Although there have been some good articles and books on appreciating couplets in recent years, from the overall impression, what guides the creation of couplets is only some activities of seeking couplets and the evaluation results of many "patients' hospitals" established by the people. Just as there is a difference between competitive sports and fitness sports, the mechanical evaluation criteria for competitive employment can not fully guide the artistic creation of couplets. Due to the emphasis on the comparability of hard indicators and the utilitarian theme, the prosperity of recruitment activities inevitably leads to the proliferation of formalism and the negative impact of a large number of award-winning masterpieces being "cloned" into platitudes. However, many so-called "affiliated hospitals with diseases" operated without licenses only give instructions to some beginners' works, and even make arbitrary judgments on some excellent ancient and modern associations, thus misleading a large number of authors.
Appreciation of couplets is an aesthetic process of subjective and objective interaction. Although the evaluation of a couplet will vary greatly due to people's aesthetic orientation and appreciation level, there are general rules in general. As an aesthetic object, couplets can be appreciated from many levels.
From a macro perspective, we can appreciate the formal beauty and connotation beauty of couplets.
The formal beauty of couplets can include antithesis, tone, rhythm, rhetoric, writing form, production carrier and so on. As far as form is concerned, it should be clear that the most basic formal element of couplets is antithesis. There is a difference in duality between work pair and wide pair, which may only be between these two extremes for a large number of joint operations. However, a misunderstanding that must be corrected is that the working pair is not superior to the wide pair, but they should be equivalent. Different from the "dead couple" who lacks tension and creativity because of being too rigid in working pairs, Jia Lian takes the form of service content as the principle, focuses on meaning, is wide in working, and changes wonderfully. The couplets of single-minded masters are often set in important parts, numbers, colors, directions, etc. Use accurate antithesis, while the minor parts are more relaxed or even seem right or wrong, which not only maintains the neat aesthetic feeling, but also fully guarantees the semantic fluency. In addition to generosity and diligence, duality also has similarities and differences. The upper and lower parts are connected to the same thing, that is, the hands are crossed to the extreme, and the upper and lower parts are connected to different things, which makes them a pair, but not to the extreme. The master's skill lies in being able to swim skillfully in these contradictions, such as looking at the relationship between two strokes in calligraphy, and like a movie with a long tune, which has made a great leap, but it also ensures the continuity of the context. From a certain point of view, only by recognizing the beauty of "between right and wrong, between connection and non-connection" can we connect words.
The harmony of timbre is also the basic requirement for the creation and appreciation of couplets. The biggest misunderstanding in this respect is that couplets must say "couplet law", which only says melody, and melody only says rhyming flat format, which leads people to the corner one by one. Now this way of thinking has created a large number of such "connoisseurs" of couplets: in their dictionaries, all Chinese characters are only "Ping" and "Nuo". Every time they see a couplet, they first (or can be said to be from beginning to end) take out the rhyme "shoulder pole" that he regards as the treasure, then mark it word by word, and finally get the couplet. In fact, it is natural for couplets to inherit their prosodic requirements from metrical poems and parallel prose directly derived from them. However, since the formation and development of this style, it has been "eroded" by other styles. Some people use characters as couplets, some people use songs as couplets, some people use fu as couplets, some people use ancient Chinese as couplets, and some even use vernacular Chinese as couplets. In the process of its development, it may never really form a unified set of "couplets" similar to metrical poems. As Chen said, "There is no such thing as couplets in ancient poetry". Today's collation of couplets can only help beginners, that is to say, it can only be a stepping stone for scholars at first, and no one will take it seriously after entering the house. When a famous artist is a master, how can there be a set of flat format that can't cross the line? They just improvise and use it flexibly according to different application occasions, contexts, styles and rhythms. They have their own statutes in the process of change, that is, the so-called "law has no definite law, law has no definite law." It is precisely because I have mastered the knowledge that I can "do whatever I want without overstepping the bounds". Readers choose more famous masterpieces and savor them carefully, which will be beautiful for a long time. In recent years, the so-called "metrical couplet" and "non-metrical couplet" have appeared, which are specious, but in fact all couplets can be found, except that the "case" is dead and people are alive. If conjunctions are divided into "regular sentences" and "irregular sentences" according to different language styles and rhythms, it will still have some enlightenment for those who stick to regular poems and even words.
In short, during its more than 1000 years of development, couplet literature has formed a series of flexible conventions, including tone and rhythm, which determine the unique formal characteristics of couplet style. It also constitutes the formal elements of appreciation of couplets.
The connotative beauty of couplets refers to the thoughts, aspirations, emotions and tastes of the works, as well as the detailed description of people, landscapes and events. The connotation is really the soul of couplets. Poetry expresses aspirations and feelings, and so do couplets. Excellent couplets can fully express the author's thoughts, minds, sentiments and feelings, which are touching. Even if we wait, we can be fascinated by indescribable situations, such as the present. Or condense the character's life into a few words, so that the image of the character can be vividly displayed on paper. Couplets, like poems, are also the art of language. The author should use all possible rhetorical devices to create a perfect artistic conception, and the choice of words and sentences should take into account the overall harmony. For example, there is a cripple in the queue, and the scenery is terrible. It can be said that ancient and modern couples have formed colorful artistic styles, including implicit beauty, washing practice, lofty charm and ever-changing state, but they are all based on one fundamental, that is, feeling and hair. From this perspective, the creation and appreciation of couplets must not be for the sake of couplets, but should be traced back to the long history of the development of China's poetry and even China's literature. Only from this height can we truly grasp the essence of the art of couplets.
At the same time, we should also see that the form and connotation of couplets are relative, and they are mutual forms and connotations at different levels. For example, tone and words are each other's forms and connotations, and words and thoughts are each other's forms and connotations. Knowing this will help our appreciation activities.
Similarly, from a macro perspective, we can appreciate the stylistic features of couplets from several angles:
First, from the highest realm of couplets, first of all, it is a lyrical style with vivid expression, and we can appreciate its literariness. It comes down in one continuous line with China's long tradition of poetry. Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, couplets, following poems, words and songs, have become the creative form often adopted by literati. Therefore, we can transplant a mature theoretical system of classical poetry appreciation in an all-round way, and then combine the unique stylistic characteristics of couplets to carry out literary appreciation activities of couplets.
Second, generally speaking, couplets are a practical style that serves life, and we can appreciate its functionality. Spring Festival couplets, ritual couplets, wedding couplets, elegiac couplets and various industry couplets all show the characteristics of practical style to some extent. To appreciate this aesthetic feature of couplets, we need to grasp the relevance and appropriateness. Couplets for an occasion should be attached to and further set off the atmosphere of the occasion, and couplets for someone should be evaluated realistically, and at the same time, couplets should be very suitable for the writer's identity.
Third, from the basic level of couplets, it is still a game style that emphasizes skills. We can enjoy it. Couplets give full play to the characteristics of Chinese and use various techniques to make them interesting, vivid and fascinating. There is also a kind of work called "Bridge Pile", which does not express any theme, but only wins with word skills, and also gives people a sense of interest.
What I said above is just starting from the big principles. If we summarize the appreciation of couplets from this height, it is that couplets should be based on conception, realm and style, which is the upper position and avenue of couplets literature; Formal skills can't be neglected, but they don't serve the theme, and they are a minority after all; If you show off your skills for the sake of your skills and take pleasure in nausea, then you have fallen into the magic road.
As mentioned above, the appreciation of couplets is an aesthetic process of subjective and objective interaction, which requires the appreciator as the aesthetic subject to have considerable cultural literacy and appreciation ability. The best way to improve the ability of appreciation is to learn more excellent couplets while comprehensively improving the quality of classical culture. Only by being immersed in the wonderful couplets can we break away from the secular world, and even if we can't improve our creative means immediately, we will gradually improve our appreciation horizons. Those who recite "Heaven to Earth, Rain to Wind, and Mainland to Heaven" will not understand the beauty of right and wrong in the end, and those who are prosperous in business will not be able to tell the difference between "ethereal" and "solid". This is probably the original intention of the editor of this book. However, due to time constraints, this article is sketchy, just empty talk, without citing examples. People who know nothing about Taoism should scoff at it and be irrelevant, while those who know Taoism should blame it for being too mysterious. Since they are all shaped words, let the readers "taste" together.