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. As early as before the Qin and Han dynasties, there was a custom of hanging peach symbols in the New Year. The so-called Fu Tao refers to writing the names of the legendary gods "Shen Tu" and "Lei Yu" on two mahogany boards and hanging them on the left and right doors to drive away ghosts and suppress evil spirits. This custom lasted for more than 1000 years, and it was not until the Five Dynasties that people began to paste couplets on mahogany boards. According to "Songshi Shu Family", Meng Chang, the master of Shu after the Five Dynasties, "in addition to the year after year, the bachelor's degree was inscribed with a peach symbol, and a bedroom door was set around. At the end of the year (AD 964), the bachelor was lucky enough to write a poem by Yin Xun. Because he had no work, he wrote a poem under the pretence: Qing Yu in the New Year, Jia Jienuo. Changchun. " This is the earliest Spring Festival couplets in China. After the Song Dynasty, it has become quite common for people to hang Spring Festival couplets in the New Year. In Wang Anshi's poems, the phrase "Thousands of households always change new peaches for old ones" is a true portrayal of the grand occasion at that time. Because the appearance of Spring Festival couplets is closely related to peach symbols, the ancients also called Spring Festival couplets "peach symbols".
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. From then on, all scholars think antithesis is an elegant thing. After entering the Qing Dynasty, couplets once flourished, and many famous couplets appeared.
With the development of cultural exchanges between countries, couplets have also been introduced to Vietnam, North Korea, Japan, Singapore and other countries. These countries still have the custom of pasting couplets.