Characteristics and expressions of couplets

Couplets are a unique form of Chinese literature, and the best among them are highly artistic. By appreciating them, you can gain artistic lessons and enjoy beauty.

When did the couplets originate? According to "History of the Song Dynasty? Shu Family" and other books: During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, Meng Chang, the lord of Later Shu, once ordered people to write two sentences on the peach symbols at the entrance of the palace, but the He was not satisfied after getting it. So he wrote two sentences by himself: "New Year's greetings, festive festivals, Changchun". Later, people regarded it as the beginning of couplets.

There are many types of couplets, generally divided into spring couplets, wedding couplets, birthday couplets, congratulatory couplets, elegiac couplets, couplets, opera couplets, interesting couplets, popular couplets, title-gift couplets, collection-sentence couplets, etc. Spring couplets are used to celebrate the Spring Festival and the New Year; wedding couplets are used to congratulate newlyweds; longevity couplets are used to celebrate birthdays; congratulatory couplets are used to celebrate the birth of a child, daughter-in-law, housewarming and other happy events; elegiac couplets are used to mourn the deceased; couplets refer to temples and monasteries. The couplets on the pillars; the popular couplets refer to those simple and popular folk couplets; the inscription-gift couplets refer to the couplets that praise the mountains and rivers of the motherland and the couplets that are inscribed to friends; the collection of couplets is a collection of couplets from ancient Chinese prose and poetry.

Couplets must be two sentences (or two couplets). The upper sentence is called the "upper couplet" and the second sentence is called the "lower couplet". Together they are called "a couplet". The upper and lower couplets are symmetrical, the pronunciations of the characters are opposite, and the meanings are connected, so they are called "couples". Some couplets are also equipped with "horizontal drapes" (also known as banners and banners). There are generally four characters in the horizontal line, and the content may match the couplet, or highlight the scene and the upper and lower couplets, which complement each other.

How many types of couplets are there? What are its basic characteristics, requirements, and rhetorical techniques?

Basic characteristics and requirements of couplets

①The number of words in the upper and lower couplets must be exactly the same and uniform. There must be no one long and one short, more or less. This is true for short couplets of a few words, and long couplets of hundreds of words.

②The characters in the upper and lower couplets should be balanced and balanced, so that they have the beauty of tone and music. For example, the first line is "The stars hang down on the plains and the fields are vast", and the second line is "The moon surges and the river flows". The characters in the first line are equal and equal; the characters in the second line are equal and equal. The two are exactly opposite to each other.

③The words in the upper and lower couplets should have opposite parts of speech, that is, nouns to nouns, verbs to verbs, adjectives to adjectives, numerals to numerals, and adverbs to adverbs. For example, "The sound of firecrackers expels the old year and brings the new year to thousands of households." Among them, "firecracker" and "taofu", "yiyi" and "ten thousand households", "except" and "change", "old year" and "new year" all have relative parts of speech.

④The sentence pattern and sentence structure of the upper and lower couplets must be the same, with the top and bottom relative to each other and the left and right to each other. For example, Comrade Chen Yi once wrote a couplet to vindicate Lu Xun. The first couplet is "If you want to beat a drowned dog, you will not forgive him even if you die. If you know how to advance, retreat, attack and defend, you will be more than just a general in the literary world." , Dare to laugh and curse, worthy of ideological authority." Although this couplet is long, the sentence pattern and sentence structure are very consistent, which meets the requirements of neat antitheses. The words in the couplet must be artistic, strive to be subtle, concise, clear, accurate, fresh and elegant, and avoid empty vocabulary and slogan-like sentences.

How many types of couplets are there? What are its basic characteristics, requirements, and rhetorical techniques?

The mystery of relative words in upper and lower couplets

(1) Relative parts of speech

Noun versus noun. For example: those related to the human body, gallbladder to liver, head to feet, lungs to heart, etc.; those related to flowers and trees, apricots to peaches, chrysanthemums to orchids, plums to peaches, etc.; those related to animals, chickens to ducks, swallows to birds, dragons to Tiger, dog vs. ox, etc.; those related to astronomy, sky vs. earth, wind vs. rain, stars vs. moon, etc.; those related to geography, mountains vs. water, rocks vs. mud, rivers vs. lakes, etc.; those related to numbers, thousands vs. ten thousand, two Correspondence to first class; regarding colors, green versus white, white versus yellow, green versus red, etc. Take a few couplets as an example: "The head has long regretted that it has been a humble life, and the liver and gallbladder cannot forget an inch of elixir." "The wind blows thousands of willows green, and the rain makes peach and apricots red." "Two orioles sing in the green willows, and a row of egrets ascends to the blue sky."

Verb to verb. For example: admiring the moon versus looking at flowers, reciting poetry versus painting, etc. Take two couplets as an example: "When reading, you should observe its atmosphere, and when traveling, you should benefit your body and mind." "The balconies shake the red water and the water shakes the green, the peach blossoms contain dew and the willows contain smoke."

Adverb to adverb. For example: "The day passes slowly on the horizon, and the yellow flowers on the fence are faintly fragrant." "The endless falling trees rustle and the endless Yangtze River rolls in."

(2) Positive and negative opposites

The upper and lower couplets often use opposite words with opposite meanings. For example: big vs. small, up vs. down, long vs. short, dark vs. light, beautiful vs. ugly, sweet vs. bitter, light vs. dark, etc.

Take two couplets as an example: "In life, you will be a hero, and in death, you will be a hero." "Don't talk about his shortcomings. I also have shortcomings. The vine has grown long, but no one has long."

(3) Opposite of oblique and oblique words

The tones of the opposite words in the upper and lower couplets should be intricately opposite to each other, otherwise it will be difficult to read correctly. The so-called "Ping and Ze" refers to the tone of the word. The "Ping" among them refers to the Ping tone in ancient Chinese, while in modern Chinese it is Yin Ping and Yang Ping; the "廄" among them is the Shang, Lai and Ru tone in ancient Chinese, while in modern Chinese it is Shang. Sound and go. Take the five-character couplet and the seven-character couplet as an example. They have two ways of leveling and obliqueness: "Pingqi style" and "Ziqi style". For example, "The stars follow the vast plains, and the moon surges into the great rivers", which is a five-character couplet in "Pingqi style". Its format is "平平平仄仄,任仄仄平平". "The bright moon shines among the pines, and the clear spring rocks flow upward" can be used as a "Ziqi style" five-character couplet. Its format is "廄廄平廄,平平廄廄平".

How many types of couplets are there? What are its basic characteristics, requirements, and rhetorical techniques?

Several rhetorical techniques commonly used in couplets

Repetition refers to using different things from different angles to vividly illustrate one or several points. For example, Qing Dynasty writer Wu Jingzi once compiled such a couplet. "It is good to study well, to farm well, and to learn well is good. It is difficult to start a business, and it is difficult to maintain success. It is not difficult to know the difficulties." In the first line, he repeatedly used the four words "good", and the second line correspondingly repeatedly used the four words "difficult". " word, thus clarifying his point of view. Another example is that Comrade Chen Yi once wrote a Spring Festival couplet in his youth: "New Year is sad, New Year is sad, and every year is sad. Every year is sad, nothing is accomplished, nothing is accomplished, nothing is accomplished, nothing is accomplished." The horizontal line is "Spring awaits the coming year." It is repeated many times in the first line and corresponds many times in the second line. Thus expressing his indignation against the old social system and his determination and confidence in carrying out revolution.

A metaphor is to use one thing or situation to compare another thing or situation. For example, there is a couplet in memory of martyr Zhang Zhixin that reads: "Like morning glow, like raging fire, a hero's passionate and devoted heart. Like the Five Mountains, like the Three Rivers, the heroic and upright song of the patriots." Among them, "morning glow" and "fiery fire" are used to describe the blood of the martyrs; "Five Mountains" and "Three Rivers" are used to describe the hero's pride.

Separate embedding means embedding the scenes to be described in the couplets in the upper and lower couplets respectively. The couplets with embedded characters have many names depending on the position of the embedded characters.

Fengding requires that the two limited characters be used as the first character of the upper and lower couplets respectively. For example, if you use the words "gold" and "immortal" as the title, you can write "The flowers in the Golden Valley Garden are just right, and the rain is beginning to clear on the cactus."

Yan Jia requires that the two limited characters be used as the second character of the upper and lower couplets respectively. For example, if you use "Dharma" and "Immortal" as the title, you can write "Reforms will be recorded in history for thousands of years, and you will travel to immortals in a dream."

Kite shoulder requires the two limited characters to be used as the third character of the upper and lower lines respectively. For example, if you use "Han" and "Book" as the title, you can write "The Han generals shoot eagles against thousands of enemies, and throw pens to write scholars."

Fengyao requires that the two limited characters be used as the fourth character of the upper and lower couplets respectively. For example, if you use "Wen" and "Shi" as the title, you can write "A white-haired essay on me and my son, with bright eyes to read the past and present of the world."

Crane's knees require that the two limited characters be used as the fifth character of the upper and lower couplets respectively. For example, if you use "fly" and "bi" as the title, you can write "Purple swallows are flying in the fragrance across the courtyard, and the people who roll up the curtains are thinner than yellow flowers."

髇駅 requires that the two limited characters be used as the sixth character of the upper and lower lines respectively. For example, if you use "gully" and "hong" as the title, you can write "The spring rushes to the bottom of the ravine with the sound of spring, and the wind blows the autumn thoughts to the edge of the Hong".

Yanzu requires that the two limited characters be used as the seventh character of the upper and lower lines respectively. For example, if you use "Tune" and "Country" as the title, you can write "There are still birds singing ancient tunes, and no one has left the fairyland."

Kui Dou requires that the first word of the two limited words be used as the first word of the first line, and the second word be used as the seventh word of the second line. For example, if you use "Old "Qiu"" as the title, you can write "Old Shang is a lover of flowers as a companion, and when he is old and his infant is ill and drinks wine as a grudge".

The re-election requires that the first of the two limited words be used. At the end of the first couplet, the second word is used at the beginning of the second couplet. For example, if "Shou" and "Mother" are used as the title, it can be "The star's name is Nanji Wushuangshou, and the mother's name is Xiwang No. 1 Immortal."

The two limited characters are required to be staggered in the upper and lower couplets, with the first character above the second character. If the first character is used as the third character of the first line, the second character should be used as the fourth character of the second line. With "Chao" and "Yi" as the title, it can be written as "The rising sun is still mist, and the snow is about to disappear but still cold clouds".

Rolling blind requires that the two limited words be staggered in the upper and lower couplets, with the first word under the second word.

For example, the first character should be used as the fifth character of the first line, and the second character should be used as the fourth character of the second line. Using "nest" and "curtain" as the title, you can write "Sparrows nest in the painting hall in spring, cattle and sheep can be seen on the felt curtain by the wind".

Dingzhi requires that the three limited characters (must be composed of three characters) be used in the upper and lower couplets respectively, and the word order is not restricted. For example, if you take "Cold Spring Pavilion" as the title, you can write "The cold rain rushes over the spring, thousands of peaks are at dusk, and the green mountains and red trees are one pavilion in autumn."

Hongzhao requires the limited three characters (words that must be composed of three characters) to be used at the beginning and end of one couplet and the fourth character of another couplet. For example, if you take "Southern Laughing Mountain" as the title, you can write " Marching eastward and laughing across the sea, going south and singing high to view the mountains."

Double hook requires that the four limited characters (words and phrases) be used at the beginning and end of the upper and lower couplets respectively, in any order. For example, if you use "Bird Official" and "Human Emperor" as the title, you can write "Human and Heaven are like a pheasant, and the officials of the Three Kingdoms ride on the Phoenix Emperor".

Bi Liu requires that the four limited words be used in two poems respectively without confrontation. For example, with the title of "Lighting" and "Happy Dreams", you can write the following poem: "It's hard to pick up the joy when time passes, and I look for the lonely lamp in the lingering dream."

Broken couplets require the four limited words to be used in the upper and lower couplets respectively, in any order. For example, if you use "Lixia" and "Looking for Poems" as the title, you can write "Searching for dreams of elms in the sky and writing poems about the luxuriant grass."

Wuzazu requires that the limited five characters (must be phrases) be used in the upper and lower couplets respectively, and the word order is not restricted. For example, if the title is "Introducing Du Fu's Danqing", the following couplet can be made: "Just when I saw the red and white colors of Du Fu in Tang Dynasty, I quoted the green maple trees in exchange for Dan".

Contrast is to make the meanings of the upper and lower lines complement and contrast each other. For example, there is a couplet that teaches people to persevere and persevere: "If you have perseverance, why sleep at the third watch and get up at the fifth watch. The most useless thing is to be exposed for one day and cold for ten days." There is also a couplet depicting the scenery of Jinan's Daming Lake. : "Lotus on four sides and willows on three sides, one city is full of mountains and half is a lake." The upper and lower couplets echo each other and form an interesting contrast.

Pun is to make certain words and phrases in the couplets use both words and puns. For example, in the third year of Guangxu's reign in the Qing Dynasty, the Yangtze River Basin suffered a major disaster, the government extorted money, and the people were in dire straits. Someone wrote a couplet to satirize and criticize Li Hongzhang (from Hefei, Anhui) and Weng Tonghe (from Changshu, Jiangsu), the minister of household affairs: "The prime minister in Hefei is thin in the world, and the farmer in Changshu is in poverty." Cleverly, their official positions were , birthplace and political achievements are written separately, but they are coherent, echoing "fat" and "thin", "ripe" and "barren", and the witty puns are amazing.

Homophony means that some words in the couplet or some words contained in the couplet express other words that have the same or close pronunciation with these words behind their surface meaning. For example, in the Song Dynasty, a man named Lu Mengzheng posted such a strange couplet to express his dissatisfaction with his poor life: "Two, three, four, five, six, seven, eighty-nine." The horizontal line is "North and South". The first couplet means missing "one", which is the homophone of "clothing"; the second couplet means missing "ten", which is the homophone of "food"; the horizontal line "North and South" indicates the meaning of the whole couplet: there is nothing.

Splitting characters is to use the acrostic technique to write couplets. For example, in the story film "Three Smiles", Tang Bohu once compiled this couplet: "The hearts of ten people are thinking about the country, the king, and the country. The eight eyes are still appreciative, admiring the wind, the moon, and the fragrance of autumn." Among them, "the hearts of ten people" It is the separation of the word "si", and "Bamu Shang" is the separation of the word "appreciation".

Collect historical allusions into the couplets to enrich the content and improve the expressiveness of the couplets. For example, there is a couplet in Chibi, Dongzhou, Hubei, which reads: "The copper and iron plates, the great river goes eastward. The moon and stars are sparse, and the crows fly south." The first couplet comes from Yu Wenbao's "Blowing Sword Record": "Baoshi's Ci must be written by the Han Dynasty in Guanxi , bronze pipa, iron pipa, singing "The Great River Goes East". The "bachelor" refers to Su Dongpo. He once traveled to Red Cliff and wrote "Nian Nujiao: The River Goes East" and "Chibi Ode", which depicts the magnificent scenery of the river bank and expresses the heroic feelings in his heart. The second couplet is from Cao Cao's poem "Dan Ge Xing", and the artistic conception is also very lofty. Therefore, this couplet is thought-provoking and helpful for people's entertainment.

Xiehou means writing couplets using the method of "Xiehouyu". The meaning lies in the couplet, which is quite interesting to read. For example, on the eve of Yuan Shikai becoming emperor, someone wrote a couplet: "One, three, three, four, five, six, seven, filial piety, loyalty, trust, etiquette, justice and integrity." The upper couplet contains "forgetting eight" and the lower couplet contains "shameless", which profoundly exposes the ugliness of Yuan Shikai's traitorous restoration. Face.

Transformation is the use of parts of speech, such as nouns as verbs, etc. There is such a couplet: "Undress me, push and eat me." The spring breeze brings joy to the people, and the summer rain brings joy to the people.

"Among them, "clothes" and "food" in the first line and "wind" and "rain" in the second line are all used as nouns and the latter as verbs.

Collected quotations are articles written by previous people. Incisive words and phrases are selected from the poems and reorganized according to the requirements of the couplets to make them into innovative couplets, such as "The scenery here is unique and the country is so beautiful." The upper and lower couplets are all selected from Comrade Mao Zedong's poems. p>

New couplets are processed and restructured to make them full of new ideas. For example, the poem "Feilaifengfeng" says: "When did the springs get cold and where did the peaks come from?" "Later, someone made another couplet based on this: "The spring rises from the cold, and the peaks fly from the flying place."