In the Five Dynasties, he began to carve characters on the tablet, and later he often ordered Han Lin's bachelor Xin to write auspicious characters on the board. "Song history according to? According to the Records of Shu Nationality, after five dynasties, Meng Changjun, the master of Shu, wrote the word "Bachelor", inscribed with a peach symbol, and set a bedroom door around him. At the end of the year (AD 964), the bachelor was lucky enough to write a poem by Yin Xun, claiming that he had no job. He wrote a poem saying,' When you come to Qing Yu in the New Year, the number of holidays is Changchun.' "This constitutes the early couplets, whose main purpose is to pray. For example, the first couplet in the history of China is "New Year's Qing Yu, Jiawu Changchun".
After the Song Dynasty, it has become quite common for China people to hang Spring Festival couplets in the New Year. Because the appearance of Spring Festival couplets is closely related to peach symbols, the ancients also called Spring Festival couplets "peach symbols". In the poems of Wang Anshi, a poet in the Northern Song Dynasty, "Thousands of households always change new peaches for old ones" is a true portrayal of the grand occasion of the Chinese New Year at that time.
It was not until the Ming Dynasty that people began to use red paper instead of red boards, which led to the Spring Festival couplets we see today. According to Miscellaneous Notes of Mao Yunlou, before the Lunar New Year's Eve, after Zhu Yuanzhang, the emperor of Ming Dynasty, made Jinling his capital, he ordered officials and literati to hang a pair of Spring Festival couplets at home, go out incognito in person, watch from house to house and have fun. Since then, all scholars have regarded antithesis as an elegant thing.
In the Qing Dynasty, couplets once flourished, and many famous couplets appeared, which have been passed down to this day. Many of them are very famous, such as Pu Songling's couplet:' Where there is a will, there is a way, cross the rubicon, and 102 Qin Guan will eventually lead to Chu; Hard-working people live up to expectations, and 3,000 yuan can swallow Wu. "Chen's couplet:' People are always happy with contentment and enjoy themselves without seeking wealth' and Lin Zexu's couplet:' All rivers run into the sea; Standing on the wall, standing upright without desire, and so on.
In ancient times, couplets were still relatively in the state of enlightenment. In ancient times, antithetical couplets required that the level of the level of the level of the level of the level of the level of the level of the level of the level of the level of the level of the level of the level.
At the same time, the upper and lower couplets have the same words and the same structure. In addition to deliberately leaving the position of a word to achieve a certain effect, the number of words in the upper and lower parts must be the same. The corresponding parts of speech also need to be the same. Verb to verb, adjective to adjective, numeral to quantifier, adverb to adverb and relative words must be in relative positions. As for the tone, it should be plain and harmonious. According to the rhyme, the upper rhyme should be wrinkled and the lower rhyme should be flat, which is called "wrinkled flat". There is also a corresponding rhythm, that is, the places where the upper and lower links stop must be consistent.
In ancient times, couplets were developed from the antithesis of metrical poems, so some characteristics of metrical poems were retained. The ancients used to chant poems about objects, and some even called couplets to paste poems.
Couplets are flexible, long or short, flexible and changeable. Couplets can be four words, ten words and dozens of words. There are even hundreds of long couplets in ancient buildings in China. Ancient couplets, whether chanting things and expressing aspirations or writing scenery and expressing feelings, all require the author to have high generalization ability and the ability to control words, so that it is possible to achieve both text and emotion and both form and spirit in a few words. Because the requirements are too high to appreciate, ordinary people can't get pleasure from it.
The couplets in the Republic of China reflected the cultural and spiritual outlook of the society at that time from one side, and were the crystallization of literature and history. Therefore, the author and the author are based on historical facts, and they are deeply branded with their culture, which reflects the social events and the culture of the characters at that time from one side. For example, during the Republic of China, Liu Shiliang satirized Yuan Shikai:
"Yuan Shikai through the ages; Ten thousand years of the Republic of China. " The words "Yuan Shikai" above and "Republic of China" below are "wrong", which means that Yuan Shikai is sorry for the Republic of China.
Modern Spring Festival couplets, since the emergence of vernacular Chinese in the last century, the transformation of complex and simplified characters and the emergence of Chinese neologisms are also changing with the progress of society. Now couplets are not limited to Spring Festival couplets. They can express blessings, satire and criticism, and they can reflect certain social reality. Language is easier to understand and more popular.
Nowadays, couplets generally pay attention to the combination with reality, reflecting social changes and festive events ... The artistic literariness is a little worse than that of ancient couplets, and the grammar is not very strict. However, he reflects the social reality. Even though his writing style is not clever and neat, it is suitable for ordinary people, not a noble and widowed literati art, nor a lower-class belle, but rather gentle.