elegant books and charm. Or encourage yourself, or give it to friends, or express feelings, or express feelings, leaving a wealth of excellent books in the history of China literature, whose content, artistic conception and style are like a colorful garden. On the occasion of the 13th World Reading Day, I want to win some * * * awards.
Happiness, kindness, happiness and joy are eternal complexes. Reading clubs often regard these auspicious and beautiful complexes as "gods" and write essays on them. In the Qing Dynasty, Wu Xizai wrote a short couplet: "Reading for pleasure, quiet for spiritual cultivation". Li Zhaoluo also has a couplet: "There is nothing to sit still, and reading is blessed." Wang Wenzhi, a great calligrapher, wrote a couplet: "Those who learn Taoism are blessed with peace in the world, and those who learn Buddhism are happy." . Zheng Chenggong, a famous Ming Dynasty scholar, said that "poor cultivation of mind leads to lack of desire, and reading is like pleasure", which is similar to Zhu Xilian, a philosopher in the Song Dynasty. Gu Guangxu, a scholar of Qing Qianlong, said: "Everything seems to be good and happy, and a hundred flowers are more fragrant than reading." What's more, he held "goodness" and "reading" above "everything" and before "flowers".
Persuasion, charisma and lofty pursuit. In the Ming Dynasty, Da Zhongguang once wrote a pair of couplets, "Because there are few princes, I always regret studying late", and the famous sentence of Tang Yan Zhenqing, "Black hair doesn't know how to study early, but white head regrets studying late" can be described as a "companion piece" spanning hundreds of years. Therefore, when I think of the ancient couplets of "reading books all over the house" and "making up books I have never seen in my life", I suddenly have a sense of urgency of Du Fu's "men must read the Five Classics" and Deng Tuo's "reading before it is too late". The relationship between reading (knowledge) and practice (practice) is often expressed in ancient couplets. Su Shi has a pair of couplets: "Never tire of learning for ten years, but it is more beautiful to read thousands of poems", which reminds people of two famous couplets: "There is no limit to learning from the sea, making a boat" and "Take the Wan Li Road and hide thousands of books in the belly", as well as the old adage of reading thousands of books and taking the Wan Li Road. In the Qing Dynasty, Lin Zexu was poor when he was a child. He has a study that says, "Small buildings rise from the sky, and there is ignorance in the lights after the case." He spoke highly of his spirit of self-improvement and determination to study in adversity, and finally achieved the life of a famous national hero in his country. Today's Fan Wenlan United is a model of academic spirit and a masterpiece of reading United.
Self-cultivation, a lofty realm. In Song Dynasty, Lu Fangweng wrote "The Nest of Self-titled Books": "thousands of books will never be seen in ancient and modern times, but it will be a fleeting time at dawn". Lu You loves books, so he has the insight that "reading has a taste and forgetting his old age". Otherwise, how could there be 10 thousand poems that impressed our generation? In Qing Dynasty, Wang Gong once wrote a pair of couplets, "Learning without fame, being diligent in moral cultivation", which showed his mentality of not seeking fame when studying in Xiu De. "Do things with courageous people and don't read books without words" is Comrade Zhou Enlai's self-encouragement couplet, which refers to reading a "big book" about life, society and practice, which is full of philosophy and a vivid portrayal of Premier Zhou's public opinion on human merits. Lao Xu once gave a young man a couplet: "It is useless to read books about the country often." The short word 14 expresses the encouragement of the older generation of revolutionaries to the youth and their deep affection for the return of the aftermath.
Make friends, nourish nature and have good sentiments. Bao Chenshi, a juren of Qing Jiaqing, has a couplet: "I like to have two eyes and make more friends;" I hate reading strange books without ten years' leisure, which has profound implications and shows his earnest desire to cherish time and study hard and the principle of choosing friends. Wang Wenzhi also has two couplets: "Three nights after a good book is enlightened, good friends come in the spring", and "Having a good friend is like a bright moon, reading a strange book is not as good as watching flowers", which means that the pleasure of reading is synonymous with making friends, enjoying the moon, watching flowers and other good times and happy mood in life, which shows that he regards reading as the happiest thing in life. Speaking of reading and enjoying flowers, Suzhou Lingering Garden has a wonderful couplet for reading and enjoying flowers. The first part is: "Reading correctly, reading easily, reading quietly, reading deeply, reading Chinese firmly, is the most interesting." The bottom line is: "Wild chrysanthemum, sparse plum, clean lotus, fragrant orchid and rhyme begonia, because they call themselves fairies in flowers". When I say reading, I mean Shangshu, Yijing, Lisao, Zhuangzi and the poems of the Han Dynasty, each with its own characteristics. We should read them in different ways to get their essence. The second couplet says that flower viewing refers to chrysanthemum, plum, lotus, orchid and begonia, each with its own personality. We should watch it carefully and savor it carefully, so as to have fun and enter a higher aesthetic level. This combination of knowledge and interest is ingenious and unique, and it is amazing to read.