As early as before the Qin and Han Dynasties, the Han nationality in China had the custom of hanging peach symbols around the gate during the Spring Festival. Fu Tao is two big boards made of peach wood with the names of the legendary gods "Shen Tu (pictured)" and "Lei Yu" written on them to exorcise ghosts and suppress evil souls. This custom lasted for more than 1000 years. It was not until the Five Dynasties that people began to put couplets on mahogany boards instead of the names of gods. According to historical records, on New Year's Eve in 964 AD, Meng Chang, the monarch of Houshu, wrote a couplet on the bedroom door: "New Year's Eve, Qing Yu, the number of Jiajie. Changchun is the earliest Spring Festival couplets in China. After the Song Dynasty, it was quite common for Han people to hang Spring Festival couplets during the New Year, so Wang Anshi wrote in his poem "January Day" that "thousands of households always change new peaches for old ones" was a true portrayal of Spring Festival couplets at that time. Due to the close relationship between the appearance of Spring Festival couplets and Fu Tao, the ancients also called Spring Festival couplets "Fu Tao". In the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding father of the Ming Dynasty, strongly advocated couplets. After establishing the capital of Jinling (now Nanjing), he ordered ministers, officials and ordinary people to write a couplet and put it on the door before New Year's Eve. Dressed in casual clothes, he went out door to door to watch the excitement. Scholars at that time also regarded couplets as elegant enjoyment, and writing Spring Festival couplets became a social fashion. After entering the Qing Dynasty, couplets prevailed in Qianlong, Jiaqing and Daoguang generations. Just like the prosperous Tang Dynasty, many famous couplets appeared.
The Spring Festival is coming. According to the traditional custom of our country, every household in urban and rural areas always puts up new Spring Festival couplets to bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new year, hoping to spend a harmonious New Year's Eve and usher in a sweet and beautiful Spring Festival. It can be said that the Spring Festival is a unique traditional festival in China, while the Spring Festival couplets are a unique traditional culture in China. This is because the Spring Festival originated from China's long history and culture, and the Spring Festival couplets came into being with the annual Spring Festival, which entered the homes of ordinary people and merged into people's social life and customs.
According to the Book of Rites, the peach symbol is six inches long and three inches wide, and the words "Shen Tu" and "Lei Yu" are written on the mahogany board. "On the first day of the first month, Fu Tao Jing Dakang mahogany crafts were made-Fu Tao is a household name, a veritable fairy wood, and all ghosts are afraid of it." Therefore, the Qing Dynasty's "Yanjing Shi Sui Ji" said: "Spring Festival couplets, that is, Fu Tao." In the Five Dynasties, in the court, someone wrote couplets on peach symbols. According to the Records of Shu Family in the History of Song Dynasty, Meng Chang, a master of the later Shu Dynasty, ordered Zhang Xun, a bachelor, to write a poem on the mahogany board, "Because of his non-work, he claimed to write a cloud:' Come in the New Year, celebrate Changchun'", which was the earliest Spring Festival couplets in China. Until the Song Dynasty, Spring Festival couplets were still called "Fu Tao". There is a saying in Wang Anshi's poem that "thousands of households are the narrowest, and new peaches are always replaced with old ones". In the Song Dynasty, the peach symbol was changed from mahogany board to paper, which was called "Spring Sticker".