Couplets are the treasures of China traditional culture, and the earliest recorded couplets appeared in the Three Kingdoms period. During the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty (1368- 1399), an extra-large iron cross was unearthed in Luling, Jiangxi Province (now Ji 'an City, Jiangxi Province), on which the year number of Sun Quan Chiwu in the Three Kingdoms period (238-250) was cast. On the iron cross, there is also a beautifully made couplet cloud: "The four seas celebrate An Lan, and the iron column leaves a cross; The people are pregnant with Ozawa, and the golden stove is fragrant for a thousand years. "
Parallel prose and rhyme are two direct sources of couplets. In the process of its own development, couplets have absorbed the characteristics of ancient poems, essays, lyrics and songs. Therefore, the sentence patterns used in couplets include ancient poems, prose sentences and parody sentences in addition to regular poems and parallel prose sentences. Different sentence patterns have different metrical patterns and different leniency. Among them, the sentence pattern of rhythmic poetry is the most strict, while the sentence pattern of ancient verse has no restrictions except at the end of the sentence. ?
One source of Spring Festival couplets is spring stickers. The ancients posted the word "Yichun" more and more at the beginning of spring, and then it gradually developed into Spring Festival couplets, expressing the good wishes of the working people in China to ward off evil spirits and avoid disasters and welcome good luck. ?
Spring Festival couplets have a long history. It is said that they originated from Meng Chang, the master of Shu after the Five Dynasties. He wrote an inscription on the peach symbol on the door panel of the dormitory: "When the New Year arrives, the number of festivals will be in Changchun", which means the words "Write the peach symbol" (see Shu Lang). This is the earliest couplet in China and the first Spring Festival couplet.
Second, the types of couplets
According to the purpose
1. Universal couplets-such as Spring Festival couplets,
2. Special couplets-such as tea couplets, birthday couplets, wedding couplets, wedding couplets, elegiac couplets, industry couplets, motto couplets, gift couplets, title couplets, etc.
3. Spring Festival couplets: special couplets for the New Year.
Such as: Kyushu willow spits green; Peach and apricot compete for spring in May.
4. Greeting couplets: used for birthday, marriage, housewarming, having children, opening business and other festive occasions.
Such as: a pair of red hearts for the four modernizations; Two new hand-painted pictures. (Xi Lian), as happy as the East China Sea; Life is better than Nanshan. (first couplet)
5. elegiac couplet: mourn the dead.
For example, books have a strong future and will shock the world; Let the spirit shine forever and then benefit the people.
6. Give couplets: praise or encourage others to use them.
Such as: wind, rain, reading, the sound in the ear; Family affairs, state affairs and everything in the world care about everything.
7. Self-encouragement: For self-encouragement.
For example, books about the country are often read; Nothing is useless to body and mind.
8. Industry Association: Different industries are posted at the gate or in the store.
Such as: to know things from ancient times to the present; I have to read five books. (Bookstore) Although it is a clean business; But it's top kung fu. (Barber shop) welcomes guests in spring, summer, autumn and winter; Entertain people from east, west, north and south. (Hotel)
9. Yan Zhilian: The purpose of ambition.
Such as: I would rather be Zhao's ghost; Not for him, minister.
Count by word number
1. Short connection (within the cross)
2. Zhonglian (within 100 words)
3. Long couplet (100 words or more), etc.
According to rhetorical techniques
1. Duality: word right, object right, right right, opposition, work right, width right, flow right, palindrome right, top right.
2. Rhetoric couplets: metaphor, exaggeration, backchat, pun, rhetorical question and homophonic.
3. Skill association: embedded words, hidden words, compound words, overlapping words, radicals, word analysis, word splitting and numbers.
According to the source of couplets
1. Sentence couplet: a couplet composed entirely of ready-made sentences in ancient poetry.
2. Couplets composed of ancient Copybook for calligraphy articles and characters.
3. Sentence-picking couplets: Couplets made by picking antithetical sentences directly from other people's poems.
4. Create couplets: couplets independently created by the author.
By content
1. Festival couplets: refer to couplets with specific timeliness or commemoration, and the contents are mostly general chanting, lyricism, discussion and wishes. Strictly speaking, it can be divided into festival couplets and season couplets, but since they are often integrated, this distinction has no practical significance. Generally speaking, couplets can be directly divided into Spring Festival couplets, New Year's Day couplets and National Day couplets. In the Spring Festival couplets, the most important thing is the Spring Festival couplets. The so-called Spring Festival couplets are seasonal couplets used in the Spring Festival. Most Spring Festival couplets can be used universally.
2. Festive couplets: also known as greeting couplets, refer to couplets with a certain congratulatory nature in addition to holiday celebrations. According to its content and object, it can be divided into several subcategories, such as wedding couplets, birthday couplets, new house couplets (housewarming couplets) and so on. The outstanding feature of festive couplets is that they have a certain festive and congratulatory nature, and their contents must be good wishes, celebrations and auspiciousness. There are universal and special holiday couplets. Whether it is universal depends on the alliance, and it is not easy to copy, so as not to make jokes.
3. elegiac couplet: also known as elegiac couplet, it refers to the couplet used to mourn the dead. Its content is limited to mourning, remembering, evaluating and wishing the deceased, and its style is generally sad, solemn, deep and solemn. Others write elegiac couplets for the dead, or write elegiac couplets for themselves, which is another matter. The elegiac couplets can be divided from many angles, including old couplets, middle-aged couplets and youth couplets, as well as elder couplets, peer couplets and younger couplets. In addition, it can be divided into famous couplets and self-mourning couplets, and sacrificial couplets can also be regarded as a subclass of mourning couplets. The content of elegiac couplet generally refers to more specific objects, although there are also general objects and special objects, but in practice, we should pay more attention to the distinction.
4. Scenic couplets: refers to couplets posted, hung and carved at scenic spots. Most of its contents are engraved with scenic spots (such as landscapes and cultural relics). ) or closely related to it (related people, things, etc. Such couplets often become an important part of scenic spots and even history and culture. The combination of scenic spots and historical sites can be divided into several sub-categories, such as landscape gardens, temples and temples, pavilions, houses and halls, monuments and tombs, etc.
5. Industry couplets: refers to couplets whose contents are aimed at a certain industry, department or field. Due to the changes of the times, the application of couplets in the industry is not as good as before, but it is still considerable. Judging from its scope of application and content characteristics, it is still a major category of couplets. Trade associations can be subdivided according to industries and departments.
6. Inscription of couplets: refers to couplets inscribed to others. Although many couplets have been given a certain title, the title couplets mentioned here are limited to interpersonal (or yearning) works, excluding elegiac couplets and congratulatory couplets. Its content generally has a certain nature of praise, wishes and encouragement. From the perspective of the application of couplets, title couplets can be regarded as a big category. According to the different objects of the questions, the questions can generally be divided into several small categories, such as questions, questions, and questions.
7. Miscellaneous couplets: refers to couplets with a wide range of contents without specific objects. This kind of couplets often have simple literary creation characteristics, such as philosophical couplets, lyric couplets, persuasion couplets and so on.
8. Academic couplets: refers to couplets with certain academic nature. This academic nature refers to the specialty that does not belong to the above categories in content and use. Its content is often specialized, with certain disciplinary or religious characteristics, such as popular science association, Buddhist association, Taoist association and so on. From the application scope and development space of couplets, it is necessary to regard academic couplets as a separate category. For example, in the book "A Collection of Touching Smells-1200 Buddhist Couplets" written by the author, many Buddhist figures and Buddhist teachings are systematically written into an academic monograph in the form of couplets. By extension, many scientific knowledge or other learning principles can also be written as couplets, highlighting its academic or professional nature in content.
9. Funny couplets: refer to couplets that highlight interest or skills and pay relatively little attention to content. For example, various humorous associations and skill associations. The content of this kind of couplets either highlights the uniqueness of a certain style (humorous couplets) or is relatively unimportant (technical couplets), making it unique. In this sense, it can be regarded as a single category.
Third, the meter of couplets.
There are two kinds of conjunctions: one is the case in the sentence. One is foot rice (referring to couplets with more than two sentences). The following are explained separately:
I. measurement in sentences
The law of flat and even lines in couplets: in the same couplet, flat and even lines are exchanged every two or three words. The same position between the upper and lower links, the level is opposite.
1, a word together. Upper and lower joints.
Part I: Xu
Bottom line: flat
For example:
black
spring
2. Two-word couplet. Part one: I'm afraid. Bottom line: Pingping. The first word can be ignored.
Part I: Left.
Bottom line: Pingping.
green leaves
Red flowers?
3. Three-character couplet. There are two kinds of metrical patterns of three-character couplets: a: upper couplet and lower couplet. B: The first part is flat, and the second part is flat, flat. The first word can be ignored.
A three-foot sword? Peach leaves cross the sky and the moon
Six bows? Qionghuatai underwater sky
4. Four-character couplet. The requirement of leveling is that one, three can be used flexibly, and two and four are distinct. The rules are as follows:
A: The first part: it's plain. The bottom line is: it's flat. For example, birds sing in the morning = chickens roost at night.
B: the first part: mediocre. Bottom line: flat and faint. For example = = excellent people.
5. Five-character couplet. The requirement of leveling is that one, three can be used flexibly, and two and four are distinct. The rules are as follows:
A: Part I: Flat and even. The bottom line is: it's flat. For example, Lin Jun said that he can play with caves and enjoy poems, and the west wind blows the Weihe River.
B: The first part is flat and the second part is flat and flat. For example, why should the room be elegant = = not many flowers. ?
6. Six-character couplet. ? The requirement of leveling is that one, three and five can be used flexibly, and two, four and six are distinct. Meters mean: the upper part is flat and the lower part is flat and flat. For example, autumn water is the same color as the sky = = = lonely sunset, and a few chirping birds outside Qi Fei window = = =? When did the flowers fall in front of the stadium?
7. Seven-character couplet. ? The requirement of leveling is that one, three and five can be used flexibly, and two, four and six are distinct. The meter is:
A: The first part is flat and the second part is flat and flat. For example, on the first floor, Ruilai Tiandi = = shooting bullfights in the Millennium. The name travels three thousand miles north = = the taste presses the twelfth floor of Jiangnan.
B: The first part: mediocre, and the second part: mediocre. For example, the earth is bounded by the boundless sky = = I am the peak when the mountain climbs to the top. Buddha's heart is wide-knit = = = Do more good deeds and dream long dreams.
8. Eight-character couplet and meter. Level requirements: odd numbers can be used flexibly, and even numbers should be distinguished. The meter is:
A: The first part is flat and the second part is flat and flat. For example: Changzhou Dixiantang = = = Kaiku General Bachelor's Ci School
B: The first part is flat and the second part is flat and flat. For example: left picture, right history, book fragrance, eternal history = = green water, green mountains, green mountains, universe, Changchun
Eight-character couplet can be a combination of four-character couplet.
Nine-character couplets are generally a combination of four or five words (or May 4th words). Cross couplets are generally formed by adding four or six words or five or five words. Eleven-character couplets are mostly composed of four or seven words, and some are composed of five or six words or six or five words, and so on.
Note: It says: No matter what 135 is, 246 is clear. When encountering the taboo of couplets, we should strictly abide by the rules of leveling and leveling, and we will talk about it later.
Second, the rule of flat feet.
When there are several sentences in the upper couplet and the lower couplet of a couplet, we should also pay attention to the arrangement of the last word (referring to the foot of the sentence) of each clause, generally according to horseshoe rhyme (there are exceptions, called deformation lattice). The rules and formulas of the flat arrangement of the foot of a sentence (that is, horseshoe rhyme) are as follows? All examples are footnotes of the upper part, and the lower part and footnotes are not listed. The formula is just the opposite of the upper part. Let's learn by ourselves. )
Two sentences: ○, ●
Three sentences: ○, ○, ●
Four sentences: ●, ○, ○, ●
Five sentences: ●, ●, ○, ○, ●
Six sentences: ○, ●, ●, ○, ●
Seven sentences: ○, ○, ●, ○, ●
Eight sentences: ●, ○, ○, ●, ●, ○, ●
Equal to more than eight sentences?
In addition: Yi Jie said? Some people think that conjunctions should follow the rule of alternating phrases or rhythm points. Italian rhyme can be used as a supplementary explanation of horseshoe rhyme, but its applicability is much wider than horseshoe rhyme. Because the understanding of horseshoe rhyme 95 is based on single words, horseshoe rhyme may not be applicable if there are proper nouns, such as "Li Chenxian wants to exchange thousands of dollars for wine; Tao Pengze's use of horseshoe rhyme for "five buckets of rice don't bend over" can't be explained, because "Li Chenxian, Tao Pengze, Qian and five buckets of rice" are all proper nouns. If analyzed from the intention, Li Chenxian (Ping) wants to exchange wine (Ping) with Qian (Ping), and Tao Pengze (Ping) doesn't want to (Ping) | Five measures of rice (Ping) | Bend over (Ping).