When did couplets come into being? ?

It is said that Meng Changjun, the monarch of Shu after the Five Dynasties, was a monarch who liked to be unconventional. On New Year's Eve at the end of 964, he had a whim to let a bachelor named Xin write two sentences on the mahogany board and hang them on the door frame of his living room as peach symbols. These two sentences are "Qing Yu in the New Year, Changchun in the First Festival". Enjoy the legacy of the previous generation in the new year. The second sentence is to the effect that festivals show that spring is always there. Since then, the form and content of Fu Tao have changed, not only by replacing "Shen Tu" and "Lei Yu" with parallel couplets, but also by expanding the connotation of Fu Tao, not only to ward off evil spirits and disasters, but also by adding the content of praying and wishing. This became the earliest Spring Festival couplets in China. In the Song Dynasty, it was quite common to write couplets on mahogany boards. Wang Anshi wrote in his poem "January Day" that "firecrackers are one year old, and the spring breeze sends warmth into Tu Su. Thousands of families always exchange new peaches for old ones, which reflects the grand occasion of hanging peach symbols on New Year's Eve every year. At the same time, with the appearance of the door god and the peach symbol symbolizing happiness and auspiciousness written on red paper, the mission of exorcising evil spirits and avoiding disasters shouldered by the previous peach symbol has gradually shifted to the door god, and the content of the peach symbol has also evolved into expressing people's good wishes for good luck and good harvest in the coming year. The word "Spring Festival couplets" appeared in the early Ming Dynasty. When Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, was emperor, he liked ostentation and extravagance, and he also liked the peach symbols posted by the big family on New Year's Eve every year, so he wanted to promote them. One year before New Year's Eve, he issued an imperial edict requiring every household in Jinling to stick Spring Festival couplets written in red paper on their doorframes to welcome the Spring Festival. On the morning of New Year's Day, Zhu Yuanzhang made a tour incognito and went door to door to check the Spring Festival couplets. Whenever he sees a well-written Spring Festival couplets, he is very happy and full of praise. Zhu Yuanzhang was very angry when he saw that the family did not post Spring Festival couplets. He asked why. The attendant replied: this is a master who is engaged in killing pigs and cutting pigs. He is very busy during the New Year, and he hasn't had time to find someone to write. Zhu Yuanzhang ordered people to bring pen and ink, and wrote a pair of Spring Festival couplets for this family: "Split the road of life and death with both hands, and cut off the root of right and wrong with one knife. "After writing, I will continue to patrol. After a period of time, Zhu Yuanzhang passed by here again when he returned to the palace. He saw that the butcher's house had not posted his Spring Festival couplets, so he asked what was going on. The host respectfully replied, "This pair of Spring Festival couplets was written by the emperor himself. We hang high in nave and burn incense every day. " Zhu Yuanzhang was very happy, so he ordered his entourage to give the family thirty taels of silver. It can be seen that the naming and promotion of "Spring Festival couplets" was promoted by Zhu Yuanzhang in every household by means of administrative orders and imperial edicts. [Edit this paragraph] If the history of Spring Festival couplets in China dates back to the Qin and Han Dynasties, and the history of posting Spring Festival couplets in China has been two thousand years, then why do people in China always have a soft spot for posting Spring Festival couplets? This involves the traditional thinking concept of China people. As the saying goes, "a year's plan lies in spring." "Our people have an optimistic thinking concept since ancient times, that is, they hope for the future and pray that the future will bring them good luck. No matter whether you are happy, proud or unhappy in the past year, you always hope that the next year will be better, so when the Spring Festival comes, posting Spring Festival couplets is just the best choice to achieve this goal. With the help of Spring Festival couplets, express joy and happiness for the coming year, or express expectations and high hopes for the new year. In their traditional concept, a good start in a year is the most pleasant and auspicious thing. Therefore, every Spring Festival, they express their good feelings and good expectations for the future by posting Spring Festival couplets. At the same time, China people attach great importance to festive, auspicious, lively, delicious food, good wine, setting off firecrackers, visiting relatives and friends, etc. These are all reflections of festive psychology, and posting Spring Festival couplets is only an external means to strengthen people's festive psychology and render the atmosphere. Spring Festival couplets are a new style derived from China's ancient parallel prose and a traditional literary form of China's poetry. It is different from ancient parallel prose and poetry, and it is a unique independent style. Although the antithetical couplets in regular poems or parallel prose are often wonderful couplets, they can only be called couplets if they exist independently of regular poems or parallel prose. Its most striking feature is that it is paired in form, and the two couplets are "pairs" with each other, and they take care of each other and are closely related in content. The upper and lower couplets must have a complete and unified structure and clear and concise language. The specific requirements are as follows: First, the number of words in the upper and lower couplets should be equal. For example: "The Spring Festival is rich every year, good years and peace, rising step by step. "This pair of Spring Festival couplets has seven words each, and the number of words in the upper and lower couplets is equal. This is the most basic requirement of Spring Festival couplets. But there are other phenomena. 19 16 After the death of Yuan Shikai, the national people rushed to tell each other, rejoicing and dancing. A scholar in Sichuan claimed to go to Beijing to send Yuan Shikai an elegiac couplet. After hearing this, the villagers were surprised and puzzled. They opened his couplets and read: Yuan Shikai, long live the people of China. After reading it, people could not help laughing. The literati deliberately asked, "What are you laughing at?" An outspoken young man said, "How can the word" Yuan Shikai "in the first part of the League be compared with the word" China people "in the second part? "The scholar laughed at the voice of" late "and said," Yes, Yuan Shikai is sorry for the people of China! " Although this story is about "elegiac couplet", and "elegiac couplet" also belongs to a kind of couplets, which shows that the number of words in the upper and lower couplets must be equal regardless of Spring Festival couplets or other couplets. If not, it can only be a very individual alternative. Second, the upper and lower conjunctions should be consistent and the part of speech should be consistent. In other words, the phrases that make up the upper couplet are several words respectively, and the corresponding phrases of the lower couplet must also be several words respectively. The part of speech of upper and lower conjunctions indicates the category nature of words, such as nouns, verbs and adjectives. , should be arranged equally, both identity and relativity. As just listed, "the Spring Festival is rich every year, and the good years are peaceful and step by step. "Each couplet consists of three phrases, namely: Spring Festival-prosperity-good year after year, good year after year-peace-good life. The conjunctions are the same. " "New" and "home" in this pair of Spring Festival couplets are adjectives. Spring, age, wealth and peace are all nouns. Niannian and Bubu are adverbs, and Hao and Gao are verbs. This requirement is mainly to better express the ideological content in symmetrical artistic language. Third, the top and bottom should be harmonious. In the expression of couplets, we should pay attention to the relative melody, that is, the tone is even and gentle. This is mainly for the sake of harmonious phonology, scattered ups and downs, and pleasing to the ear. According to legend, Ji Xiaolan once went south to Hangzhou, and a friend gave a banquet to welcome him. During the dinner, the host and guest answered each other. Ji Xiaolan is very witty, and his friends convince him that he is an orphan in the north. Xiaolan disapprovingly said: "Northern talents are all over the Great Wall; Where do men's words start? A friend said, "I went to the north a few years ago and brought a pair of couplets, but no one can match me." "Xiaolan asked with a grain of salt:" Dude, which sentence did you make the other party unable to answer? "His friend read the first couplet: the twin towers are faint, with seven floors and four sides. Ji Xiaolan smiled and said: "It is because they disdain to answer such a simple sentence that they can't be right!" The friend asked inexplicably, "So, how should the bottom line be right?" Ji Xiaolan blurted out: Shake it with one hand, and five fingers are three long and two short. After listening to this, this friend not only found the bottom line, but also admired Ji Xiaolan's extraordinary intelligence. This pair of "twin towers" is vague, with seven floors extending in all directions; The couplets with one hand swaying and three long fingers and two short fingers achieve the artistic effect of harmonious sound and rhyme, scattered ups and downs and pleasing to the ear. Fourth, avoid crossing your hands. The so-called "crossing hands" means semantic repetition and a waste of pen and ink. For example, the Spring Festival couplets commonly used by merchants in the old days have a word: "Business is booming all over the world, and financial resources are flourishing up to three rivers". This pair of Spring Festival couplets is even and neat, which complements the atmosphere of "Congratulations on getting rich" in firecrackers and is well received by the business community. However, further study will reveal that "connecting the four seas" and "reaching the three rivers" have the same meaning and the semantics are repeated, so the term of couplets is called "fighting". Seven words combined with a * * * only have fourteen words, six of which express the contents of three words, resulting in semantic repetition. Couplets are the most concise style in the article, and it is absolutely not allowed to waste pen and ink. In order to provide more information with fewer words, it is necessary to avoid two conjunctions saying the same meaning. For example, in Spring Festival couplets, using "Zhen Gan Kun", "Shocking the earth", "Normal light" and "Teng Rui Qi" is also a semantic repetition, which belongs to the problem of crossing hands. Fifth, choose the antithesis of couplets. Cross-dressing, also known as cross-dressing, cross-linking. Except for elegiac couplets and birthday couplets, most of them should be used. Cross-linking is closely related to the content of couplets. A good shawl can play a icing on the cake. In other words, crossing is the sublimation of the content of couplets, the theme of couplets and the finishing touch. In terms of writing techniques, it can be generally divided into three forms: first, freehand couplets, horizontal topics, such as "celebrating the Spring Festival" and "Happy New Year". And the purpose of posting Spring Festival couplets directly by name; Second, couplets are freehand brushwork, and banners are the crowning touch. For example, the cross of "Prosperity in the New Year, Peace in the New Year, Step by Step" is "Auspicious High Star", which reveals that the key to realizing the content of couplets is "auspicious high star", which is the finishing touch; Third, couplets complement each other, such as "reducing the burden and loving the people, the vast east wind often sends warmth;" The horizontal comment of "helping the poor and helping the needy, always caring for the rain and dew, spring rain" is "bright future", which complements the couplets, not only reveals the people's incomparable gratitude to the CPC Central Committee for "always being warm" and "always caring", but also praises the great future and glory of the party. The reverse string is mostly four words. In the past, the cross-linking was written horizontally from right to left. Now it is often written from left to right, and writing from right to left is a formal way of writing. The horizontal shawl should be stuck in the middle of the lintel, and its font should be consistent with the style of the upper and lower couplets, echoing up and down. Spring Festival couplets originated from the song dynasty poet Wang Anshi who wrote in January Day: firecrackers are one year old, and the spring breeze enters Tu Su from send warm. Thousands of families always trade new peaches for old ones. What do "new peach" and "old symbol" mean? In modern terms, it is the Spring Festival couplets. Spring Festival couplets are a kind of couplets. How did China Spring Festival couplets develop? As a unique literary form, Spring Festival couplets have a long history in China. It began in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, especially in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and has developed for more than a thousand years today. As early as before the Qin and Han dynasties, there was a custom of hanging peach symbols around the gate every New Year. Fu Tao is two big boards made of peach wood, on which are written the names of the legendary gods and spirits who exorcise ghosts and suppress evil spirits. 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 master of Houshu, wrote a couplet on the bedroom door, namely, "On New Year's Eve, Jia Jienuo. Changchun ",the earliest Spring Festival couplets in China. After the Song Dynasty, it has become quite common for people to hang Spring Festival couplets in the New Year. Therefore, Wang Anshi wrote in the poem "January Day" that "thousands of households always change new peaches for old ones" was a true portrayal of the 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. With the development of cultural exchanges among countries, couplets were introduced to Vietnam, Korea, Japan, Singapore and other countries. These countries still have the custom of pasting couplets.