The Chronicle of Meng Jing's Age in the Southern Dynasties records that at the age of 20, people hung peach charms to ward off evil spirits and welcome blessings. This is the bud of couplets.
In the Five Dynasties, the idols on Taofu disappeared and were replaced by couplets. According to Hakka dialect, Meng Changjun, the late ruler of Shu, wrote a pair of couplets called "New Year's Qing Yu, Changchun in Jiajie", which is the earliest couplet in China.
Influenced by the poems of the Song Dynasty, couplets took a big step forward in antithesis. Lu You, a great poet, once wrote an inscription for his study: "Ten thousand volumes have disappeared forever since ancient times, and a window is faint."
According to the time and occasion of use, couplets can be divided into two categories: application couplets and decoration couplets.
(1) application link. Including he Lian, elegiac couplet and Spring Festival couplets.
He qing couplets are used in he qing to celebrate he qing, marriage, birthdays and other happy events.
The elegiac couplet is a couplet used to express deep mourning and commemoration for the deceased.
Spring Festival couplets are used to describe the arrival of spring, say auspicious words, congratulate on getting rich, all the best, enjoy a bumper harvest, publicize the policies of the party and the state, and praise the new fashion.
(2) Decorate couplets. It is a couplet to beautify the environment, and also a couplet to decorate pavilions, terraces, buildings, pavilions, places of interest, study, bedrooms and famous paintings.
The types of couplets can be divided into Spring Festival couplets, Happy Couplets, Shoulian couplets, elegiac couplets, decorative couplets, trade couplets, communicative couplets and miscellaneous couplets (including humorous couplets ...).
Features: couplets are different in length, only one or two words are short; It can be hundreds of words long. There are various forms of couplets, such as pairs, pairs, flowing pairs, couplets, set sentence pairs and so on. But no matter what kind of couplets and forms of couplets are used, they must have the following characteristics: First, the number of words should be equal and the sentences should be consistent. In addition to deliberately leaving a place for a word to achieve a certain effect, the number of words in the upper and lower couplets must be the same, neither more nor less. Second, it is necessary to be honest and have a harmonious tone. The traditional habit is to "pucker up and fall flat", that is, the end of the last sentence of the first couplet is puckered up and the end of the last sentence of the second couplet is flat. Third, the parts of speech should be relative and the position should be consistent. It is generally called "virtual to virtual, real to real", which means that nouns to nouns, verbs to verbs, adjectives to adjectives, quantifiers to quantifiers, adverbs to adverbs and related words must be in the same position. Fourth, the content should be related and run through from top to bottom. The meaning of up and down links must be interrelated, but they cannot be repeated. In addition, the traditional practice of hanging couplets must be written straight and pasted vertically, from right to left and from top to bottom, and cannot be reversed. The horizontal criticism closely related to couplets can be said to be the title and center of couplets. Good reviews can make the finishing point and complement each other in couplets.
Application: In daily life, couplets are widely used. According to the occasion and purpose, couplets can be divided into many kinds. Here is a brief introduction.
1, Spring Festival couplets
Spring Festival couplets are the most widely used forms of couplets. It is an ancient custom in China to write couplets on the door with red paper on Lunar New Year's Eve, which is called Spring Festival couplets. During the Spring Festival, posting couplets in front of every household has become a traditional custom in China. Sticking Spring Festival couplets means sending the old and welcoming the new. There is a summary of the past year, a wish for personnel and a prospect for the future. For example:
Luzhou Xu Haoran Spring Festival couplets in 2002 have a pair of:
"The success of the Olympic bid will bring a century's dream; The success of China's accession to the WTO will surely show the glory of China. "
This couplet sums up the great achievements made by our people in the past year. In 20001year, many exciting events took place in China, the most important of which were China's successful entry into the WTO and Beijing's successful bid for the 2008 Olympic Games. Another example is:
"The national luck is prosperous; Family harmony and happiness. "
This is a good wish for the motherland and family. Another example is:
"China's heyday is getting better every year; The motherland is taking off and everything is new. "
This is not only a good wish for the motherland, but also a prospect for the bright future of the motherland.
Of course, the content of Spring Festival couplets is very rich and can be written according to personal hobbies. In addition to the above, it is also common to express your feelings and make jokes about yourself. In the old society, there were even Spring Festival couplets that exposed social darkness and satirized reactionary rule. In a word, Spring Festival couplets are a reflection of each author's personality.
2. Marriage alliance
Strictly speaking, wedding couplets should belong to the general category of congratulations couplets. However, because marriage couplets are widely used in real life, researchers often study them as a large category alone. Couplets are also called wedding couplets. As the name implies, wedding couplets are dedicated to weddings and happy events, and the contents are mostly blessings and praises to both parties. For example:
"The flowers are blooming, and the lotus house is full of children; Concentric knot, bamboo pole is cool. "
This is a blessing to the newlyweds. I hope they are of one mind, have many children and grandchildren, and be happy. Of course, this is an old wedding. Nowadays, people don't think that having more children will make them happier. Another example is:
"Sound to Yu Di to attract phoenix; The shadow shakes the silver candle and shines on Lapras. "
This is a couplet to congratulate my father-in-law. The main content of the couplet is to praise the newlyweds.
3. First link
Birthday couplets are couplets for birthday wishes, with different contents according to the age, sex, occupation and birthday time of the birthday parties. Generally speaking, for the elderly, it is to wish them a long and healthy life, filial piety to their parents and happiness in their later years; For young people, it is to wish them success in their studies or careers and prosperity; For middle-aged people, it is to wish them prosperity, family harmony and happiness. Of course, Shoulian's writing style can also reflect different personalities of different people. For example:
"Eight-rank birthday banquet, North Hall day lily eyebrows Shu green; When the Millennium Festival arrives, the face of Ximu Flat Peach is red. "
This couplet not only wishes the birthday boy happiness, but also embeds the longevity of the birthday boy into the couplet, which is rich in content and ingenious in conception. Another example is:
"Never too old to learn, you are not old; The painting is also refined and refined, and strives for Excellence. "
This couplet not only praised Shouzhe's exquisite calligraphy and painting, but also praised Shouzhe's spirit of striving for perfection, refusing to accept the old, constantly exploring and making progress.
4. He Lian
Greeting couplets are generally used to congratulate major festivals, events and important victories. It can also be used for things that need congratulations between relatives and friends. Strictly speaking, the above-mentioned wedding invitations and birthday invitations are also wedding invitations, but they have been mentioned above and will not be repeated here. In addition, greeting cards generally include: festival cards, which are used for traditional and new festivals; Write couplets to congratulate the end of major activities and the achievement of major victories; Relatives and friends have things to write couplets to congratulate, such as giving birth to children, moving to a new house, building a new house, starting a business (commonly known as the beginning), going to school or graduating, even recovering from illness, rehabilitating grievances and so on. Anything that deserves congratulations can be congratulated with couplets. For example, Lantern Festival couplets:
"The moon is full, and Yuyu is green; The purple flute is a song, and the Galaxy Wan Li has a flame in spring. "
Congratulations on Mid-Autumn Festival:
"Three or five nights, autumn and silver; The world is full of jade wheels. "
Celebrate Children's Day:
"The rising sun is shining everywhere; Seedlings must be taken care of and will be pillars in the future. "
He Jian Party Festival:
"Qingshui sent Guigui Lanzhou to take the helm of the revolution;
The red flag rolled up the golden sickle and silver axe, and opened up the world with the workers and peasants. "
Happy Teachers' Day Trade Union:
"Be a gardener and add a show to the motherland; I am willing to be a candle and become a student. "
5. Elegy antithesis
The elegiac couplet is a couplet written in white paper to mourn the dead. Mainly pasted on both sides of mourning hall or wreath. Special circumstances can also be published or written in a specific place. The elegiac couplet is widely used, and the content is mostly to praise the merits and sentiments of the deceased, or to mourn the deceased and express their feelings of mourning. In the revolutionary war years, elegiac couplet can also be used as a weapon of struggle. For example:
"Peach blossoms and flowing water are gone; Where is the bright moon and the breeze going? "
Expressed the grief that the deceased had not been found for too long.
"When you die in the line of duty, you will stay in the world forever; Sacrifice for the country, the spirit will always be in the world. "
Praise the noble sentiments of the deceased and their contribution to the country.
"Shock buried jade, waterinfo god sad life and death hate; The phoenix is lost in the nest and the peony pavilion is lost in the garden. "
Ji Xu inherited the couplets of Peking Opera actor Yan Huizhu, and composed couplets for the plays played by the deceased before his death, which not only expressed the author's regret for the deceased, but also implicitly praised the outstanding contribution of the deceased to China's plays.
After Wen Yiduo's sacrifice, someone wrote this elegiac couplet:
"When one person falls, thousands of people stand up; Thousands of people stood up and one fell. "
This intermodal transport uses the rhetorical device of "circle", which not only praises Wen Yiduo's revolutionary spirit of not being afraid of sacrifice, but also warns reactionaries that people can't be killed, and justice will eventually overcome evil. This kind of elegiac couplet played an inspiring and attacking role at that time.
Step 6 decorate couplets
The main function of decorative couplets is to decorate rooms and scenic spots. Generally refers to the door, room, hall couplets, scenic spots banners, ancestral hall couplets. Door couplets and living room couplets are mostly lyric works; Most of the scenic spots are lyric works; Surname ancestral hall couplets were widely used in the old society, mainly to publicize the contribution of ancestors and take pride in it. For example, Zheng Banqiao, a scholar in the Qing Dynasty, wrote a self-titled room couplet:
"Asserting that a few useful books can satisfy hunger; Cultivate a few new bamboos as straight as children and grandchildren. "
It shows that he attaches importance to reading and advocates the education of his descendants.
Modern educator Xu Teli's self-titled society;
"Relevant credentials are often read; Nothing is good for body and mind. "
Explain that an educator's principle of dealing with people, reading and learning is of course his educational principle.
Nanjing Mochou Lake Trade Union:
"The king is five hundred years old, and Hushan is heroic; In the spring of February and March, the combination of flowers is the soul of beauty. "
It is difficult to distinguish the historical facts and figures about Mochou Lake, a famous scenic spot. It is not only a description of scenery, but also a lyric expression.
Li's ancestral hall couplets;
"Crazy songs drink double fairy bones; This is a trick to ask for nausea. "
The last sentence of this couplet refers to Li Bai, and the second couplet refers to Li He. Through these two famous poets, Li's historical position has been reflected and he is proud of it.
7. Entertainment Association
Entertainment meeting, also called topic meeting, is mainly used for communication and entertainment. The main content is to praise things and express wishes, express friendship, place hopes, encourage and praise achievements. The object of the inscription can be individuals, such as relatives and friends, or units, such as scenic spots, mass organizations and important buildings. For example:
"When I went to the city to fight, I first worshipped the heart of the sun; Sandwiched in the south of the Yangtze River, I became a pillar of the sky. "
This is another couplet presented by Zhu Yuanzhang to Xu Da. This pair of couplets highly praised Xu Da's contribution, not only as a founding father, but also as an important minister for the founding of the country, assisting him in running the country and keeping the country safe. Another example is:
"Yang the heroism of heaven and earth; The essence of Zhang Gujin. "
This is a complimentary couplet. This couplet not only highly praised Zhang's personality and character, but also cleverly embedded the names of the characters in the couplet, making it unique to read.
8. Trade associations
According to the different characteristics of all walks of life, write industry couplets to reflect the characteristics of the industry, decorate the lobby, attract customers and establish an image. Taking the characteristics of all walks of life as the language, it is vivid and vivid, which not only highlights the theme, highlights the characteristics of the industry, but also is eclectic, changeable and interesting. This kind of couplets skillfully use the characteristics of different occupations as writing content, or publicize professional ethics, or state the purpose of service, or praise the importance of their work. Harmony and different styles of Zhuang nationality coexist.
It is said that Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, was the first person to write about trade associations. As mentioned earlier, he once issued a decree that every family, whether public officials or ordinary people, should write Spring Festival couplets on New Year's Eve. It is said that one year on New Year's Eve, after he issued the imperial edict, he made a private visit in Nanjing, the capital, without knowing whether the civil and military officials and ordinary people had done as he asked. At first, he found that every household posted Spring Festival couplets, many of which were compliments and compliments, such as "Happy New Year's Eve" and "Good weather in Zhu Hongwu". He is very satisfied. However, he suddenly found that one family didn't post Spring Festival couplets, and he was very unhappy. How dare anyone disobey! He thought, if the family is interested in boycotting the law, they must cut him down with their doors! I asked someone to find out, only to know that this family is castrating pigs as a profession and can't write by themselves; Ask someone to write it for him. Some people are unwilling to write to him, others are willing to write and don't know how to write. There are people everywhere in the family who write Spring Festival couplets for fear of being accused of disobeying orders. Upon hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang went over to ask for a pen and ink. He immediately wrote a pair of Spring Festival couplets and told them to stick them on the door:
"Split the road of life and death with both hands; Cut off the roots with one knife. "
This couplet is recognized by the couplets as the beginning of the industry couplet. Because this couplet cleverly outlines the professional characteristics of the finless porpoise, it is rich in meaning and humorous, which makes people laugh.
People often say that there are 72 lines and 360 lines, which shows that there are many industries. There are many industries, and there are bound to be many industry associations. For example:
"There is wine in the water, and there is water in the wine. Look at the water, light and clear, and the wine is messy;
There is something bad in wine, and there is wine in the bad. "Wine Industry Association.
"A pair of crystals can help me watch the drama;
Two glass tubes help the old man embroider velvet flowers. "Optical shop.
"The photos taken in the mirror are from non-fake; Really, the curtain has been raised. "Film Federation
These couplets all reflect the different characteristics of different industries.
Classic couplets:
Couplets are a literary form that pays attention to meter. To appreciate and write couplets, we must understand its basic metrical requirements. The so-called couplet law refers to some basic rules and formats of couplet writing, and its core requirement is antithesis. The basic meter of couplets can be summarized as six elements and six taboos.
Generally speaking, the basic meter of couplets has six elements, namely, word equivalence, content correlation, part-of-speech equivalence, structural proportionality, rhythm correspondence, balance and harmony. The author believes that these six elements can be understood from three aspects: foundation, grammar and temperament:
1. The number of words is equal and the content is related.
These are two basic elements of couplet rhyme. Equal number of words means that if the first part consists of several clauses, then the second part should also consist of several clauses with equal number of words. In short, if the number of words is not equal, it is hard to be called a veritable couplet anyway.
From the content point of view, the contents of the upper and lower links should be interrelated in order to achieve the opposite or complementary effect. This relationship either sets off from the same angle, sets off each other and complements each other, which is the so-called "right"; Or compare and contrast each other from the perspective of opposition, which is the so-called "opposition." For example:
Sense of accomplishment; Solemn achievement. (right)
Peace of mind; Want to talk again. (against)
There are also several couplets that are linked together, that is, the so-called "serial pairs" or "flowing pairs". For example:
Except sweet, bitter, salty and sour;
Nothing more than rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and tea.
If the content of the couplet is irrelevant, it will make people feel awkward and stiff, and the couplet will not have its due literary effect, so it is difficult to be called a qualified couplet. Of course, there is also a special form of couplets, which is the so-called "unfeeling pair". It means that couplets are neat in form (literal meaning) and irrelevant in content (meaning), thus causing a special effect. Love-less antithesis mainly uses the formal characteristics of couplets (antithesis) to reflect a kind of literary interest and skills, and the content is secondary. For example:
Flowers began to bloom in front of the court;
Your Excellency, Mr. Li (often without love)
The tree is half dead, resting on the axe;
Really irrelevant. (often without love)
In a word, words are equivalent and content is related, which is the minimum requirement of couplets in form and content, and reflects the most basic correspondence and relevance, so it is called the basic element.
2. The parts of speech are equivalent and the structure is commensurate.
These are two grammatical elements and two key elements of couplets. Part-of-speech equivalence means that the relative words of the upper and lower parts should be the same or similar as much as possible. Such as noun to noun, verb to verb, and so on. For example:
The five aggregates are empty and comfortable;
I don't want to see Tathagata.
In this couplet, Wu and Yi are numerals, Yun and Xin are nouns, Jing and Bu are adverbs, Kong and Luan are adjectives, Guan and Jian are verbs, and Yu Zi and Tathagata are nominalizations. Generally speaking, the requirements for function words are loose, while the requirements for content words are strict. In the specific antithesis, in addition to the part of speech, the role of words in sentences can be properly considered, and the requirements for modifiers are loose and the requirements for head words are strict.
Structural symmetry means that the grammatical structure of the sentences corresponding to the upper and lower links should be as same as possible. For example:
Always be United in humiliation;
Everything is fate.
The upper and lower parts of this couplet are both subject-predicate-object structures, in which "one heart" is biased towards "everything" and "humiliation" is a verb-object structure.
3. The rhythm is corresponding, even and gentle.
These are the two elements of metrical association. Rhythm, originally a musical term, refers to the phenomenon of regular alternation of strength and length in music. In antithesis, it refers to the regular pause in antithesis. Rhythm is corresponding, which means that the upper and lower couplet should be as consistent as possible in the pause of rhythm. For example:
Leak-fly-go;
Return empty-hearted.
Use-divine power-protection-Buddhism;
Set-Menglan basin-cross-kindness.
But the author thinks that rhythm can be divided into broad sense and narrow sense. Generalized rhythm includes semantic rhythm and prosodic rhythm. The narrow sense of rhythm refers to the semantic rhythm. Semantic rhythm is mainly divided according to sentence structure, which refers to the division of syllable pauses or intervals according to semantics. Rhythm rhythm refers to the tone requirement of a certain position (flat arrangement) in a sentence from the perspective of flat requirements. The author thinks that in order to make the concept clear, semantic rhythm and rhythm rhythm are best represented by "rhythm" and "step" respectively. Examples are as follows:
At the same time-smell-give notes; Diddy bodhi. (rhythm)
At the same time-smell-remember; Second time -depo-ti. (Step)
Of course, rhythm and pace are closely related and often consistent.
Flat and even harmony, also known as flat and even harmony, in a narrow sense refers to the two major requirements of couplets in tone: flat and even opposition and flat and even alternation. In a broad sense, it also includes other flat problems such as the flat arrangement of sentence endings (see six taboos). Flat tone means that the sound should be flat between the steps of the upper and lower couplet and the feet of each clause, that is, the upper couplet is flat tone, the lower couplet is flat tone, and vice versa. There is a saying that the arrangement of steps is "135 regardless, 246 is clear", because in fact, the whole step does not necessarily need to be flat and relative, but it can be flat and relative at the step position. The so-called step position is the last word of each step and the key sound that determines the nature of the whole step. Because most Chinese characters are two-character steps, the step position generally refers to the second, fourth and sixth words of each sentence. So there is a saying that "135 doesn't matter, 246 is clear". For example:
Heart-external-real model-there is; Air-invisible-empty.
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The first 35 words of this couplet are not necessarily flat, but the last 46 words are flat. However, not all the steps are in the position of 246, mainly because of the sentence patterns of couplets, in addition to the antithesis sentence patterns in regular poems, there are also sentence patterns such as words, songs, fu, parallel prose and even prose, as well as the use of titles and proper nouns. For example:
Building-mandala altar-practicing dharma;
In-Alonso's place-meditation.
Straight heart-is the foundation of all things;
Greed is the root of all suffering.
Deep heart-diligence-mantra-doctrine;
Go all out-promotion-fingerprints-practice.
For the above link, the step position is not necessarily at the position of 246.
The alternation of flat words, compared with flat words, is actually two aspects of the same problem, that is to say, flat words should be used alternately between sentences connected up and down and their own steps (or phonemes). Alternation can only be ignored between the foot of each clause and the previous step. For example:
The real body has passed the mortal world; Xiao Zhi can't stand tipping.
○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○967
Believe in Buddha at first; Deep understanding has no magic.
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The requirements of leveling and leveling coordination are not absolute. Sometimes, in order not to damage the meaning of the law, there will be leveling and leveling dislocation or leveling and leveling dislocation in some places, and they can also be accommodating. In the case of using special rhetorical devices such as parallelism, rhyme and quotation, and using fixed sentence patterns such as idioms and allusions, the metrical requirements of flat tones can be appropriately relaxed.