Ten classic couplets from ancient to modern times, see how many you know

Near a century-old tree

Reading thousands of books

This couplet was written by Zhu Xi, a famous Neo-Confucian scholar in the Southern Song Dynasty. He revived Bailudong Academy and lectured here. "Next to a hundred-year-old tree" refers to the green ancient trees in the academy, and also uses the saying "a tree that lasts ten years, a tree that lasts a hundred years." "Reading Ten Thousand Volumes of Books" is taken from Du Fu's "Twenty-Two Rhymes to Wei Zuocheng": "Reading ten thousand volumes of books, writing is like a spirit." Although there are only eight characters, the connotation is very rich and profound. It is an experience written by Zhu Xi. The words are full of encouragement to the later scholars.

Those who are determined can achieve their goals, and even if the cauldron sinks the boat, one hundred and two Qin Passes will eventually belong to Chu

Those who work hard, God will not let them down, and they will eat their courage by lying down, and three thousand Yue Jia can swallow Wu

This famous couplet is an inspirational and self-encouragement couplet written by Pu Songling to himself when he repeatedly failed in the imperial examinations in his later period and was in extreme despair. The whole couplet is majestic and inspiring. It quotes two very famous allusions in history and their corresponding results. One is that Xiang Yu, the overlord of Chu, destroyed the Qin Dynasty by destroying the Qin Dynasty, and the other is that Gou Jian, the king of Yue, lay down on his firewood and tasted the courage to annex the state of Wu. Pu Songling inspired himself with this couplet, and finally became famous in history with "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio". This couplet was first engraved on a copper ruler and later hung in the Liaozhai study room. Now it has become a must-have sentence for many students in their writing exams and can be called a classic.

A big belly can tolerate things that are difficult to tolerate in the world

Smile whenever you open your mouth, and laugh at those who laugh all the time

This couplet comes from Tanzhe Temple in Beijing. There is a statue of Maitreya Buddha with a big belly in the temple. Things that the world cannot tolerate, Maitreya Buddha's big belly can accommodate it. A person must have the capacity to accommodate others, that is, "capacity", just like "the belly of a prime minister can punt a boat", so why worry about not being able to achieve a great career. Smiling often is a revelation of inner cultivation. All the stupid things the world does for the sake of emotions, fame, fortune, wealth, love, hate, anger, and delusion are so ridiculous in the eyes of Maitreya Buddha. If a person has such a big heart, how can he come from it? trouble.

It is up to oneself to judge what is right and wrong, to listen to criticism and praise to others, and to count the gains and losses. At the top of Zhiyuelu Peak, the moon is bright and the breeze is clear, and Tai Chi can be practiced leisurely

How can you repay your kindness? How can the destiny of the people be established, how can the teachings of the sages be passed on, ascending the Hexi platform, balancing the clouds and the Xiangshui River, and the graceful people will surely return home

This is written by Kuang Min, the director of Yuelu Academy in the Qing Dynasty. First couplet: Right and wrong are subject to self-examination, reputation and reputation are judged by others, gains and losses are subject to destiny, and cannot be forced. When we climb to the top of Lushan Mountain and feel the bright moon and clear breeze, we can understand the principles of everything in the world, and we can put aside the gains and losses of honor and disgrace. Second line: How to repay the country's cultivation and parents' nurturing kindness, how to live a better life for the people, and how to spread the excellent Chinese culture. The answer can be found by climbing to the Hexi Terrace on the top of the mountain and overlooking the Hengyun and Xiangshui River. This attitude towards life is actually the embodiment of the Confucian thought that "if you are successful, you can help the world, and if you are poor, you can only benefit yourself".

Green, green and red are everywhere

Flowers and grasses come and go every year

This is the scenery couplet of West Lake in Hangzhou.

Spring has arrived, and the banks of the West Lake are filled with red willows and red flowers, birds singing and dancing, flowers and plants blooming, and this happens every year. The dialogue is neat and the scenery of the West Lake is expressed vividly by the technique of overlapping words.

The sea accepts hundreds of rivers, and it is great to have tolerance

Standing on a wall with thousands of feet, one can be strong without desire

This couplet was made by Lin Zexu in his study. If a person wants to be magnanimous and broad-minded, he must not only tolerate others, but also constantly absorb different knowledge; the reason why the sea is so big is that it has the magnanimity and capacity to accept hundreds of rivers. Educational people must be broad-minded in order to become Great; the cliff can stand thousands of feet tall because it has no excessive desires and does not fall to other places. It educates people to give up meaningless pleasures and cultivate their moral character.

The great river goes eastward, and the waves sweep away all the heroes of the ages. Ask the green mountains outside the building and the white clouds outside the mountains, where is the Tang Palace and Hanque?

The small garden returns to the west, and the orioles evoke a beautiful garden. Look at the green trees beside the pool and the red rain beside them. There are Shun, Yao and Tian here.

This couplet is a garden couplet written by Xu Da, King of Zhongshan in the Ming Dynasty. Xu Da was a famous general who founded the Ming Dynasty. He was famous and accomplished many extraordinary feats. In his later years, he often walked in front of flowers and under the moonlight. In order to express his unrealized ambition, he wrote this couplet in his garden, but he couldn't think of it. After the second couplet came out, he was rewarded with a large sum of money for the second couplet. Soon after, a scholar admired Xu Da's garden and wrote it with great momentum and neat lines. Xu Da praised it greatly after reading it, and this couplet also became an eternal masterpiece.

The sea water is falling

The floating clouds are growing long and waxing

This couplet is written on the door of Meng Jiangnu’s temple in Shanhaiguan. After reading it, people have a lot of thoughts: First, the wonderful use of words. The ancient Chinese Tongji characters have the characteristics of multiple sounds and multiple meanings. Using different sentence segmentation methods, you can pronounce many different readings, thus cleverly The ground forms a couplet; the second is the blending of scenes. Standing in front of the Meng Jiangnu Temple, looking up at the blue sky and overlooking the sea, floating clouds are flying, and the sea is surging, sometimes inspiring and sometimes retreating. History is not like this, and life is not like this. It makes people There are endless associations and reveries.

The sound of wind, rain, and reading can be heard

Care about family affairs, traditional Chinese paintings, and world affairs

This couplet was written by Gu Xiancheng of the Ming Dynasty. Couplets from Donglin Academy.

Later, people used it to advocate "reading without forgetting to save the country", which still has positive significance today; the first couplet combines the sound of reading with the sound of wind and rain, which is both poetic and profound; the second couplet expresses the ambition of uniting the family, governing the country and bringing peace to the world. Wind to rain, home to country, ears to heart, extremely neat, especially the repeated use of words, like hearing the sound of books, it is a rare classic couplet.

The sky is the chessboard and the stars are the pieces. Who can play?

The earth is the pipa and the road is the string. Who dares to play?

It is said that this is the interpretation of a great scholar in the Ming Dynasty. A couplet written by Jin when he was testing his literary talents with his friends. The first two and a half sentences of the couplet are metaphors, comparing the sky to a chessboard, the stars to chess pieces, and the earth to the pipa road to the strings of a piano; the last two and a half sentences are rhetorical questions, meaning that such a big chess piece is so big. No one can control the pipa. The imagination is unique, the metaphors are clever, the couplets are neat, and the bearing is extraordinary, so it has been passed down to this day.