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(1) History of Couplets

As early as the Northern Song Dynasty, Wang Anshi left a poem "New Year's Day": "Amidst the sound of firecrackers, At the end of the first year, the spring breeze brings warmth to Tusu. Thousands of households are busy inserting new peaches to replace old talismans." The meaning of the poem is: One year has passed amidst the sound of firecrackers, and the spring breeze is blowing to warm the face. The earth is renewed, and people are in high spirits. The whole family gathers together, drinking Tusu wine and celebrating the festival. At this time, the morning glow fills the sky, illuminating thousands of households, as if they are covered with red and colorful colors; people are in high spirits, rushing to tear off the old charms and replace them with new peach charms, which means getting rid of the old and welcoming the new.

Couplets are commonly known as "couples". As a unique combination of Chinese language art and calligraphy art, it not only occupies a certain position in China's splendid cultural and artistic treasure house, but also radiates strange light in the world's palace of literature and art.

Couplets have a long history. Tracing its origins, the earliest Spring Festival couplets appeared, and the Spring Festival couplets evolved from the "Peach Talisman". Taofu originated around the Qin Dynasty. The peach charms at that time were to write the two gods "Shen Tu" and "Yulei" on two dark red peach boards, or draw the images of the two gods, which were intended to suppress evil and expel ghosts, and pray for blessings and good luck. Later, with the emergence of parallel prose in the Southern and Northern Dynasties and the development of rhymed poetry in the Tang Dynasty, the content of "Taofu" was also updated, resulting in a "Taofu" poem inscribed with two parallel lines, which can be said to be the earliest prototype of Spring Festival couplets. As early as before the Qin and Han Dynasties, there was a custom of hanging peach charms during the Chinese New Year.

There are about eight or nine theories about when the earliest Spring Festival couplets were produced and by whom. The traditional view, which is also the view of most people in the couplet community at present, is that the earliest Spring Festival couplets were written by Meng Chang (chǎng) of the Later Shu Dynasty in the Five Dynasties. The main basis is a record in "History of the Song Dynasty "Shu Family": Xin Yinxun, a scholar of Later Shu, was ordered by Meng Chang to write Spring Festival couplets on New Year's Eve. Meng Chang thought that the Xin couplets were not good enough, so he wrote a Taofu poem by himself: "New Year's greetings, good luck. Festival number Changchun". These two "Peach Rune Poems" are considered to be the earliest Spring Festival couplets.

In the Song Dynasty, the custom of hanging "Peach Rune" on the door during the Spring Festival was still followed. Wang Anshi's "New Year's Day" poem: " Thousands of households always exchange new peaches for old charms every day. "This "new peach" is the newly titled "Peach Fu Poetry". In the Song and Yuan Dynasties, couplets engraved on wooden pillars appeared in the palace, eunuchs, temples, and Buddhist gates, and later generations called them "couples." Moreover, According to relevant information, the earliest birthday couplets, elegiac couplets, and gift couplets were also produced at that time.

In the early years of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang, known as the "Emperor of Couplets," issued an imperial edict, and spring couplets were spread all over Jinling: "The creation of Spring Festival couplets dates back to the Ming Dynasty, when Taizu Taizu of the Ming Dynasty issued a decree in Jinling, the imperial capital, on New Year's Eve: a Spring couplet must be added to the doors of ministers, officials, and common people. " (Qing Dynasty "Chen Yunzhan's "Miscellaneous Stories about Hairpin Cloud Tower") Since then, posting Spring Festival couplets during the Spring Festival has replaced the custom of "inscribing peach charms", and overnight, it has spread from the palace to the common people. In the history of the development of couplets, this cannot but be a major contribution of Zhu Yuanzhang, the feudal emperor.

Since then, especially in the heyday of Kangxi and Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty, the art of couplets has reached a level of perfection. Not poor.

(2) Antithesis of couplets

First, the parts of speech must be equivalent. For example:

The reeds on the wall are top-heavy and have a shallow base; the bamboo shoots in the mountains have sharp mouths, thick skin and hollow bellies.

"Wall" versus "mountain", "reed" versus "bamboo shoots", "head" versus "mouth", "feet" versus "skin", "root" versus "abdomen" are noun pairs. Noun; "heavy" versus "point", "light" versus "thick", "shallow" versus "empty" are adjectives versus adjectives; "top" versus "between",

"bottom" versus "中" is a locative word versus a locative word. Whether it is based on the requirements of the ancients or today's standards, it is correct, and it is very correct.

The second is that the structures must be corresponding, that is, the two couplets have the same grammatical structure. Take the "wall" couplet as an example. The first couplet has a subject-predicate structure, and the second couplet also has a subject-predicate structure. The subject part of the first line is a positive structure, and the subject part of the second line is also a positive structure. The predicate part of the first line is a parallel structure, and the predicate part of the second line is also a parallel structure. The structures of these two couplets are corresponding. Now draw the following diagram according to the analytic hierarchy process. Since the structures of the two couplets are the same, only one picture will be combined:

The reeds on the wall are top-heavy and light-footed, with shallow roots;

The bamboo shoots in the mountains have a pointed mouth, thick skin and a hollow belly.

└—┘ └—┘ └—┘ └—┘ └—┘ ｜

Location coordinate subject predicate subject predicate direction │

└———— ┘ │ │ └——┘

Positive│ │ Subject and predicate

└┬┘ └———┴——————┘

│ Parallel

└————————————┘

Subject and predicate

The parts of speech must be the same and the structure must be corresponding. These two items are generally should be followed.

Third, the rhythm must be the same, that is to say, the pauses in the two couplets must be consistent. Please take a look at the image of the Maitreya Buddha Hall in Yongquan Temple, Fuzhou: Carrying an empty cloth bag every day, little rice and no salt, but left with a big belly and wide intestines. I don’t know how many Tan Yue, what kind of offerings should I use when I have faith?

Every year I sit at Lengshan Gate to receive Zhang and Li, and I always see him happy. May I ask why this Toutuo is so proud?

For this couplet, in terms of the big pauses, the rhythm is six-four-seven-five-eight, and in terms of the small pauses, the rhythm is two-four-two- —Two—Three—Four—Two—Three—Three—One—Four, both pairs.

(3) The balance and opposition of couplets - alternation and opposition

To be able to use the balance, you must first be able to distinguish the balance. Ping and Ting were first used in writing poems. The ancients divided the four tones of Ping and Ting into two categories: Ping and Ting, respectively. In Mandarin, Yingping and Yangping are flat tones, and the rising and falling tones are flat tones.

The so-called alternation of levels and obliques means that within a couplet, words that cannot only use flat tones or only oblique tones should be used regularly and alternately. It cannot be used except as an artistic technique. The so-called opposition between level and oblique means that the words in the same position between the upper and lower couplets should be opposite. That is, if the first couplet is in a flat tone, the second line should be in a flat tone; if the first couplet is in a flat tone, the second line should be in a flat tone. Except for modifications within the scope of the rules (such as flattening or squaring), it should not be violated.

Let’s take a look at two poems by Liu Yuxi, a poet from the Tang Dynasty:

Thousands of sails pass by the side of the sunken boat,

ΔΔООΔΔО

In front of the diseased tree Wan Muchun.

"Zhe" means alternating within the couplet. The words in the same position in the upper and lower lines are opposite, which means they are opposite. (Δ represents 仄 and О represents flat.) The flat and flat characters in each poem are alternated. Poems like this are written using the flat and oblique tones in Chinese, so they make people feel smooth and smooth when reading them. Rhythm.

Let's try reading this couplet: Or read the following seven-character couplet:

Every year the song is full of beautiful mountains and clear waters and the spring scenery is good

ОООΔΔ ООΔΔООΔ

Praise to the beautiful spring breeze and new scenery every year

ΔΔΔОО ΔΔООΔΔО

Here is another example of the couplet of Anqing Grand View Pavilion:

Autumn colors are all over the southeast, and rafting with guests has never been more enjoyable since Red Cliff.

ОΔΔОО ΔΔ О ΔΔО ΔΔ

The great river flows day and night, asking the green lotus and then raising a glass to invite the moon to watch. Who.

ΔООΔΔ ОО Δ ООΔ ОО

Judging from the oblique symbols in this couplet, the places where the book has oblique symbols are rhythm points. These rhythm points alternate between oblique and oblique. The first couplet It is opposite to the rhythm point of the second line. But apart from these rhythmic points, other similar places in the upper and lower couplets are not necessarily opposite. This phenomenon means that the balance between the upper and lower lines outside the rhythm point does not necessarily require opposition and can be relaxed. This relaxation does not affect the rhythm of the entire couplet when read, so this phenomenon is allowed to occur, especially for long couplets.

It can be seen that when writing couplets, we must pay attention to the alternation of oblique and oblique within the couplets and the oblique and oblique opposition between the rhythm points of the upper and lower couplets.

(4) Basic requirements for couplet writing

First, the number of words in the upper and lower couplets is equal. Second, the words in the same position in the upper and lower conjunctions have the same part of speech. Third, the structures of words in the same position in the upper and lower conjunctions are the same, which means subject-predicate structure versus subject-predicate structure, verb-object structure versus verb-object structure, partial-positive structure versus partial-positive structure, etc. Fourth, the reading rhythm of the upper and lower couplets must be the same. Fifth, the rhetorical techniques used in the upper and lower couplets are the same.

Sixth, we must pay attention to the alternation of oblique and oblique lines within a couplet and the opposition between oblique and oblique points in the upper and lower couplets.

In order to write good couplets, in addition to understanding the basic requirements of couplets, you should also read and memorize famous aphorisms, good couplets by masters of couplets, folk couplets and poetry couplets. The classmates picked it up casually, such as "the thread in the hands of a loving mother, the clothes on the wanderer's body", "a river of water protects the fields and surrounds them with green, and two mountains with rows of gates bring greenery", "the flowers shed tears when feeling the time, and the birds are frightened when they hate farewell", "The cold eyebrows point at thousands of people, and the heads are bowed and willing to be like a ox", "If a young man does not work hard, the old man will be sad", "Water is like a wave of eyes, and a mountain is like a gathering of eyebrows." and so on. In fact, many of the famous aphorisms are neat couplets. The more you read and the more you remember, it is a kind of practice of couplets!

Su Shi was a master of couplets, and his wonderful couplets and interesting anecdotes can be found all the time as long as he reads. For example, Su Shi went to the countryside one day and saw fellow villagers carrying mud from the pond. An old woman said: "A heavy load of mud is blocking the road." (Zhongni is Confucius; Zilu is a student of Confucius.) Su Shi immediately replied: "Two rows of mud are blocking the road." "The master smiled and looked back" (Master is Confucius; Yan Hui is Confucius's student) It is really neat and interesting.

Couplets originated from poetry and are characterized by neatness, contrast, and emphasis on balance. For example, Wen Tingyun's "Morning Journey to Shangshan": "The sound of chickens is heard in Maodian and the moon is shining, and people are walking in the frost on Banqiao." The six nouns not only contrast neatly and alternately between oblique and oblique, but can also express themselves completely without using any prepositions or verbs. The meaning is to create a perfect artistic conception.

"Read three hundred Tang poems by heart, and you can recite them even if you don't know how to compose them." Frequently paying attention to some interesting couplets and consciously increasing cultural accumulation are very beneficial to doing good couplet questions.

In addition, you must master the method of writing couplets:

(1) Association method

Associative ability is the most important ability in human thinking activities. Because the biggest feature of couplets is that they are both "right" and "connected". "Pair" means that there must be a corresponding relationship between the upper and lower couplets in structure; "Lian" means that the upper and lower couplets in content should be related to each other. Therefore, it can be said that the "association method" is the most basic and commonly used method of making couplets.

There are generally three types of associations, all of which play an important role in the production of couplets.

Similar association: refers to the association between things with the same or similar nature or characteristics (the meaning of the word is also included in the production of couplets). For example, the couplet "Chunhui fills the earth, and auspicious energy fills the universe" in national scrolls for Jilin, Sichuan and other places is mainly made up of this method: "Chunhui" can be associated with "auspicious energy", and "Ying" can be associated with it. To "man"; from "earth" can be associated with "cosmos". These words are all associations between things with the same nature or characteristics.

Relative association: refers to the association between things with relative or opposite properties or characteristics. For example, the words "sweep" - "tree", "old habits" - "new style" in the couplet "Sweep away thousands of old habits and establish new trends for a generation" used in Jiangxi, Henan and other places across the country, that is, there is a relativity between things. or opposite.

Related association: refers to the association between things whose properties or characteristics are related. For example, the "gardener" - "peaches and plums" in the couplet "The Joy of a Generation of Gardeners, the Peach and Plum Bloom in Kyushu" used in Gansu, Ningxia and other places in the national scrolls is a related association of things.

Generally speaking, the most commonly used associations in making couplets are similar associations and related associations, while relative associations are more commonly used in making "opposition" (such as "sweep" in the national papers in Jiangxi, Henan and other places). "Thousands of years of old habits, establish a new generation of new trends" and "The sound of firecrackers, old customs and habits go away with the old year, the spring breeze brings new ideas and new weather with the arrival of the New Year" in Guangxi, Hainan and other places. It is necessary to use relative association. ). In most cases, the formulation of a couplet requires a combination of multiple associations.

Of course, when using the associative method to write couplets, you cannot associate from individual words in isolation. You should focus on the overall grasp. You must consider the relevance of the upper and lower couplets, and also pay attention to the internal words of the upper and lower sentences. adhesion between them.

(2) Chemical usage

The so-called "chemical usage" refers to the flexible use of famous poems or idioms and allusions to create couplets. Many famous couplets in ancient and modern times were made using this method. For example, the self-encouragement couplet written by Pu Songling - "Those who are determined, things can come true, the cauldron can sink the boat, the Qin Pass will eventually belong to Chu; people who work hard, God will not let them down, sleep on the salary and taste the courage, three thousand Yue Jia can swallow Wu", which cleverly puts it Idioms and allusions such as "Where there is a will, there is a way", "The Emperor is worthy of the hard work", "The cauldron sinks the boat", "Lie on firewood and taste the courage", etc. are integrated into one couplet, which can be called a classic of this type of couplet.

In fact, the previous "association method" and "chemical usage" should be based on the "disassembly method".

The splitting method is the most useful method for pairing couplets. That is, break a sentence into several phrases according to the basic rhythm, pair them separately, and finally combine the paired words into a sentence.

The 24th couplet question of the 2004 National College Entrance Examination, the previous sentence is: ① Sweep away the thousand-year old habits ② The motherland is good ③ When winter comes and spring comes, thousands of willows welcome the green wind. Three sentences either do ①② or do ③. How to answer such questions well? For example, the sentence ①, "Sweep away thousands of years of old habits," can be broken down into three paragraphs, "Sweep - Thousand Years - Old Habits." At a glance, we know that "sweep" is a verb, which can quickly produce a series of words such as "eliminate, remove, raise, remove, build, expand, destroy, tree, erect, raise, multiply, accumulate" and so on; "Qian" is For quantifiers, we can use "hundred years, ten thousand years, one generation, four seasons, three autumns, two generations, five summers, billions of times" and so on; "old habits" is a partial corrective word, and can be used for "new practices, bad customs, ugly behavior, Quirks, bad habits, etc. Select some combinations from them to form "abolition - a hundred years - bad customs", "revolution - ten thousand years - bad habits", "exhibition - a generation - new trends" and so on. Finally, you should develop good review habits when answering questions.

To write a couplet that meets the requirements in the examination room, question review is an important step. Students are especially warned not to ignore the explicit or implicit information on writing requirements on the question stem. For example, if the national volume requires the writing of Spring Festival couplets, then it means that the content of the proposed second line must reflect the festive color of the Spring Festival; the title requirement of the Zhejiang volume is "Please prepare a second couplet for the library's couplets", then the first line of the first line must be "Learning" The second line of the second couplet corresponding to "hiding the present and the past" should reflect