In order to show elegance, the ancients left some blanks at the beginning and end of couplets, so that more talented people could sign them or modify the words or phrases to show respect.
Today, people habitually retain this tradition, but many places have been abandoned or forgotten, but this has not reduced the joy of the Spring Festival.
Extended data
origin
It is said that Spring Festival couplets come from the symbol of peach. According to the Book of Rites, the peach symbol is six inches long and three inches wide, and the words "Shen Tu" and "Lei Yu" are written on the mahogany board. "On the first day of the first month, I made a peach symbol for this family and named it Xianmu. All ghosts are afraid of it." In the Five Dynasties, in the court of West Shu, someone wrote couplets on peach symbols. In the Qing Dynasty, Yanjing Shi Sui Ji said: "Spring Festival couplets are also Fu Tao."
Another source of Spring Festival couplets is spring stickers. The ancients posted the word "Yichun" more and more at the beginning of spring, and then it gradually developed into Spring Festival couplets, expressing the good wishes of the working people in China to ward off evil spirits and avoid disasters and welcome good luck.
It is said that this custom originated in the Song Dynasty and became popular in the Ming Dynasty. By the Qing Dynasty, the ideological and artistic quality of Spring Festival couplets had been greatly improved. Sticking Spring Festival couplets has become a custom now. Red couplets were posted on the gate, and the room suddenly lit up. Just as the poem says, "Smile with joy, and every household sticks Spring Festival couplets;" Say goodbye to the old and welcome the new, and the wheel of time will move forward forever. "