The structure and strokes of many Chinese characters are symmetrical, such as "southeast, northwest". These symmetrical characters are called glass characters. "Chinese National Essence Network. Couplet Knowledge" has the "Glass Character Collection" for review. "Glass Couplet" is a couplet created entirely with symmetrical characters, first created by Wu Shanzun in the Qing Dynasty. Wu Shanzun wrote this kind of couplet on the glass in seal script. The strokes of the words are symmetrical on the left and right, and the front and back are the same. They can be read from the front and back of the glass, so they are called "glass couplets". The characteristics of "Glass Couplet" are as far as the font is concerned. The upper and lower or left and right font structures are basically symmetrical and consistent, forming a beautiful shape of the characters. For example, "The sun rises in the mountains and the wind blows in the water." The eight symmetrical characters simply and vividly express the natural phenomena that people often see. Glass couplets can be divided into two types: "glass body pairs" and "glass letter pairs". "Glass body pair" refers to the symmetry of the "body" of the couplet, which has both font (glass character) and couplet (palindromic style). The beauty is that the meaning remains unchanged when read forward and backward, fully embodying the unique balanced charm and symmetrical beauty of Chinese characters. For example: the king of mountains, the sun rises in Tianshan, "the sad wind enters the small garden, and the bitter rain covers the high mountains", etc. There are also vitreous palindromes written entirely in glass letters, which are even more difficult.
"Glass character pair" is only for "character" typefaces, and is another free play of "glass body pair". Such as "the wind blows into the crystal curtain, and the moon among the clouds is lost in deep thought", "the dusk rain in Songshan Mountain traps the visitor" and so on. Some people divide glass characters into water bodies and crystals. "Crystal symmetry characters" are characters whose left and right sides are completely equal, such as "crystal"; water symmetry characters are characters whose left and right sides are relatively similar, such as "水". The objects on the water are real, and the reflection in the water is the scenery. Even if it is slightly deformed, it is symmetrical. Glass couplets are more difficult, but they are also very interesting word games. I once drafted two sentences and looked for couplets online. The first sentence: Green mountains and cold water, the swallows have not returned in the early spring in the painted hall; the second sentence: With compassion, always lingering in the world of all living beings. Self-paired glass couplets: 1. Sentence: Green mountains and cold water, Painted hall in early spring before the swallows return [Lian Zhiwu] Couplet: Empty pavilion and deserted terrace, orchid garden with half-open rain garden stamens [Lian Zhiwu] 2. Couple : The misty valley is secluded, no one can see the idle people in the dusk mountain in winter [Lian Zhiwu] A sentence is given: The green mountains are cold and the water is painted in the hall in early spring, and the swallows have not returned [Lian Zhiwu] (Note: The characters for "Hui" are oblique and oblique, so they can be used as upper and lower couplets.) Three , Sentence: With compassion, always lingering in the world of all living beings [Lian Zhiwu] Couple: With countless karma, you should think about the bright sun, moon and dim sky [Lian Zhiwu] The characters that can be symmetrical are called glass characters. In fact, Glass couplets can also be seen as couplets written with the word "glass" in mind. This glass joint is also called the vitreous body, also called the crystal. Some people call completely symmetrical characters such as the character "jing", the character "ri", the character "中" and the character "天" as crystal characters, and the characters "水", the character "year", the character "yu", the character "up" and the character "xia". Approximate symmetry uses special effects to treat a symmetrical Chinese character called water body. Glass couplets can be made in seal or official script, and the fonts can be appropriately changed to achieve a symmetrical effect. Examples of crystal characters: one, two, and thirty-eight people, Tianzhongkou, Jingriwu articles (traditional Dongche). Examples of water characters: Baiyu, two rains, walking together in the world, An Beijing Sixi Xue. The following examples will make it clear to everyone: Four-character couplet: in the mountains. The sun rises; the wind comes from the water. Five-syllable couplet: White jade comes from the field, and gold comes from the soil. Seven-Character Couplet: Bring a pot of water to welcome the rain, and make thousands of acres of green hills and fields richer. Glass couplets are difficult to write, not because there are no good ones, such as the seven-character couplet: Wen Tong painted two or three bamboos; Ding Gu gave birth to pine trees and eighteen male figures. This couplet is included in "Four Chapters of Nanting" by Li Boyuan of the Qing Dynasty. The text in the couplet is a great painter of the Song Dynasty. He is famous for his painting of bamboos and landscapes. "Two or three" refers to bamboo leaves, just like the word "piece". Ding Gu was a native of the Wu State during the Three Kingdoms period. He first served as a minister. Because he dreamed that a pine tree was growing in his belly, he said to people: "If you take the word "pine" apart, it means the eighteenth Duke. In eighteen years, I will be the Duke." After the official arrived. Situ (Sima, Situ, and Sikong were called the Three Dukes in the Han Dynasty), this couplet is not only suitable for both orthodox and orthodox, but also uses natural allusions. It can be said that the form and content are perfectly unified. In 1990, the Environmental Protection Bureau of Yingkou City, Liaoning Province, solicited a couplet. The upper couplet read: "Lands, rivers, fields and forests, you can enjoy the beautiful scenery when you go to Yingkou." The second couplet was all written in glass, and the second couplet was solicited: "Sericulture and rice crackers, come from Fujia Guandong, Gai County." All are made of glass characters. It can be regarded as the resurrection and rebirth of glass joints in the contemporary era. Judging from the couplets above, the glass couplets can take into account both traditional and simplified characters.
If a character is symmetrical in traditional Chinese and asymmetrical in simplified Chinese, such as the character "东", then use traditional Chinese; if a character is simplified and symmetrical but traditional Chinese is asymmetrical, such as the character "Xian", then use simplified Chinese. Of course, there are also many characters that are symmetrical in both traditional and simplified characters, such as the spoken characters.