First, couplets are not poems.
Many predecessors regarded couplets as a member of the big family of rhymes, or regarded couplets as poems, which were called "pocket poems", "poems with poems" and "two lines of poems". This view can't stand scrutiny. Obviously, couplets cannot be classified as verse or poetry. First of all, couplets don't use rhyme, while China's traditional classical poetry (rhyme) rhymes. Rhyme is the most important feature of poetry. Why else does it rhyme? From the four-character poem "The Book of Songs", Sao-style poems, ancient Yuefu poems, ancient poems to modern poems, they all use rhyme. It can be seen that rhyme is the fundamental principle for poetry and antithesis for couplets. Since couplets don't rhyme, how can they be called poems? Moreover, judging from the sentences, the sentences of poetry are generally more organized. Four-character poems have four words in each sentence, and five, six and seven words in each sentence are five, six and seven words respectively. The length of individual sentences in ancient Chinese varies slightly. While couplets are not. The length of sentences can be changed at will, as long as the couplets are paired. It can be seen that couplets do not belong to the category of verse.
Second, couplets are not parallel prose.
Some scholars attribute couplets to parallel prose. For example, Liu of Jinling University included couplets in chapter 11 of his History of Parallel Prose in China (version 1937). Liang Qichao also said: "In parallel prose (couplets), it is only a vassal." The similarity between couplets and parallel prose is undoubtedly antithesis. But obviously, there is a big difference between the two. The antithesis of parallel prose is called parallel prose antithesis. The function words at the end of the first sentence of parallel prose and some sentence components (subject, verb, auxiliary verb, etc. ) is not counted in the antithesis. For example, in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Liu Xie wrote "Wen Xin Diao Long Cai Qing": "A husband can stand on the ground with reason, and his mind is on the ground." The word "empowerment" is not dual. The antithesis of couplets requires strict work stability regardless of the actual situation. Moreover, parallel prose sentences can only be "four or six" sentences, while couplets, as mentioned above, have no limit on the number of words in sentences. From the overall structure, parallel prose is composed of parallel sentences, and couplets are composed of two parallel parts (upper and lower couplets). Couplets and parallel prose are similar, but they are not integrated.
Third, couplets are not a family.
When Song Ci was just flourishing, Li Qingzhao once pointed out that "Ci has its own differences", which was regarded as an incisive view. When dealing with couplets, we should also admit that they are not a family, but rather vassals and tributaries of poetry or parallel prose.
Why are couplets not a family? We can study the evolution and development of China's classical metrical literature. China's classical literature has many styles, which used to be divided into prose and verse. Rhyme includes poems, words, songs and so on. , can also be called "poetry". I think it can be divided into two parts: metrical literature and non-metrical literature. Non-metrical literature is prose in a broad sense, including classical prose and classical novels. The so-called scattered, that is, not bound by procedures and plans. Metric literature includes poems, words, songs, parallel prose, fu and rhyming prose, such as some inscriptions, classics and records. ) and couplets. From the Book of Songs, Chu Ci, Han Fu, Parallel Prose of the Six Dynasties, to Tang Poetry, Song Ci, Yuanqu and Qinglian, China's classical metrical literature has been constantly changing and innovating, forming a variety of styles, structures and rhythms. Taking the formation of metrical poems in the prosperous Tang Dynasty as the dividing line, China's classical metrical literature has generally gone through two major processes: construction and deconstruction. From the Zhou and Qin Dynasties to the prosperous Tang Dynasty, it was the construction process of metrical literature. It is manifested in the increase of sentence words and the standardization of sentence structure. Sentence pattern, starting from two words, has reached seven words in Han Dynasty. "Wen Xin Diao Sentence" says: "The word originated from yellow, and so did the ballad of bamboo bombs. Three words are prosperous and dangerous, and the poems of the Fuehrer are true. Four words are wider than summer, and the song of Luoling is true. Five words are found in the Zhou dynasty, and the chapter on the road is also. Six words and seven words are mixed into "poetry" and "Sao". The text of the article was written in the Han Dynasty, and the number of emotions was transported in Zhou, and it was always replaced. " After Qi Liang, he devoted himself to the standardization of sentence structure. The discovery and popularization of the four tones greatly promoted the standardization process. By the Tang Dynasty, the structure of regular poetry and regular fu had been perfected.
From the prosperous Tang Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, it was the deconstruction process of China's classical metrical literature. On the one hand, "long and short sentences" come from Yuefu, regular poems and quatrains. So "poetry" is deconstructed into "words". On the other hand, "antithetical sentences" were separated from regular poems and parallel prose, and developed into two lines of literature in which regular poems and parallel prose were paired and connected. So "poetry" and "parallel prose" are deconstructed into "couplets". Obviously, couplets are a new style in the deconstruction and development of China's classical metrical literature. Metric literature has its own method, poetry has its own poetic method, words have its own poetic method, and parallel prose also has its own parallel prose method. There is a "couplet method" in couplets. What is "couplet method"? It can be summed up in two words, namely "duality".
To sum up, in terms of style, couplets are neither poems nor parallel prose, let alone special forms of poems or parallel prose. It is another classical metrical style which is juxtaposed with poetry, ci, qu and parallel prose.
Four. conclusion
1, the position of couplets in modern stylistic theory
As we all know, according to modern stylistic theory, literature has four major genres, namely novel, poem, prose and drama. What is poetry? It is the earliest literary genre. According to the requirements of certain syllables, tones and rhythms, it expresses social life and people's spiritual world with concise language, rich emotions and rich imagination. Couplets emphasize exquisiteness and need highly generalized pen and ink to reflect social life. In language, couplets pay attention to rhythm and rhyme. On these two points, it is highly consistent with poetry. Therefore, couplets can be considered as belonging to the category of "poetry" or "poetic literature". From this perspective, it is completely correct to call couplets "pocket poems", "poems in poems" and "two lines of poems".
2. Are couplets practical or folk literature?
Couplets inherited the social function of their predecessor, Fu Tao, and gradually extended this function to many levels and occasions of social life, making couplets a "practical style" in folk customs in many cases. Lu, a close friend, said in the practice of couplets: "Although couplets are sketches, they are also one of the practical articles." Although this definition of antithetical couplets as "practical texts" describes one aspect of the characteristics of antithetical couplets, it is fundamentally wrong. Couplets have practical functions, but they are also literary. How can those well-known couplets be regarded as a simple and practical article, including many famous literary and artistic works?
It is even more blind to regard couplets as folk literature. Couplets, like many literary forms, include literati literature and folk literature, and can be divided into literati couplets and folk couplets. There are four main types of folk couplets. That is, banter, wit, irony, practicality and oratory. The combination of wisdom and intelligence has the widest spread and the greatest influence, forming many colorful stories; Satire couplets contain profound social content, profound significance, strong militancy and exquisite art, and are the treasures of folk couplets. There are the largest number of practical associations, which are closely related to civil society exchanges and become an important part of traditional folk culture in China. In a word, folk couplets are an important part of folk literature and a unique literary form in Chinese folk literature. But for the whole couplet, it is by no means a folk literature.