Six principles for writing couplets: workmanship, stability, relevance, relevance, novelty and novelty

Six principles for writing couplets: workmanship, stability, closeness, cutness, novelty, and oddity:

Workership

Workmanship, first of all, refers to neatness. A couplet should have the same number of words, the same part of speech, harmonious tones, and similar sentence patterns. That is to say, it must be completely consistent or basically consistent with the characteristics and laws of the couplet. Neatness is the most basic requirement for writing couplets.

The ancients (or predecessors) were very particular about "work" when making mistakes. Before the Qing Dynasty, the writing and selection of couplets were relatively strict, and there was almost no one who failed to do so. The couplets from the Republic of China period, such as the couplets collected in various collections of Hu Junfu's "Selected Ancient and Modern Couples", were also carefully selected. Of course, some books are chosen more casually. In recent years, some of the couplets in the couplets are indeed not rigorous enough, especially the new couplets selected. Some irregular couplets have also appeared in the book, causing people to have doubts about the creation of the new couplets. There are two reasons for this. One is that the author himself lacks a serious attitude towards creation, and the other is that the editors and selectors did not consider each link step by step. They copied here and there and gathered them together to make a book. Then they would have made a mistake. I think the latter has a greater responsibility. If things are done according to the principle of "although few are good, it is better to be less than too much", those very untidy "couples" will never get ahead, which will be a blessing for the alliance.

I don’t want to give examples here, but just remind readers: Don’t think that all printed couplets are good or “model essays.”

Work also means "exquisite and concise". I have roughly estimated that couplets with less than seven characters account for more than half of the total number, and long couplets with more than nine characters account for less than one percent. It uses limited numbers to express infinite and rich thoughts, feelings and images, and is exquisite and concise in terms of conception, layout, word usage, phrasing, and sentence formation.

Not knowing how to cherish ink as much as gold is a shortcoming of poor couplet writing. In the 1986 national "Condolences to the Front Lines and Memory of the Heroes" campaign, among the couplets selected in the preliminary evaluation, there were also such "unrefined" couplets. Here are two examples:

Couplet No. "283":

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With beautiful mountains and rivers, how can there be beauty in the hearts of heroes?

The sun is high and the moon is high, how can the style of a warrior be as high as that of a warrior

The judges thought that " "The mountains and rivers are beautiful" and "the sun and the moon are high" are redundant and clever meanings. They should be changed to:

With beautiful mountains and rivers, how can a hero have a beautiful soul?

The sun is high and the moon is high, how can a war be achieved? High earth style

Couplet numbered "272":

Resisting bandits at the border, building eternal achievements in the fire

The earth welcomes spring, and the world sings the same song as a generation of heroes

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The judges believe that "in the fire" and "the world" are redundant words, and it is better to delete them and form a more concise sentence structure of "four or six":

Fighting bandits at the border and making great achievements for a long time< /p>

The earth welcomes the spring, and a generation of heroes sings the same song

Of course, after the "appendectomy" couplet, it is impossible to win the first or second prize again, but it is okay to win the commemorative award, because the work After all, it can be "rescued", otherwise, the judges wouldn't even have to discuss it.

Steady

Steady means stable and stable. If you follow the rules, you can find stability; if you are unconventional, you can also find stability. Just like a building, no matter what the style, it must have a solid foundation and a correct image. The same is true for making couplets.

Stability has its external manifestations. When choosing a sentence pattern, put short sentences first and long sentences last. For example, in a ten-character couplet, the four-six sentence pattern is more stable than the six-four sentence pattern; in the eleven-character couplet, the forty-seven sentence pattern is more common; in the twelve-character couplet, the five-seven sentence pattern is dominant; in the eighteen-character couplet, Generally, it is a 657 sentence pattern. If you use "666", it will be dull, and if you use "765", it will be unstable. Almost no one uses it this way. The reason is that using a sentence with a lot of words at the end can "support" the previous words. live. In addition, there is also a situation where the word "collar" can be understood as "supporting" the whole couplet together. For example, the couplet of Kunming Daguan Tower should end with:

...Don't let down the fragrance all around. Rice, ten thousand hectares of clear sand, nine summer hibiscus, three spring willows

... only a few pestles and sparse bells, half a river of fishing fire, two rows of autumn wild geese, and a pillow of clear frost

"Part 1 The purpose of the suffix "廄下平" is also to create a smooth phonological effect. "Zi" means "uneven". If the entire couplet is concluded with the word "Zi", it will not be stable.

The inherent meaning of stability is mainly reflected in strength and weakness. The so-called strength and weakness refers to the relative scope of the upper and lower couplets, the relative depth of thoughts, the relative between abstract and concrete, and the relative intensity of emotions.

Generally speaking, the upper and lower couplets are equally strong, for example:

Know a lot about the world and have a broad mind

Read all the people and have a broad vision (motto couplet)

Home green water By the Green Mountain

People are in the gentle spring breeze (Spring Festival Couplets)

There are many couplets like this. But some have changes in strength and weakness, mainly the weak at the top and the strong at the bottom. There are many such couplets, such as the "Yangcheng Evening News" couplet that leads the way:

Wear the chicken and dance

< p>Prancing Horse Fighting for Spring

The upper and lower lines both mean striving for victory, and the second line is naturally more powerful and broader in scope. Another example is the unique work in the Guangzhou Cuiyuan Restaurant Zhenglian:

I welcome guests in the Cui Pavilion, countless sweet, crisp, rich, fragrant and elegant colors

Garden flowers Wonderful scenery, a cup of prosperity and happiness, and joy in the mountains and seas

Compared with the concrete feelings of the sentences, the couplets are superior in terms of charm and emotional sublimation.

From the above two examples, we can see that the difference between strength and weakness is not good or bad. Regardless of whether the strengths and weaknesses are equal, or whether the superior and weak are equal and the inferior is stronger, each sentence must be done to the best of its ability. If a word fails, it will be like the foundation pillars of a house collapsing, and the building will not be stable.

As for the situation where the top is strong and the bottom is weak, it is relatively rare. Unless there are some interesting connections, no one is willing to do something that "starts but ends first".

Stability, there is another factor that "works hard in connecting with foreign countries", that is, the maturity and stability of thinking. If a person's thoughts are capricious, he has no belief in life, and he is emotionally impetuous and exaggerated, it will be difficult for his couplets to achieve true stability.

Posting

Posting means appropriate. It's like a person making a piece of clothing. After being cut and sewn properly, it will fit you perfectly. It's not too big or too small, not too fat or too thin. It will fit you and make others comfortable. Making couplets should be like wearing clothes. A good couplet can reach the point where "if it increases by one point, it will be longer, and if it decreases by one point, it will become shorter". If the intention is inappropriate, the main idea will be poor; if the lyricism is inappropriate, the expression will be inappropriate; if the wording is inappropriate, the behavior will be ineffective; if the wording is inappropriate, the description will be flawed.

"Not sticking" is often expressed as an exaggeration, as if a dwarf is wearing a long gown and a high hat. When writing an elegiac couplet, it means "existing with the heaven and earth" and "bringing the same glory as the sun and the moon"... . Even if I were to make an advertisement or write a eulogy, I'm afraid it wouldn't be written like this.

"Not sticking" is also often manifested in inappropriate word choice, especially the failure to carefully select synonyms and synonyms. In the 1985 national "Welcome the Spring Festival - the Great Wall" campaign, there was this couplet:

To the east is Jieshi, the sound of the waves is old

To the west is Yangguan and the willows are new

This couplet is good in terms of conception, emotion, contrast, and equality. However, the word "old" is used to contrast with the word "new". The wording is too restrictive, and the meaning is unclear: Can the sound of waves be divided into old and new? ? The judges decided to replace this word with a synonym of "ancient":

To the east, Jieshi waves sound ancient

To the west, Yangguan willows are new

In this way, a good couplet was "saved".

Not posting also shows that the theme of the upper and lower couplets is not focused, that is, the intention is not consistent. This is one of the reasons why a large number of works in the competition were not selected in the preliminary evaluation. In the 1988 Spring Festival's "Great Reunion of the World" couplet, the first couplet was the lower couplet. In the final comment, I encountered a couplet like this:

Sentence: The bright moon looks up to the sky, and it has its own clear brilliance on the four seas< /p>

Couplet: The fragrance of yellow flowers in the evening festival makes you proud of the three autumn seasons

This couplet has a good idea and is in line with the season of the Alliance (starting from the Mid-Autumn Festival). There is no problem with confrontation or equality. Moreover, the word "Late Festival" forms a pun, not only saying that yellow flowers (chrysanthemums) bloom in the later festival (Mid-Autumn Festival), but also saying that the elderly maintain their sentiments in their old age. Therefore, this couplet is very popular among the middle-aged and elderly judges on the jury. However, it was also found that although it has a certain relationship with the theme of the Happy Reunion Alliance, it is not closely "connected". Therefore, it can only be rated as second-class and ranked lower.

Qie

Although Qie also means "appropriate", its main expression is that it has a clearer and stronger pertinence, that is, "accurate and unwavering".

"Couplets Series·Volume 4" contains:

Chaozhou Han Wengong Temple couplet says: "God's will is gentle, not a letter, Mr. Ande is here; people's hearts will return to the right path. , It only takes eight months, and it has been learned for hundreds of years. "Close to Chaozhou, and you can't move to Changli Temple."

The reason why this couplet cannot be "moved to other places" is because it is "close to Chaozhou". In the 14th year of Tang Yuanhe's reign, Tang Xianzong sent people from Fengxiang to welcome the Buddha's bones into the palace and offer them alms. Han Yu (Wen Gong) wrote "On the Bone Table of Buddha" and "wanted to eliminate evil things for the sage". Unexpectedly, "a letter was sent to the Nine Heavens in the morning, and he was demoted to Chaoyang Road eight thousand at night" and was demoted to the governor of Chaozhou. Although he only stayed here for eight months, his literary ideas were further strengthened by his encounters. As the leader of the ancient prose movement, he was respected as a teacher of all generations.

You might as well compare this couplet with other Korean ancestral couplets:

One of them is Su Xueshi's preface to the banishment

Meng Fuzi later paid homage to his husband

The second one, the epigraph and stone articles, were empty for eight generations

The Jiangshan surname has been preserved for thousands of years

The third one has been in decline for eight generations. From the old articles, the Beidou was respected

The four schools of learning were developed, which are today's Zudou Chongdongjiao

He became a scholar after four years of study, and became a three-level official from one idle official position

When he was weak and took up his duties, he made a huge Qianqiu edition of the Six Classics

Obviously, These couplets are also excellent works, but they are not "close" to the place. The first two couplets are from Chaozhou, and the last two couplets are from Beijing. Compared with the "God's Will" couplet, it is very clear whether it is appropriate or not.

In addition to touching the place, the couplet also emphasizes touching the person. Regardless of the inscription, celebration, or condolence, it must be very suitable for the identity, experience, and personality characteristics of the couplet and the couplet writer. On October 19, 1936, Mr. Lu Xun died of illness in Shanghai, which shocked the literary world. Many celebrities wrote elegiac couplets to express their condolences. Here are a few of them below:

The most rigorous writings are nothing more than the history of Chinese novels

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The last words are too painful, don’t be a short-term writer (Cai Yuanpei)

Fang hangs in April, double stars fall one after another, East Asia and Western Europe die together in tears

Recite with two hearts , Regrettably, there is no one side, summoning souls all over the world (Guo Moruowan)

If you want to beat a drowned dog, you will not forgive even when you die. If you know how to attack and retreat, you will not only be a great general in the literary world

Don't do it An empty-headed writer hates helpers the most in his life. He dares to laugh and curse, and he is worthy of his ideological authority (Chen Yiwan)

Is he an enemy? Friendly? Yu Wei asked himself

Do you know me? Sin me? The public has no words (Xu Maoyong)

These couplets are "cut by work". First of all, it is relevant to Lu Xun: some are named after Lu Xun's works, such as "A Brief History of Chinese Novels" and "Two Hearts Collection"; some are praising Lu Xun's spirit, such as Beating the Drowned Dog; some are making appropriate evaluations of Lu Xun, such as "Not only a great leader in the literary world", "Worthy of ideological authority"; some said Lu Xun's will, such as "Don't be a short-term writer"; some associated it with the time of Lu Xun's death, such as "Fang hangs in April, and double stars fall" (Golky died on June 18, 1936) ). Secondly, it’s about the collaborators themselves: Cai Lian is calm and solemn, like a close friend of a scholar; Chen Lian is sharp and sharp, without losing the Confucian style of a military general. Guo Lian's "no face" was just a matter of words. He and Lu Xun had never met or exchanged a single letter, so he felt "this is a great regret for me"; Xu Lian is even more commendable for being relevant to himself. People know that Lu Xun had misunderstood Xu during his lifetime and wrote an article to severely criticize him. Before Xu could explain, Mr. Lu Xun passed away. Therefore, Xu Lian expressed more of his complicated emotions at the time.

This kind of "cut" shows the particularity of things. From a philosophical point of view, universality is contained in particularity. Only "particularity" also shows the ever-changing and colorful nature of things. Spring couplets, longevity couplets, and elegiac couplets are divided into two categories: "universal" and "special". Although universal couplets are "universal", they have no individuality and are not "specific". Therefore, they should not become the main way of creation. Dedicated links should be strongly promoted.

New

New means fresh and unique, original, not conforming to the past, and reaching the point of "being new and different". If there is no "newness", the couplet cannot develop.

The most important thing is that the couplet should have a new idea. Regarding the same theme, the same sights, and the same characters, latecomers must surpass their predecessors with their latest ideas. Otherwise, if they are inferior to their predecessors or imitate their predecessors, they might as well stop writing.

Try to take a look at a few traditional couplets of barber shops:

Although one of them has little skill

it is a top-level effort

The other The second time you come, you are all a fan of the crown.

This time there should be no one to scratch your head

The third time you practice, you will have a new look

Cut off a thousand strands of the old stuff< /p>

The fourth is not to teach that gray hair makes people grow old

I would rather have a spring breeze on my face

The fifth is to sharpen my beard and ask how many heads there are in the world

Try it before it's too late and see what I do

These couplets each have their own angles. Although they all contain puns, they don't feel repetitive. The first couplet is about self-praise for good craftsmanship, and the puns of "Hao Mo" and "Ding Shang" are used extremely well; the second couplet is about the customer's mood, and "playing the crown" and "scratching the head" are the representative actions of the customers before and after getting a haircut. ; The three couplets describe the characteristics of the "pruning" industry; the four couplets describe the noble spiritual realm of the barber; the five couplets were inscribed by Shi Dakai, a general of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and used haircuts to express the fearless fighting spirit.

Faced with these famous couplets, we must find new ways to recreate, such as:

Start a new career from scratch

Knock down the old phenomenon

There are also some that borrow the meaning of ancient couplets and modify them:

Hold your head and be willing to do nothing

If you stand firm, you will show great merit

It is the same as the one quoted before There are similarities in the first couplet, but "bow down" and "stand on the ground" write the shape and expression of the barber, which also has new ideas. However, there are also some things that have not been transformed well, such as:

Hard work, mastery of skills

Try when necessary, excellent means

In creating new couplets At the same time, we should pay more attention to innovation. There is a very distinctive pair:

Technological innovation, clear-cut and clear-cut

Radiant and youthful look

"Close-cut and clear-cut" is a clever pun. But once those operating procedures are written down, it becomes boring:

Clipper and shave to your satisfaction

Perming and blow-drying to your satisfaction

It can be seen that new ideas are actually the key to the creation of couplets. However, some couplets today do not have new ideas, especially in the creation of Spring Festival couplets. This problem is more prominent. We advocate that couplets should reflect the spirit of the times, express contemporary people's lifestyles and ways of thinking, express the ideological outlook and moral standards of the new society, and express the endless stream of new things and new concepts. Many couplet writers have made valuable efforts and achieved remarkable results. Generally, beginners often have a narrow and one-sided understanding of the spirit of the times. They think that when writing Spring Festival couplets, they must write "Responsibility Field", "Realize the Four Modernizations", and "Revitalize China", as if only these new terms and slogans can reflect "ideology." In fact, this understanding is unscientific.

The language of the couplets should be fresh, elegant, natural, fresh and lively. Old clichés should be discarded, and new slogans should also be eliminated. Only by using new language to express new artistic conception can we create masterpieces. Some comrades write and publish dozens or even hundreds of Spring Festival couplets every year, but do not pay attention to innovation. If you try to sort out their works over the years, you will find that there are too many similarities in artistic conception and language.

Strange

Strange means that the idea is unique and the language is ingenious, which is amazing. Such couplets leave a deep impression on people and are often unforgettable.

Quiet couplets often win by surprise and win over others by cleverness. Since ancient times, there have been a large number of split couplets. In terms of the strangeness of the concept, the following pair is rare:

Jujube spines are used as fuel, cut and split into four bunches

Chanmenqi House, move more to make up less to make two rooms

Take numerical couplets as an example. There is a kind of numerical initiation couplet, such as "Three lights, sun, moon and stars, four poems and elegant poems". When a sentence uses "三" to refer to three nouns, the couplet must avoid "三", but it must also refer to three nouns, which is very strange. As a result, people were inspired to write many such pairs. Throughout the ages, only Mr. Hua Luogeng's pair can be called "the most amazing of all wonders":

Three Strong Han, Zhao and Wei

Nine Chapters of Pythagorean Strings

This was written by Hua Luogeng on his way abroad with a delegation of Chinese scientists in the early 1950s. Not only did the three terms he received have their origins (Han, Zhao and Wei were the three strongest powers in the Warring States Period, and the Pythagorean theorem was first seen in the book "Nine Chapters of Arithmetic"), Moreover, the names of Qian Qian and Zhao Jiuzhang present here have an extra layer of meaning compared to "Three Lights and Four Poems".

Except for interesting couplets, there are some strangely conceived couplets in other types of couplets.

For example, when writing couplets about Taibai Tower, I would write more about Li Bai's wandering life experience, the elegant environment of the building, and even write about Li Bai's poetic talent in a way that praises Li and suppresses him. Wang Youcai's couplet is a unique one:

Among us, the only one who drinks alcohol

Sir, don't write poems here

Some people also call it the "Taibai Restaurant" couplet. . In any case, the concept of this couplet is extraordinary. It uses the idea of ????persuading people to drink only and not write poems to contrast Li Bai's poetic talent, and the writing method is unusual.

You should see some new and novel couplets, which can often promote the diversification of couplet varieties. For example, the couplets embedded with the stems and branches of this year's heavenly stems and earthly branches are the development of the Spring Festival couplets; the self-elegy couplets are the development of the elegiac couplets, etc.

Work, stability, relevance, relevance, novelty and novelty are the basic rules for making couplets. Ancient and modern famous couplets can take into account and highlight these six aspects, so they can last for a long time. On the contrary, if the couplets are not workmanlike, unstable, not relevant, not cutting-edge, not new, and not surprising, even if they are "stained" with any of these problems, they will not become good works. Therefore, beginners should work hard on these few words, and do not need to be greedy for too many couplets. If they can "create one and be satisfied with one", they will have the basis for improvement.