There are mainly the following formats.
1. Double-track body: Double-track body is "two-line body", commonly known as "positive connection". It is appropriate to write couplets with moderate words, which is the most basic format of couplet calligraphy. In this format, the text linked up and down is written vertically on two pieces of paper in the order of right first and then left. The first paragraph is slightly lower than the top of the text on the right side of the upper part, and the second paragraph is on the left side of the lower part.
2. Gantry: Gantry, or "Long Mendui", is a commonly used writing format for long couplets. Its unilateral words are as few as two lines, but many are uncertain. In the direction of writing, the upper couplet writes vertically from right to left, and the lower couplet writes vertically from left to right.
The ancients said that "one word does not make a line", so the last line can't just write one word or the whole line. The composition is a traditional "door" shape. The upper and lower paragraphs are written below the last line of the upper and lower parts of the text. If there are more than two lines on one side, the writing direction is the same as the text, that is, the upper paragraph goes from right to left and the lower paragraph goes from left to right.
Extended data
Couplet calligraphy is divided into broad sense and narrow sense. All calligraphy works with couplets as the content are couplets in a broad sense, and those written on two vertical papers are couplets in a narrow sense.
Calligraphy works are mainly written words, followed by paragraph printing. The characters of couplet calligraphy are couplets, and its format is naturally determined by the arrangement of couplets. Characters are generally symmetrical with couplets, but there are a few special forms.