Couplets are also called couplets or couplets. This is an antithetical sentence, and the antithesis is neat and even. In other words, it is a special literary and artistic form that uses refined, neat, vivid and concise language to describe objective things and express people's thoughts and feelings.
Couplets are one of the traditional cultures in China. It is closely related to such literary genres as metrical poems, ci, fu and parallel prose. It can be said that couplets are a comprehensive art form developed, condensed and changed by them.
There are different opinions about when couplets originated. In the Qing dynasty, there were two kinds of sayings. Some people say that it originated from the Southern and Northern Dynasties, while others say that it originated from the Five Dynasties. Ji Yun holds the latter view. According to research, the earliest Spring Festival couplets in China were written by Xu Meng, a master of Houshu, that is, "Spring Festival in Qing Yu, Spring Festival in Changchun".
During the Qin and Han Dynasties, China had the custom of hanging peach charms to ward off ghosts and evil spirits. In the Song Dynasty, Wang Anshi said in a poem in the Northern Song Dynasty: "Thousands of households always change new peaches and old peaches." The word "qi" in the poem means dawn. These two poems recorded the custom of people's Spring Festival at that time, that is, changing couplets at dawn.
The ancients called Spring Festival couplets Fu Tao, because at that time Spring Festival couplets were written on mahogany. With paper, couplets can be written on paper. If the Song Dynasty is a custom for thousands of families to hang Spring Festival couplets, then in the following Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, couplets have been popularized in all fields, from the folk to the court, from the symbols of literati to businessmen, and couplets have been applied in all religions and schools.
This style of couplets must have four characteristics, namely: the number of words is equivalent and the sentences are consistent; The relative position of parts of speech is the same; Plain and plain, harmonious tone; Content related, up and down.
There are many kinds of classification of couplets.
Couplets can be divided into three types according to the number of words: those with less than 10 are called short couplets; If the number of words is less than 100, it is called Zhonglian; If the number of words is more than 100, it is called long couplet. However, this division is not strict. Some people usually call couplets with tens of crosses long couplets.
According to the occasion of use, couplets can be divided into household couplets, palace couplets and temple couplets.
Couplets can be divided into festival couplets according to their contents (such as Spring Festival couplets); Festive couplets (such as couplets); Mourning elegiac couplet (mourning elegiac couplet), scenic couplets (landscape gardens, pavilions, temples), etc.
There are also artistic features, such as overlapping couplets and interesting couplets.
There is also a kind of couplets, which are written by literati to encourage themselves and express their accomplishment. For example, in my memory, Zeng Guofan once made two good couplets about self-cultivation and self-cultivation. One pair is: "things often go wrong because they are busy;" Good people come from suffering. " Another pair: "Focus on the overall situation and start small; Shut up and live alone. "
The simplest couplet is a short couplet. Such as "spring flowers; Autumn moon. " "Underwater moon; Flowers in the mirror. " "East, west, north and south; Spring, summer, autumn and winter. " "Beautiful scenery; Excellent people. " "Spring returns to the earth; Bless the world "and so on. Here are a few examples of honesty.