Couplets, one of the traditional cultures of the Han nationality, also known as couplets or pairs, are dual sentences written on paper or cloth or carved on bamboo, wood, or pillars. Couplets are neatly contrasted and harmonious, and are a unique art form of the Chinese language that uses one word for each sound. According to legend, the couplet originated from Meng Chang, the lord of Shu after the Five Dynasties. Couplets are a treasure of Chinese Han traditional culture. The following is a complete list of the types of couplets brought by the editor, welcome to read.
By purpose
1. General couplets - such as Spring Festival couplets,
2. Special couplets - such as tea couplets, birthday couplets, wedding couplets, happy couplets , elegiac couplets, industry couplets, motto couplets, gift couplets, question and answer couplets
3. Spring couplets: door couplets dedicated to the New Year.
For example: willows bloom with emerald green; peach and apricot compete for spring and red in May.
4. Congratulatory couplets: used for birthdays, weddings, housewarming, births, openings and other festive occasions.
For example: a pair of red hearts go to the four directions; two pairs of skillful hands draw new pictures. (Xi Lian), happiness is as good as the East Sea; longevity is as long as the Southern Mountains. (Shou couplet)
5. Elegiac couplet: used to mourn the deceased.
For example: His works lasted for a thousand years, but he left here to shock the world; his spirit lasted for a thousand generations, and he came back to benefit the world.
6. Gift couplet: used to praise or encourage others.
For example: the sound of wind, rain, and reading are heard in the ears; family affairs, national affairs, and world affairs are all concerned.
7. Self-encouragement couplet: used for self-encouragement.
For example: always read letters about your family and country; don’t do anything that is not beneficial to your body and mind.
8. Industry links: For different industries, they are posted on the door or inside the store.
For example: If you want to know the events of the past, you must read the Five Chess Book. (Bookstore) Although there is no business at all, it is a top-notch effort. (Barbershop) welcomes guests in spring, summer, autumn and winter; entertains people from the east, west, north and south. (Hotel)
9. Yan Zhilian: Used to express ambitions.
For example: I would rather be a ghost of the Zhao family than a minister of another country.
By word count
1. Short couplet (within a cross)
2. Medium couplet (within a hundred words)
3. Long Couplet (more than 100 words), etc.
Based on rhetorical skills
1. Antithetical couplets: verbal pairs, matter pairs, positive pairs, oppositions, work pairs, broad pairs, flowing pairs, palindrome pairs, and top pairs.
2. Rhetorical couplet: metaphor, exaggeration, rhetoric, pun, question, homophony.
3. Skilled couplets: embedded words, hidden words, compound words, repeated words, radicals, word analysis, word splitting, and numbers.
Source of couplets
1. Collection of sentence couplets: couplets composed entirely of ready-made sentences from ancient poems.
2. Collection of word couplets: couplets composed of words from ancient articles and calligraphy copybooks.
3. Excerpted couplets: couplets made by directly excerpting the couplets from other people’s poems.
4. Creative couplets: couplets created independently by the author himself.
According to content
1. Seasonal couplets: refer to couplets that are of specific seasonal or commemorative nature and mostly contain general chants, lyrics, discussions, and wishes. Strictly speaking, they can be divided into festival couplets and seasonal couplets, but since the two are often combined into one, this distinction has no practical significance. Generally, seasonal couplets can be directly divided into several subcategories such as Spring Festival couplets, New Year's couplets, and National Day couplets. Among the seasonal couplets, the most important one is the Spring Festival couplets. The so-called Spring Festival couplets are seasonal couplets used for the Spring Festival. Most Spring Festival couplets can be used universally.
2. Festive couplets: Also known as congratulatory couplets, they refer to couplets with a specific congratulatory content other than festival celebrations. According to its content and objects, it can be divided into several subcategories such as marriage couplets, longevity couplets, and new residence couplets (housewarming couplets). The outstanding feature of the festive couplet is that it has a specific festive and congratulatory nature, and its content must express good wishes, joy and auspiciousness. There are general and special celebration couplets. Whether it is universal or not depends on each couplet. Do not simply copy it to avoid making a fool of yourself.
3. Elegiac couplets: Also referred to as elegiac couplets, they refer to couplets used to mourn the deceased. Its content is limited to condolences, remembrances, evaluations, and wishes for the deceased, and its style is generally sad, solemn, deep, and solemn.
There are also elegiac couplets written for the deceased or for the widow himself, which is a different matter. The elegiac couplets can be divided from many angles, such as elegiac couplets for the elderly, middle-aged people, young people, etc., or elegiac couplets for the elders, peers, younger generations, etc. In addition, elegiac couplets can also be divided into elegiac couplets, self-elegiac couplets, etc., and sacrificial couplets can also be regarded as a subcategory of elegiac couplets. The content of elegiac couplets generally refers to more specific objects. Although there are also general and special objects, more attention should be paid to the distinction in practice.
4. Couplets of famous places: refer to couplets posted, hung, or carved in scenic spots. Most of its contents are inscriptions on the scenic spots (such as landscapes, towers, cultural relics, etc.), or are closely related to it (relevant people, things, etc.). Such couplets often become an important part of scenic spots and even historical culture. Couplets of famous places can be divided into several sub-categories such as landscapes and gardens, temples, monasteries, pavilions, courtyards, halls, monuments, pagodas, tombs, etc., to name but a few.
5. Industry couplets: refers to couplets whose content is targeted at a certain industry, department or field. Due to the changes of the times, although the use of couplets in the industry is not as good as before, it is still considerable. Judging from its scope of application and content characteristics, it is still a major type of couplet. Industry associations can be divided into subcategories by industry and department.
6. Inscribed couplets: refers to couplets inscribed and given to others. Although many couplets have a certain nature of inscription and gift, the inscription and gift couplets mentioned here are limited to the inscriptions and gifts for interpersonal communication (or yearning), and do not include elegiac couplets and congratulatory couplets. Its content generally contains some kind of praise, blessing, or exhortation. Judging from the use of couplets, inscription and gift couplets can be regarded as a major category. According to the different objects of the gift, the couplet can generally be divided into several sub-categories, such as couplets for elders, couplets for peers, and couplets for juniors.
7. Miscellaneous emotion couplets: refer to couplets that have no specific object and cover a wide range of contents. This kind of couplets often have relatively simple characteristics of literary creation, such as philosophical couplets, lyrical couplets, persuasive and satirical couplets, etc.
8. Academic couplets: refer to couplets with some academic nature. This academic nature refers to a certain professional nature that does not fall into the above categories in terms of content and purpose. The content is often relatively specialized and has certain subject or religious characteristics, such as Popular Science Federation, Buddhism Federation, Taoism Federation, etc. From the perspective of the application scope and development space of couplets, it is necessary to treat academic couplets as a separate category. For example, the author's book "Collection of Touchings - 1,200 Buddhist Couplets" uses the form of couplets to systematically write down many Buddhist figures and Buddhist doctrines into an academic monograph. By extension, a lot of scientific knowledge or other cultural principles can also be written in the form of couplets, and their academic or professional nature can be highlighted in content.
9. Interesting and clever couplets: refer to couplets that highlight interest or skill but pay little attention to content. Such as various humorous couplets, skill couplets, etc. The content of such couplets either highlights the uniqueness of a certain style (humorous couplets), or is relatively unimportant (technical couplets), making them unique. In this sense, it can be regarded as a separate category.