Definition of couplets

Couplets, also known as couplets, originated from peach symbols. They are a kind of antithetical literature. They can be roughly divided into poetry couplets and prose couplets. Strictly distinguish between large and small parts of speech, so it can be called "Couplets originate from rhymed poetry" is a fundamental mistake. The antithesis of traditional couplets is neater than that of so-called poetic couplets. With the rise of poetry in the Tang Dynasty, prose couplets were excluded.

Prose couplets are generally informal, do not avoid heavy words, do not overemphasize the same parts of speech, and do not lose the contrast.

The rhythm of couplets

Couplets have a long history, and it is said that they originated from Meng Chang, the lord of Shu after the Five Dynasties. His inscription on the peach charm board at the door of his dormitory is "New Year's greetings, the festival is called Changchun", which is called "inscription on peach charms" (see "Shu"). This is the earliest couplet in my country and also the first Spring Festival couplet. (See "Manhua Couplets", Issue 1, 1987, of "Application Writing")

The formal name of couplets is couplets, commonly known as pairs. It is a unique form of Chinese language, literature and art in my country, and is used by all walks of life. People like to hear and see. Couplet rhythm, in summary, consists of six major elements, also called "six phases", which are summarized as follows:

First, the number of words must be equal. The number of words in the first line is equal to the number of words in the second line. In the long couplet, the number of words in each clause of the upper and lower couplets is equal. There is a special case where the number of words in the upper and lower couplets is intentionally different. For example, during the Republic of China, someone satirized Yuan Shikai in a couplet: "Yuan Shikai is eternal; long live the Chinese people." The three words "Yuan Shikai" in the upper couplet and the four words "Chinese people" in the second couplet are "I'm sorry" means that Yuan Shikai was sorry for the Chinese people.

Duplicate words or repeated words are allowed in couplets. Duplicated words and repeated words are common rhetorical techniques in couplets. However, when overlapping, pay attention to the consistency of the upper and lower couplets. For example, Gu Xiancheng in the Ming Dynasty wrote a couplet of Wuxi Donglin Academy: the sound of wind and rain and the sound of reading can be heard; family affairs, state affairs, and world affairs, everything is concerned about.

However, "repeated words in the same position" and "repeated words in different positions" should be avoided as much as possible in the couplets. The so-called word repetition in the same position means that the same word is used in the same position above and below. : The so-called repeated characters in different positions means that the same character appears in different positions in the upper and lower couplets. However, some function words with the same position and same position are allowed, such as Hangzhou West Lake Ge Ling couplet:

The song of peach blossoms and flowing water;

Between the green grass and green grass.

The word "Zhi" in the upper and lower couplets is repeated in the same position, but because it is a fictitious word, it is okay. However, there is a special "heterotopic mutual emphasis" format that is allowed (called "transposition format"), such as Lin Sen's couplet to Mr. Sun Yat-sen::

One person will last forever;

One person through the ages.

The second is that the parts of speech are equivalent. In modern Chinese, there are two major categories of speech, namely content words and function words. The former includes six categories: nouns (including locative words), verbs, adjectives (including color words), numerals, quantifiers, and pronouns. The latter includes six categories: adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, particles, interjections, and onomatopoeia. Equivalent parts of speech means that words or phrases in the same position in the upper and lower conjunctions should have the same or similar parts of speech. The first is the rule of "real versus real, virtual versus virtual", which is the most basic rule with the broadest meaning. Just follow this in some cases. Secondly, there are corresponding rules for parts of speech, that is, the above-mentioned 12 types of words correspond to each other. This rule should be followed in most cases. The third is the meaning-category correspondence rule. Meaning-category correspondence refers to putting the same type of things expressed in Chinese characters together and contrasting them. The ancients noticed this rhetorical method very early. In particular, the noun part is divided into many subcategories, such as astronomy (sun, moon, wind, rain, etc.), seasons (years, festivals, mornings and evenings, etc.), geography (mountains, winds, rivers, etc.), official rooms (buildings, doors, etc.), vegetation (plants, trees, peaches, plums, etc.) ), birds (chickens, birds, phoenixes, cranes, etc.) and so on. Finally, there is the adjacent category correspondence rule, that is, words in adjacent categories can communicate with each other. Such as astronomy versus seasons, astronomy versus geography, geography versus palaces, etc.

The third is structural symmetry. The so-called structural compatibility means that the grammatical structure of the upper and lower couplets (or the structure of their phrases and sentences) should be as similar as possible, that is, the subject-predicate structure versus the subject-predicate structure, the verb-object structure versus the verb-object structure, and the partial structure versus the partial structure. Positive structure, parallel structure versus parallel structure, etc. For example, Li Bai wrote a couplet on a tower in Yueyang, Hunan:

The water and the sky are one color;

The wind and moon are boundless.

Both the upper and lower couplets of this couplet have a subject-predicate structure. Among them, "water and sky" and "wind and moon" are both parallel structures, and "one color" and "boundless" are both positive structures.

However, in the case of equivalent parts of speech, the requirements for some more similar or special sentence structures can be relaxed appropriately.

Fourth is the rhythm.

That is, the places where the upper and lower lines stop must be consistent. :Such as:

Don’t let the good days pass in the Spring and Autumn Period; the most difficult time is the wind and rain when old friends come.

This is a seven-character short couplet. The rhythm of the upper and lower couplets is exactly the same, both "two-two-three". For longer couplets, the rhythm must also be corresponding.

The fifth is harmony between level and oblique. What is Pingqi? The classification of Mandarin's tone and tone, in short, Yinping and Yangping are Ping, and the rising and falling tones are Ting. Among the four ancient tones, the flat tone is Ping, and the rising, coming, and entering tones are flat. The harmony of oblique and oblique lines includes two aspects:

(1) The upper and lower lines are opposite to oblique and oblique lines. Generally speaking, it is not required that the words should be opposite, but it should be noted that: the last characters (joints) of the upper and lower couplets should be opposite, and the upper and lower lines should be flat and the upper and lower lines should be flat; the words at the end of the phrase or the rhythm point should be the opposite; the upper and lower characters in the long couplet should be opposite. The last word (sentence foot) of each clause in the couplet should be the opposite of oblique and oblique.

(2) The upper and lower couplets alternate between oblique and oblique sentences. Contemporary Lianjia Yu Dequan and others summarized a set of "horse hoof rhyme" rules. To put it simply, it means "level, level, level, level, level, level, level, level, level, level, level, level, level, level, level, level, level, level, level, level, level, level, level, level, level, level, level, level, level, level, level, level, level, level, level, level, level, level, level, level, level," and keep going like this, just like the rhythm of a horse's hooves, such as:

The mountain of books has roads and diligence as its path.

○○●●○○●

There is no limit to learning and hard work.

●●○○●●○

(○ means flat, ● means square. The word "Xue" is the entry tone according to "Pingshui Yunbu")

The issue of couplet level and obliqueness is not absolute and can be modified in many cases. If there are overlapping words, complex words, palindromes, humor, phonology, etc. in the couplets, it can be determined according to the specific situation. Some exceptions can be made when necessary for joint purposes.

Sixth is content related. What are couplets? It is both "right" and "connected". The above-mentioned words with the same number of words, the same part of speech, the same structure, the corresponding rhythm and the harmony of oblique and oblique are all "right", but there is still one "link" missing. "Connection" means that the content must be relevant. The content between the upper and lower couplets of a couplet should be related. If the upper and lower couplets each write about an unrelated thing, and the two cannot reflect, connect, and echo, then it cannot be regarded as a qualified couplet, or even a couplet.

But there are exceptions to any rule for couplets, and the same goes for "content-related" ones. There are two very special types of couplets. The first is "ruthless pairing". The upper and lower couplets are neatly contrasted word for word, but the content is irrelevant (or there is a paradoxical connection). The contrast of the upper and lower couplets can create unexpected interest. For example:

The tree has half rested and the ax has been lifted;

Sure enough, it has nothing to do with it.

In the upper and lower couplets, "tree" and "fruit" are both vegetation; "了" and "Ran" are all fictitious characters; "half" and "一" are both numbers; "find" and "point" are all transformed into verbs "Xiu" and "Bu" are all fictitious characters; "Zong" and "Xiang" are all fictitious characters; "axe" and "qian" are ancient weapons. The whole couplet uses spoken language to compare verses, which makes it even more interesting than expected.

The second is divided into chanting poems. The upper and lower couplets chant two unrelated things respectively; the word for word contrasts neatly; the two things are connected from a certain point through the conjunction. The poems with divided chants are somewhat similar to riddles and riddles, but there are many differences. Interested friends can study further.

The couplet emphasizes that the content is related, but prohibits synonymous relationship, which is called "gassho". The so-called avoidance of relative synonyms refers to sentences with relative upper and lower lines, and their meanings should be avoided as much as possible, such as "rising sun" versus "rising sun", "historical records" versus "history", "China's eternal show" versus "Chixian Ten Thousand Years of Spring", "Business is booming all over the world" and "wealth is prosperous reaching three rivers", etc., it is a combination of palms. Of course, the gasshou or gassho parts of some non-central words have a very small proportion in the couplet and are innocuous.

Customs of couplets

Spring Festival Couplets Customs As a custom, Spring Festival couplets are an important part of the excellent traditional culture of the Chinese nation. In 2005, the State Council included the custom of couplets in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage lists. The relevant introduction and evaluation text are as follows:

The custom of couplets originated from the duality phenomenon of ancient Chinese in my country, during the Western Jin Dynasty (around 290 AD) , the appearance of well-regulated couplets can be regarded as an important symbol of its formation. In the process of historical transmission of more than 1,700 years, couplets, parallel poems, rhymed poems and other traditional literary forms have influenced and learned from each other. Through the three important development periods of the Northern Song Dynasty, Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty, the forms have become increasingly diverse and the cultural accumulation has gradually become richer. Couplets have common names such as Ouyu, Lici, and couplets. They are called "couples" and began in the Ming Dynasty.

Couplets use "vice" as the quantifier. They are usually composed of two lines of text and are displayed side by side vertically. They are read from top to bottom, right first and then left, with the upper couplet on the right and the lower couplet on the left.

Couplets belong to metrical literature and have various particularities, but there are no restrictions on the number of words or sentences, ranging from one word to a thousand words. Its stylistic characteristics include up-and-down opposition, equal number of words, same part of speech, opposition between oblique and oblique, lexical correspondence, rhythmic opposition, and form and meaning couplets. Among them, the opposition between oblique and oblique pronunciation and part of speech is particularly relevant. The couplets are concise and concise, and are both elegant and popular. They are called "the poem among poems".

Couplets take text as the content and calligraphy as the carrier. They have a wide variety of products, including paper mounting, mirror frames, wood carvings, stone carvings, bamboo carvings, etc. In the process of the development of couplets, a large number of related writings have appeared, and there are tens of thousands of various classics on couplets.

Couplets are widely used. In addition to hanging in famous palaces, pavilions, halls and libraries, they are also widely used in festivals, gifts, congratulations, condolences, mausoleums and other occasions. According to different functions, it can be divided into Spring Festival couplets, longevity couplets, scenery couplets, self-titled couplets and various technical couplets, etc.

The custom of couplets has been passed down and spread among the Chinese and even in areas around the world where Chinese is spoken and among ethnic groups with cultural origins in Chinese characters. It is of great value to the promotion of Chinese national culture.

The customs of couplets mainly include the following types:

The customs of Spring Festival couplets. Spring couplets, known as spring posts in ancient times, are a kind of seasonal couplets written and posted during the annual Spring Festival. The custom of Spring Festival couplets originated in the Five Dynasties, took shape in the Song Dynasty, and became very common in the Ming Dynasty. In Hunan, pasting Spring Festival couplets is an important custom in Spring Festival culture. Spring couplets are celebratory, timely and targeted, and highlight the word "spring".

There are many types of Spring Festival couplets. According to the place of use, they can be divided into door centers, frame pairs, horizontal drapes, spring strips, bucket squares, etc. The "door center" is affixed to the upper center of the door panel; the "frame pair" is affixed to the left and right door frames; the "horizontal stripe" is affixed to the crossbar of the door; the "spring strips" are affixed to the corresponding places according to different contents; "Dojin" is also called "door leaf", which is square and diamond-shaped, and is often posted on furniture and screen walls.

Marriage customs. Wedding couplets are couplets written to celebrate the joy of marriage and are usually posted on the door of the wedding home, the bridal chamber door, the hall or the funeral hall. The content is mostly enthusiastic praise and good wishes for the two parties to the marriage, with a strong auspicious and festive color.

The custom of longevity couplets. Shou couplets are couplets specially used to wish birthdays to people who have passed their birthdays. Their content is generally about praising the achievements and talents of the people who have passed their birthdays, moral articles, and wishing them good luck, longevity, happiness and happiness. It has a warm and solemn emotional color.

The custom of elegiac couplets. Elegiac couplets, also called mourning couplets in some places, evolved from elegy words. They are a type of couplets used by people to express their remembrance and express their grief for their ancestors and the deceased. They are often posted on the door, on both sides of the urn, on both sides of the memorial service venue, and on wreaths. They are usually made of white paper with black characters, and have a solemn, solemn and sad emotional tone. Through couplets, people can arouse people's remembrance and respect for the deceased.

The Origin of Couplets

Philosophical exploration: Couplets are the literature of antithesis. This parallel symmetry of language and characters is very similar in the nature of thinking to the so-called "Tai Chi generates two rites" in philosophy, which divides everything in the world into two symmetrical halves of yin and yang. Therefore, we can say that the philosophical origin and deep national cultural psychology of Chinese couplets are the dual concept of yin and yang. The dualism of yin and yang is the basis of the ancient Chinese worldview. To grasp things with the dualistic concept of yin and yang is the way of thinking of the ancient Chinese. This idea of ??the duality of yin and yang has a far-reaching origin. The hexagram symbols in the "Book of Changes" are composed of two lines of yin and yang. The "Book of Changes" states: "One yin and one yang are called Tao." Laozi also said: " All things carry yin and hold yang, and the qi is in harmony." ("Laozi" Chapter 42.) Xunzi believed: "The combination of heaven and earth brings about the creation of all things, and the combination of yin and yang causes change." ("Xunzi Theory of Rites") "Huang." "The Old Silk Book" states: "The way of heaven and earth consists of left and right, yin and yang." This concept of yin and yang is not only an abstract concept, but also widely infiltrated into the ancient Chinese people's understanding of everything in nature and human society. Understanding and explaining. "Book of Changes? Xu Gua Zhuan" "There is heaven and earth, then there are all things, there are all things, then there are men and women, there are men and women, then there are couples, there are couples, then there are fathers and sons, there are fathers and sons, then there are monarchs and ministers, there are monarchs and ministers, then there are up and down, there are up and down, then there are etiquette, there are At a loss." In "Yi Zhuan", various specific objects are used to symbolize the two Yao of Yin and Yang. Yin represents Kun, earth, woman, woman, son, minister, abdomen, lower body, north, wind, water, color, flower, black and white, suppleness, etc. Correspondingly, Yang represents Qian, heaven, male, father, king. , head, upper, south, thunder, fire, mountain, fruit, red and yellow, vigorous, etc. This ubiquitous concept of yin and yang has penetrated deeply into the subconscious of the Han nation, thus becoming a national collective unconscious.

One of the important characteristics of the concept of yin and yang in national psychology is the persistence and fascination with things that appear in the form of "two" and "pair". "Things are born in two..., and their bodies have left and right sides, and each has its concubine and lotus root." ("Zuo Zhuan? The 32nd Year of Zhaogong") "The path of the world is just one covering two." ("Zhu Ziyu Lei" Volume 9 13) "Maturity and rebirth, the two are in harmony with each other. Since the emergence of Liangyi from Tai Chi, everything has been the same; daily necessities, cold and heat, day and night, and everything in human affairs - life and death, nobility, poverty, Wealth, dignity, up and down, length, distance, old and new, big and small, fragrance and smell, depth, light and dark, all kinds of ends are too numerous to enumerate." (Ye Xie: Extra Chapter of "Original Poetry") This kind of preference is rooted in the world view of Yin and Yang dualism. The national psychology of pairing is one of the deep reasons for the emergence and popularity of the dual sentence pattern. Many previous discussions also noted this connection. "Wen Xin Diao Long? Li Ci": Creation is given shape, and the branches must be double; divine principles are used, and things are not isolated. The husband's heart is filled with words, and he can make hundreds of thoughts. When superiors and inferiors meet, they naturally form a pair. ...The body must be well-organized, and the words and actions must be well-matched. ...

Looking for the roots of language: a standard couplet, its most essential feature is "confrontation". When it is expressed verbally, it is a verbal confrontation, and when it is written, it is a verbal confrontation. What is the meaning of language contrast? Usually we mention the following four requirements: equal number of words, relative parts of speech, oblique and oblique syntax, and the same syntax. The most critical of the four requirements is equal number of words and oblique oblique and oblique ones. The number of words here is equal, which is different from the "number of words" in English. It is essentially "syllable" equality. That is, one syllable corresponds to one syllable. In English, the words "car" and "jeep" are equal in number but not in syllables. In Chinese, "kǎchē" and "jīpǔ" are equal in number and have equal syllables. The reason why Chinese can achieve "syllable" equality is because Chinese is a language with monosyllables as its basic unit. The trinity of syllables, morphemes, and words. Each syllable in Chinese is highly independent and has a certain length and pitch. In ancient times, there were four tones of Ping, Shang, Lai, and Ru. Today there are four tones of Yangping, Yinping, Shangteng, and Lai tones, all of which are divided into two categories: level and level. Ping and qi are said to be in conflict with each other. In this way, Chinese morphemes (i.e., between words) can establish an equal number of words and a harmonious relationship between oblique and oblique characters. In English, even though the names and concepts of things can be relative, the number and part of speech of words can be relative, and the sentence patterns of the two sentences can be relative, their syllables are of different lengths and their independence is weak. They can be spelled freely and have no tones. Therefore it cannot be compared. Most of the couplets are written in text, and often they are also written, hung or engraved on other buildings or objects. Therefore, the second level of couplet opposition is the so-called literal opposition. The relative nature of words means that couplets are not only language art, but also decorative art. As a couplet of decorative art, it requires neatness and symmetry, giving people a harmonious and symmetrical beauty. Chinese characters happen to have the conditions to achieve neatness and symmetry. They exist in the form of individual squares, which are square and neat, and each occupy an equal spatial position in writing. It is both readable and visual. Its square shape has both aesthetic principles and mechanical requirements. Whether it is written horizontally or vertically, it can appear dense, neat and beautiful. As for English, it is a pinyin text, and each word is of different lengths. It only represents the sound, not the meaning, and has no visibility. It can only be arranged horizontally, not vertically, and it is impossible to achieve true symmetry in form. Let's compare two Chinese and English couplets with the same meaning to further explain why only Chinese has real antithesis, while English and other pinyin texts do not.

English: (Shakespeare’s famous quotes, arranged in the form of couplets)

Chinese:

Construct good ideas;

Write clever sentences.

The English "upper and lower couplets" have the same number of words, the same part of speech, and the same sentence structure, but the syllables are not equal. When read, because there is no tone, the upper and lower couplets have the same sound and appearance, without the ups and downs caused by the alternation of tones and tones. As for writing, the "second line" has two fewer letters than the "upper line", so it is completely asymmetrical. Readers may wonder, is it possible to find and write an English dual sentence that has the same number of words, the same parts of speech, the same sentence structure, the same syllables, and the same writing space (equal number of letters)? It cannot be said that it is absolutely impossible, but because English syllables, words, and morphemes are not a trinity, in actual operation, you can only focus on one and lose the other. Even this Shakespearean couplet is extremely rare in English. The situation is different when it comes to the Chinese expression "Construct good ideas; Write wonderful sentences".

You see, the number of words is the same, the part of speech is the same, the sentence structure is the same, the syllables are the same, the oblique and oblique are basically consistent, and the writing is completely neat and symmetrical. Therefore, the English phrase "think good thoughts; write good word." is not a couplet, while the Chinese phrase "think good thoughts; write good words." can be called a couplet.

The path of antithesis: From the perspective of literary history, the relationship between couplets gradually evolved and developed from the antithetical sentences in ancient poetry and prose. This development process has gone through roughly three stages:

The first stage is the dual stage, which spans from the pre-Qin Dynasty, the Han Dynasty to the Southern and Northern Dynasties. In ancient Chinese poetry, some relatively neat couplets appeared very early on. Several ancient ballads that have been passed down to this day have seen their consequences. Such as "Dig a well to drink, plow the field to eat", "Work at sunrise, rest at sundown" and so on. By the pre-Qin and Han dynasties, couplets were even more common. There are some neat parallel sentences in the hexagrams and lines of the "Book of Changes", such as: "The faint can see, the lame can walk." (Hexagram "63" of "Lu"), "First ascend to the sky, and then enter the earth. " (Hexagram "Shang Liu" of "Ming Yi") Dual and neat sentences are more common in "Yi Zhuan", such as: "Look up to observe the astronomy, and look down to observe the geography" ("Xici Xizhuan"), " The same sounds correspond to each other, the same qi pursues each other, water flows moistly, fire makes dry, clouds follow dragons, winds follow tigers... each one follows its own kind." (Qian? Classical Chinese Biography)

It was written in the Spring and Autumn Period. The Book of Songs has a very rich couplet pattern. Liu Linsheng said in "History of Chinese Parallel Prose": "The methods of making parallels between ancient and modern times are almost all found in the Book of Songs." He gave examples of various types of antithetical sentences such as right-name pairs, similar pairs, continuous pairs, double-tone pairs, overlapping rhyme pairs, and double-rhyme pairs. For example: "The green Zijin is soothing in my heart." ("Zheng Feng Zijin"), "There are Fusu in the mountains, and lotus flowers in the mountains." ("Zheng Feng· Zijin in the mountains") One of the antitheses in "Tao Te Ching" There are also many sentences. Liu Linsheng once said: "The methods of judging pairs in the Tao Te Ching have changed in many ways. There are continuous pairs, staggered pairs, split-word pairs. There are compound pairs of words. There are anyway pairs." ("China") Parallel Prose and History" such as: "Believing words are not beautiful, and beautiful words are not trustworthy. Good people do not argue, and debaters are not good." (Chapter 81), "Be independent without changing, and walk without peril." (Chapter 22) ) Let’s look at the couplets in the prose of various scholars, such as: “Many will cause harm, modesty will benefit.” ("Shang Shu? Wucheng"), "Ride on a fat horse, wear light fur." ??"The Analects of Confucius? Yong Ye"), "A gentleman." To be magnanimous, the villain is always worried." ("The Analects of Confucius") and so on. Ci Fu emerged in the Han Dynasty and is an emerging literary style that emphasizes literary grace and rhythm. Antithesis, a rhetorical technique with neat beauty, contrasting beauty, and musical beauty, began to be widely and consciously used in the creation of Fu. For example, Sima Xiangru's "Zixu Fu" contains: "Beat the spiritual drum and set off the beacon; the chariots will march and the cavalry will form a team."

Five-character poetry originated in the Han Dynasty and reached its peak in the Wei and Jin Dynasties. Among them, couplets are also used more often. The couplets in Han Yuefu are more neat and neat, just like the couplets in later generations' rhyme poems. For example: "If a young man does not work hard, an old man will be sad." ("Long Song Xing"), "The new energy spreads to the golden watch, and the cold light shines on the iron clothes. A general will die in a hundred battles, and a strong man will return in ten years." ("Mulan Ci") In the various styles mentioned above, the couplet has the following characteristics: first, it is only used as a rhetorical device and is not a metrical requirement of the style; second, the number of words ranges from three to seven; third, the contrast is very It is loose, the number of words, parts of speech, and sentence structure are generally comparable, but there is a lack of flat contrast. This is just as Mr. Zhu Guangqian said: "The pairing of meanings starts earlier, and the opposition of sounds is derived from it." (Chapter 12 of "Zhu Guangqian's Collected Works on Aesthetics")

The second stage is parallel pairing. stage. Parallel style prose originated from the Ci Fu of the Eastern Han Dynasty, flourished in the Wei and Jin Dynasties, and flourished in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. Parallel prose can be known from its name. It is a literary style that advocates duality and is mostly composed of dual sentences. This kind of couplet is used continuously, also known as parallel couplet or parallel couplet. Liu Xie commented in "The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons? Ming Poems" that parallel style prose is "a rare example of a hundred characters being picked up, and a single sentence competing for price." An example is a passage from "The Preface to Prince Teng's Pavilion" written by Wang Bo of the early Tang Dynasty:

Shi Wei is in September, and the sequence belongs to Sanqiu. When the water is gone, the cold pond is clear, and the smoke condenses and the mountains are purple at dusk. I'm on the road, looking at the scenery in Chong'a. Visit Changzhou, the emperor's son, and find the immortal's old pavilion. The terraces are towering with greenery, and the sky rises above them; the flying pavilions flow with elixirs, and there is no ground below. Heting and Fuzhu are the lingering memories of poor islands; Guidianlan Palace is the shape of hills and mountains. Wearing an embroidered gate and looking down at the carved beast, the mountains are wide and the plains are vast, and the Sichuan swamp is astounding. Luyan rushes to the ground, the home of bells and tripods; the ships and boats are in the maze, the axis of green birds and yellow dragons. The rainbow sells in the rain, and the color shines brightly in the area. The setting clouds and the solitary owl fly together, and the autumn water and the long sky are the same color. The fishing boat sings late, and the sound is heard on the poor Pengli shore; the wild geese are frightened by the cold, and the sound is broken by the Hengyang Pu.

They are all organized in couplets. Among them, "The falling clouds and solitary swans fly together, the autumn water and the long sky are the same color" is a famous couplet through the ages. This kind of duality (i.e. parallel couplet) is a further development of the duality in ancient poetry and poetry. It has the following three characteristics: First, the duality is no longer purely a rhetorical device, but has become the main metrical requirement of the style. Parallel style writing has three characteristics, namely the four-six sentence pattern, parallel couplets, and allusions. This is one of them. Second, there are certain rules for the number of paired words. Mainly the "four-six" sentence pattern and its variations. Mainly include: four-character duality, six-character duality, eight-character duality, cross duality, and twelve-character duality. Third, the antiphons are quite skillful, but there are many heavy characters (such as "zhi" and "er"), and the antiphonal antiphons are not fully mature.

The third stage is the legal couple stage. Rhythm Ou, a couplet in metrical poetry. This style of poetry, also known as modern poetry, was formally formed in the Tang Dynasty, but its origins can be traced back to the Wei and Jin Dynasties. During the Cao Wei Dynasty, Li Deng wrote ten volumes of "Sheng Lei" and Lu Jing wrote five volumes of "Yun Ji", which distinguished clear and voiced sounds and Gong, Shang, Jiao, Zheng and Yu sounds. In addition, Sun Yan wrote "Erya Sound and Meaning" and used Fanqie notation. He was the founder of Fanqie. However, during the Wei and Jin Dynasties, rhymes were only divided into palace and shang, and there was no name for the four tones. During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, inspired and influenced by the "translated reading" of Buddhist scriptures, they founded the theory of the four tones, wrote a sound spectrum, and applied it to Chinese poetry by translating the tones of Buddhist scriptures, thus forming the four tones of Ping, Shang, Qu and Yu. During this period, Zhou Yong wrote "Four Tone Rhymes" and Shen Yue wrote "Four Tone Spectrum", creating the theory of "four tones" and "eight diseases". According to the requirements of poetry, it has the characteristics of rhythm and musical beauty. After exploration in creative practice, , summed up the principle that poetry must "have different sounds and rhymes among five characters, and different horns within two sentences". As a result, the rhythm of poetry became increasingly strict. The rhythm of the couplet has developed from parallel couplet to regular couplet. There are relatively neat rhymes in the "Yongming style" poems of Shen Yue and Xie Tiao. For example: "The clouds leave the Cangwu wilderness, and the water returns to the rivers and Han rivers." (Xie Tiao's "Xinting Zhubie Fan Lingling Yun") For example; "The moxa leaves are in the Nanpu, and the lotus surrounds the north tower." (Shen Yue's "Hsiu Mu and Feelings") ")wait. Since the theory of "four tones" and "eight diseases" became popular in Qi Liang, the four tones have been dualized and divided into two categories: Ping (level tone) and Chi (up, coming, and entering tones). Nowadays, the concept of Ping and Chi has been , and gradually summarized the "leveling and oblique technique" that should change the obliqueness of each line of poetry, and the "adjustment of obliqueness" between each line of poetry, and the "gluing method" of connecting verses; at the same time, he also discovered that each line of poetry should have changes in obliqueness and obliqueness. Poems that use five or seven characters are more musically beautiful than those that use four or six characters, and the rhythm is more varied; in a poem, parallel couplets and prose sentences are used together, which can also show the intricate beauty of language. In this way, after more than a hundred years of development from the slightly metrical "new style poetry" in the Qi and Liang Dynasties, by the Tang Dynasty, rhymed poetry reached a strict and sophisticated stage and became one of the main forms of Tang poetry. Generally, five or seven-character rhymed poems are composed of eight sentences, with two couplets in the middle, commonly known as chin couplets and neck couplets. They must be in opposition, and the sentence structure, rhythm, and meaning must be opposite. This is the standard legal couple. This can be seen from Du Fu's "Deng Gao":

The wind is strong and the apes high in the sky howl in mourning, and the white birds fly back from the clear sand in Zhugistan.

Boundless falling trees rustle, and the endless Yangtze River rolls by.

Wanli is always a guest in the sad autumn, and he has been sick for hundreds of years and only appears on the stage.

Difficulty and hardship hate the complicated hair on the temples, and the new wine glass becomes turbid.

The jaw and neck couplets of this poem, "The endless fallen trees are rustling, and the endless Yangtze River is rolling in." "A sad autumn is often a guest for thousands of miles, and a hundred years of illness alone appears on the stage." The contrast is extremely stable. Far better than the parallel couplets in parallel prose. In addition to five- and seven-character rhymed poems, Tang poetry also has three rhymes, six rhymes, and arranged rhymes, and the couplets in the middle are also in opposition.

Rhythmic couplets also have three characteristics: first, the use of antithesis as a metrical requirement of the style; secondly, the number of words changes from even numbers to odd numbers in parallel couplets, and finally settled into five or seven words; thirdly, The counterpoint is precise and steady, and the rhythmic counterpoint is mature.

To sum up, the dual sentence pattern in Chinese literature has gone through at least two to three thousand years, and has gone through three stages: parallel couplets, parallel couplets, and regular couplets. "The principle of symmetry has been extended from meaning to sound" ("Zhu Guangqian" Chapter 12 of "Anthology of Aesthetics"), it had developed to perfection in the prosperous Tang Dynasty. The confrontation skills of poets in the Tang Dynasty have been fully developed. If the couplets are compared to a fetus conceived in the mother's body of poetry, then the fetus at this time is fully developed and is about to be born.

Characteristics of couplets

Mr. Ji Shichang and Zhu Jingzhi once summarized the characteristics of couplets in "Chinese Coupletology" as follows: distinctive national character, strong contemporary character, and strict rhythm. sex, high generality and wide practicality. Distinctive nationality means that the couplets extremely clearly reflect our own national traditions and national features.

The strong contemporary nature means that like all literary forms, couplets are bound to be marked by the times. Strict rhythm means that the couplets have their own unique rhythm. A high degree of generality means that couplets have stronger and greater artistic generalization power than other literary forms. They can often reflect profound and extensive life content in extremely limited words. Extensive practicality means that the couplets are widely used in social life. They can be used in all walks of life, with all kinds of people, and in various occasions.

Fu Xiaosong's "A Brief Theory of the Characteristics of Chinese Couplets" summarizes the characteristics of couplets into the unity of five opposites:

The unity of uniqueness and universality: People generally believe that couplets are the unique characteristics of Chinese couplets. One of the most unique forms of literature. Where does its uniqueness lie? Mainly in structure and language. Couplets can be called "dual structure" style. A standard couplet always consists of two parts that oppose each other. The former part is called the "upper couplet", also known as "chuju", "opponent" and "duigong"; the latter part is called the "lower couplet". Also called "couples", "duiwei" and "duimu". Two parts come in pairs. Only the upper couplet or only the lower couplet can only be regarded as half a couplet. Of course, many couplets, especially those written and hung, have horizontal scrolls in addition to the upper and lower couplets. Horizontal comment is an organic part of this kind of couplet. It is often a summarizing and finishing touch to the whole couplet or a text that is consistent with the couplet. It is usually four characters, but there are also two characters, three characters, and five characters. word or seven words. From a linguistic point of view, the language of couplets is neither a verse language nor a prose language, but a special language that pursues confrontation and is rich in music. This special "language-structure" method of couplets completely depends on the special properties of the Chinese language and its characters. The uniqueness of this "language-structure" makes the creation of couplets very different from other literary forms in terms of conception, conception, layout and planning. With the same objective objects and content, Ying Yiang always tries to observe and describe things from two aspects and two angles, and strives to "shape" the language into a binary symmetrical structure.

Couplets have the above-mentioned uniqueness, but they are still a literary form with the general and universal characteristics of literature. It is also an art that uses language to shape literary images, reflect social life, and express thoughts and feelings. It has the characteristics of literature's image, authenticity and tendency, and also has the cognitive, educational and aesthetic functions of literature. Couplets can be narrated, described, expressed, and discussed. For example, to mourn the deceased, one can write memorial texts, elegy poems, or elegiac couplets. This shows that couplets are a member of the literary family, but have a unique form.

The unity of parasitism and inclusiveness: The so-called parasitism means that the couplet is derived from the parallel words and idioms of ancient Chinese poetry. To put it simply, it is a pair of parallel couplets. Therefore, It can be parasitic in various literary styles. Poetry, lyrics, music, fu, parallel prose, and even prose, drama, and novels, what if there are no neat couplets in them? But in turn, couplets are extremely inclusive. It can combine the characteristics of other literary styles and absorb the expression techniques of other literary styles, especially long couplets and super-long couplets. It can simply integrate the culmination of Chinese stylistic techniques. Such as the refinement and connotation of poetry, the exaggeration of the fu, the long and long melody in the words, the refreshing meaning of the music, the free and unrestrained prose, the short stanzas and long rhymes of the verses, etc., they are all eclectic and innovative.

This is Chinese couplets, a special art form full of contradictions and unity of opposites