Classification, specification and creation methods of couplets
Classification of couplets
Liang Zhangju’s "Couplet Cong Hua", "Couplet Continuation" and "Couplet Three" written by Liang Zhangju of the Qing Dynasty "Words" divides couplets into ten categories, namely stories, responses, temples, temples, monuments, historical sites, aphorisms, good stories, elegy, collections, and miscellaneous fragments. The "Collection of Couplets" published during the Republic of China divided the couplets into twenty categories, namely celebrations, condolences, buildings, schools, businesses, guild halls, ancestral temples, monasteries, theaters, houses, gardens, old age, places of interest, investment Gift, fragrance, collection of words, collection of sentences, comedy, vernacular, miscellany. Both classification methods are divided by practical scope, but the latter is more detailed than the former. If classified according to the text structure, rhetorical skills, and logical relationships of couplets, there are forty or fifty types. For example:
1. Dual forms: speech pair, matter pair, positive pair, opposition, work pair, broad pair, flowing pair, palindrome pair, thimble pair, etc.
2． Rhetorical techniques: metaphor, hyperbole, rhetoric, pun, question, homophony.
3． Word usage skills: embedded words, hidden words, compound words, repeated words, radicals, word analysis, word splitting, numbers, etc.
4. Logical structure: juxtaposition, transition, choice, cause and effect.
With the development of society and the further development of culture, the subjects of couplets will be more complete and perfect.
Standards and Creation of Couplets
As the name suggests, couplets must be in "pairs", that is, they consist of an upper couplet and a lower couplet. The number of words in the upper and lower couplets must be equal, and the content must be consistent, that is, the upper and lower couplets must be "connected" together. Two unrelated sentences cannot be randomly combined to form a couplet. The subject of couplets is a comprehensive subject with complex content, diverse forms, and strict requirements for contrast and balance. This book will describe and analyze the creation methods according to the standards of couplets for reference by those who learn to write couplets.
After seizing the fruits of the Revolution of 1911, Yuan Shikai, the great thief of the country, began to dream of becoming an emperor, but he died before the robe came on stage. After his death, someone gave him an elegiac couplet, which read:
Yuan Shikai will live forever;
Long live the Chinese people.
Literally, there is no malice in this couplet, but if you read it carefully, you will find that the first couplet has five characters and the second couplet has six characters. This elegiac couplet is so sorry! One of the deacons saw the clues and secretly said to the mourner: The purpose of this elegiac couplet is not good. It means that we, Mr. Yuan, have failed the people!
This little story illustrates that the number of characters in the upper and lower couplets must be equal. Couplets are generally written vertically, with the last character (oblique tone) of the first couplet on the right (upper hand) and the last character (flat tone) of the second couplet on the left (lower hand).
Although the antithesis of couplets is similar to that of poetry, it is more demanding than poetry. There are broad and narrow couplets. A wide pair only requires that the contents of the upper and lower couplets are connected to form a couplet, while a narrow pair must be written strictly according to the standards of "Li Weng Duiyun". However, in practical couplets, wide pairs are more often used, while narrow pairs are often used because the requirements for antithesis are too strict, which restricts people's thinking and is suspected of being harmful to the text, so it is rarely used.
3. Chinese four tones and couplets
The rules of level and obliqueness of couplets are basically the same as those of poetry. Yiyin applies the basic rule of poetry that one, three, and five are ignored, and two, four, and six are distinct.
How to determine the upper and lower lines of a couplet? In addition to distinguishing from the content of the couplet, it is more important to judge from the equivocal tone at the end of the couplet. The couplets strictly stipulate that the last word of the first couplet should be in oblique tone, and the last word of the second couplet should be in flat tone. Later generations called this rule the ups and downs. It must be noted that the "four tones" of ancient Chinese and modern Chinese are somewhat different. Since the promotion of Hanyu Pinyin and the adoption of Beijing pronunciation as the national common language, the same Chinese characters have changed. For example, according to the phonological standard of "Peiwen Yunfu", the four tones are Ping, Shang, Qu and Ru. Ping tone is classified as "ping", and Shang, Lai and Ru are all summarized into "廄". According to the Beijing intonation, it is divided into Yinping, Yangping, Shangsheng and Qusheng. As a result, there are more characters for Pingsheng and there is no "ru" sound. Some of the characters for Qushengsheng are classified into Pingsheng. This is worthwhile for comrades who are learning to compose couplets. Attention. Since ancient times, many language scholars have made a relatively detailed explanation of the four tones of ancient Chinese. Ru Shivacu made the following analysis in his book "Jade Key Song Jue":
1. Ping - Ping Sing and Ping Dao, don't be too low. When read, the pronunciation is gentle, the final sound is long, and there is a lingering rhyme.
2． Go up - shout loudly and violently. The pronunciation is loud, the sound is short, and there is no ending.
3． Go - go and express my sorrow for the long journey. The pronunciation of the falling tone is round and round, and the ending sound is short and high-pitched.
4. Enter - the entry sound is short and urgent. The pronunciation of the entering tone is simple and urgent, and the closing tone is short, low, and has no ending.
Generally speaking, Ping tone characters have a gentle sound and a long final sound. The oblique characters have a short final sound or no final sound. Modern linguist Mr. Liu Bannong first affirmed that Shi Vacuum's analysis of the four tones of ancient Chinese was correct. Mr. Bannong added based on his own research. He said: "The flat tone has the least twists and turns, which is commonly known as the balanced tone. The two tones that go up have the most twists, either rising, falling, falling, or rising. It should be an unbalanced tone with the shortest entry tone, which is called promoting tone." Mr. Bannong's discussion is simple and clear. Mr. Zhang Shilu more briefly divided the flat tones into two categories. The flat tones are where the long steps are, and the oblique tones are where the short steps are. The main difference between the long and short tones is the flat tones.
The author also believes that the four tones of ancient Chinese, in addition to being divided into long steps and short steps, also have very different pronunciation levels. For example, take "Dongdong Liangdu" as an example. Starting from the flat tone, the scale gradually increases to The falling tone reaches its peak, that is, the third tone has the highest pronunciation. The entrance sound plummets, the volume is low, short and concise. In short: the flat voice is sad and peaceful, the rising voice is sharp and raised, the falling voice is clear and distant, and the entering voice is straight and quick. The above discussion is just a general method, and readers can verify it in their study and practice.
In order to practice the ability to distinguish the four tones, the ancients listed the following thirty-two characters as characters to train the basic knowledge of ping and lei. As long as you can master the ping and lei of these characters skillfully, then the ping and lei of other characters will be You can draw parallels and understand it immediately after reading it.
1． One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, ninety. These ten numbers are in order: enter, go, level, go up, enter, enter, go up.
2. A, B, B, D, Wu, Ji, Geng, Xin, Rengui. The levels of this cross are: enter, go up, go up, go up, go up, go up, go up, go up.
3． Zichou Yin Mao Chen Si Wu did not apply for You Shu Hai. These twelve characters are: Shang Shang Ping Shang Ping Shang Shang Ping Shang Enter Shang.
Beijing intonation is used to label the four tones of Chinese, which are Yinping, Yangping, rising tone and falling tone. They all evolved from the four tones of ancient Chinese. When people judge couplets as flat and oblique, they are also used to it. The four tones of ancient Chinese are used as the standard. Nowadays, apart from correcting pronunciation, the four tones of modern Chinese are rarely used to compose dialogues, write poems, and fill in lyrics. But with the promotion of Mandarin and the passage of time, the four tones of modern Chinese have finally been accepted by people.
4. You must know: some Chinese characters have always been used interchangeably, and can be used in flat or oblique sounds, such as kan, jiao, wei, si, pang... A few examples are as follows:
(1)" "Look" is used as a flat tone: the daily incense burner produces purple smoke, and you can see the waterfall hanging in front of the river in the distance; the water flows down three thousand feet, which is suspected to be the Milky Way falling from the sky.
(2) "Look" is made in a flat tone: the plums drip with sourness and splash on the teeth, the bananas are green and covered with window screens; the day is long and I fall asleep with no thoughts, and I watch the children catching willow flowers.
(3) "Jiao" is used in a flat tone: the cherries, apricots, peach and durians are blooming one after another, so Jiao is planted one by one by the window; the shadows of the bamboos are leaning against the willows, and the clear shade enters the house.
(4) "Teach" is made in oblique tone: Chalk life is also happy, and good talents are educated according to their aptitude; the garden is full of peaches and plums, full of vitality, turning into rain and spring breeze in succession.
(5) "Wei" is a flat tone: One is to move to Changsha, looking west to Chang'an but not seeing home; the jade flute is played in the Yellow Crane Tower, and the plum blossoms fall in May in Jiangcheng.
(6) "Wei" is pronounced in a oblique tone: It was originally for the King of Han to accomplish great feats, but he did not take himself into consideration. I had known that the rabbit would end up cooking the dog, but I regretted that I would end up fishing in Huaiyin.
4. Phrase structure of couplets
In addition to requiring rhyme and antithesis, couplets also have certain rules for phrases and structures. Such as:
Shake red;
Poly green.
(Single group, two-character structure)
Humility benefits;
Full losses.
(Single group, three-character structure)
Be content with what you have;
Be able to endure and be at peace with yourself.
(Single group, four-character structure)
Gardenias are placed in concentric knots;
The lotus blooms with pedunculated flowers.
(Single group, five-character structure)
A branch of Conggui is full of fragrance;
Kunshan's jade connects the city.
(Complex group, six-character structure)
The peach-leaf warbler cries wetness on the spring river;
It rains at night and the plum-blossom butterfly dreams of coldness.
(Compound group, seven-character structure)
The sea accepts hundreds of rivers, and it is big when it is tolerant;
Standing on a wall with thousands of feet, it is strong if there is no desire.
(Complex group, eight-character structure)
Retell the past and present;
Retell the joys and sorrows again from the beginning.
(Complex group, nine-character structure)
Three thousand tigers and benign beasts, reaching the land of Youyan;
The dragon flies in ninety-five, reopening the sky of the Song Dynasty.
(Complex group, cross structure)
Forty thousand green coins, the bright moon and clear breeze are valuable today;
A pair of white jade, the famous poet and general have no companions in ancient times.
(Compound group, eleven-character structure)
The heaven and the earth show great mercy, and the innocent and gray-headed people feel the same;
The ancient and modern have been honored, and the nine states and all nations have been favored. Glory.
(Complex group, twelve-character structure)
The phrases and structures of the upper and lower couplets should be consistent and unified. The upper couplet has a verb-object structure, and the second couplet must also be a verb-object structure. Phrases with an object structure, such as "Shake red; Di Cui." The upper line is a positive phrase, and the second line must also be opposite to it with a positive phrase, such as "Tongxinknot" and "Bingdihua", which have the same phrase structure. When planning the layout of couplet phrases, it is important to note that the phrase structures of the upper and lower couplets must be the same. This is also an important rule that couplet authors must follow.
5. The rules for starting sentences of couplets
There are two rules for starting sentences of couplets, namely "Zhiqi" and "Qiqi", which are the same as regular poems. The second character of the couplet has the sound of "廄". It is called Qiqi, and the second character is the sound "ping", which means Pingqi. For example:
Five-character couplet in slanted form:
The country is broken by mountains and rivers; the city is springy and has deep vegetation.
●●○○● ○○●●○
Why should a room be elegant? The fragrance of flowers is not much.
●●○○● ○○●●○
The second character of the first line of the first line in the oblique style uses the oblique tone, and the second character of the second line uses the flat tone.
The five-character couplet is in the same form:
The merits are as high as they are; the principles are self-evident.
○○●●○ ●●●○○
Six-character couplet in slanted form:
No. 1 in articles in the country; unparalleled among the prime ministers in the DPRK and China.
●●○○●● ○○●●○○
Six-character couplet in flat form:
The moon is bright and the branches are frightened; the wind is clear in the middle of the night Singing cicada.
●○●○○● ○○●●○○
Seven-character couplet in the same form:
Stay in the spring and climb the city to see: Xiye Xiangjiang Traveling by candle:
○○●●○○● ●●○○●●○
Seven-character couplets in slanted form:
A picture of mountains and lakes. ; The joys and sorrows of all families are in their hearts. < /p>
The plum blossoms are in bloom, and the fragrance is on the seats;
○●○○ ○○●●
The orchid buds are growing day by day, showing off in front of the steps.
○○●○ ●●○○
Back to heaven and earth, Qiongtian is a thousand hectares of green;
○○● ○○○●●
The east wind blows, and the small garden is filled with red flowers.
●○○ ●●●○○
Eight-character couplets:
Wine can make things happen, wine can ruin things;
< p>●○○● ●○●●Water can carry a boat, and water can capsize a boat.
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Nine-character couplets:
There are no difficult situations in the world;
< p>○●●○●●○●●There is no free time in this world.
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The sentence pattern of the nine-character couplet is:
A blessing in disguise;
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Zheng people cover up the deer, only their desires are true.
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The ten-character couplet roughly adopts the four- and six-parallel style:
The door opens up to the sky, and you step up for three days Scenic sites;
○●●○ ●●○○●●
Ten thousand steps, overlooking thousands of wonders.
○○●● ○○○●○○
For long couplets of more than ten words, in addition to the requirements of the level and the level, the level and level of the last word of each sentence must also be coordinated. For example, in the couplet below, in addition to the coordination of each sentence segment, every word in the upper and lower couplets is very stable.
You can stay here, cut candles by the west window, and talk about the scenery of your hometown. The sword pavilion is majestic; Emei is beautiful, Bashan is beautiful,
○ ○ ● ○ ● ●
The clear water and clear ripples, countless famous mountains and rivers are all visible;
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He came to the capital to offer suggestions and set the example of the North Road, and he will never forget the example of the sages. Xiangru Fu, Taibai Poems, Dongpo Prose,
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Sheng'an Kedi, went to see beautiful and talented people, and then went to Chang'an.
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