The layout of Confucius Temple. A plaque. What are couplets and what are their characteristics?

First, the number of words in the upper and lower couplets must be the same.

A pair of couplets consists of upper couplet, lower couplet and horizontal batch. The one posted on the right is called the upper couplet, the one posted on the left is called the lower couplet, and the one posted on it is called the horizontal batch, also called the banner, and the content is written horizontally. Horizontal criticism is essential for Spring Festival couplets, generally four words, but also five or six words. The meaning of horizontal criticism should be coordinated with the upper and lower couplet to make the finishing point. Some couplets may or may not be used for horizontal criticism. There is no limit to the number of words in the upper and lower couplets. There are only two or three words, dozens or hundreds of long couplets, which are composed of several clauses. In any case, the number of words in the upper and lower couplets must be equal. Such as a common Spring Festival couplets: "Another year of spring grass is green, or ten miles of apricot flowers are red." 1925, the couplet at the entrance of Huangpu Military Academy: "Let the revolution go closer; Go away without revolution. " Spring Festival couplets reflecting the achievements of rural reform: "Except for the ten burdens of grain stored by the old family; Bank deposit 1000 yuan to welcome the Spring Festival. " Horizontal batch "have food and clothing". The number of words in each couplet is equal.

Second, pay attention to the neatness of confrontation;

The antithesis of couplets requires not only the same number of words in the upper and lower couplets, but also syntactic similarity. Syntactic similarity mainly includes three contents: equivalent sentence patterns, the same part of speech and corresponding structures.

Sentence equivalence means that if the upper couplet is four or three sentences, the lower couplet must also be four or three sentences; If the couplet is two or four sentences; Then the bottom couplet must also be two or four sentences. For example:

"The bash elbows are cold and strange; Bow your head and be a willing ox. "

This is a sentence pattern of four or three sentences.

"Looking at each other coldly; Bow your head and do it-a willing cow. "

"Only state officials set fire; No one is allowed to light a lamp. "

In other words, this is a sentence pattern of two four sentences.

"Only-state officials set fire; Don't-people light up. "

Another example is the couplet of Duyuan and Chishi Mountain in Xinhui County, Guangdong Province. First of all:

"Moon Xuan wears away stone water; The wind breaks the rock smoke. "

This is a two-three sentence pattern, that is to say,

"Mingyuexuan-wears away the stone; The wind is broken-broken rock smoke. " Second:

"The sound of birds and the sound of streams are free from the spring, and they are not fake; Mountain clouds cage tree color, natural picture scroll, written by Dan Qing He Lao. "

This is a sentence pattern of 23, 22 and 24, namely

"Birds-harmonious with the sound of streams, comfortable-filled with spring water, real-human silk and bamboo; Mountain clouds-cage tree color, nature-picture scroll, He Lao-painting painters. "

Part-of-speech equivalence refers to the part-of-speech equivalence in the corresponding positions of the upper and lower conjunctions, that is, noun to noun, verb to verb, adjective to adjective, quantifier to quantifier, adverb to adverb, modal particle to modal particle, and reduplication to reduplication. Such as Beijing Bibo Temple Trade Union:

"The new green is surrounded by a meadow; Ten acres of rattan flowers are old and fragrant. "

"Yiting" is a quantifier of "ten mu", "rattan flower" is a formal noun, "reed" is a verb of "falling" and "new green" is a formal noun of "ancient fragrance".

Another example is Jinan Baotuquan Trade Union:

"In the pavilion mirror, look at the magic fairy land; Fly over the spring clouds and listen to the clear sounds of mountains and rivers. "

Painting pavilion is the official noun of flying, mirror is the noun of cloud, in the middle is the noun of appearance, watching is the verb of action, fantasy is the verb of writing, immortality is the noun of scenery and blessing is the verb.

Another example is the Spring Festival couplets written by a farmer in Yunnan at the end of the Qing Dynasty who resented the landlords and gentry:

"Hey, where to shoot? Oh, they celebrate the New Year. "

"One" is an onomatopoeic word for "Oh", "There" is a pronoun for "They" and "Bubble" is a verb for "New Year".

Corresponding structure means that the relationship between the words that make up couplets should be the same. If the upper part is subject-predicate structure, the lower part should be subject-predicate structure. The upper part is a verb-object structure, and the lower part should be a verb-object structure. Such as Xin Qiji Memorial Temple Association:

"Holding hands with rivers and mountains, I have a heroic heart;

Famous for the universe, running at dusk, leaving a thousand words tragic. "

Among them, "Liwan River and Mountain" and "Famous Universe" are both subject-predicate structures, in which the predicate part is verb-object structure; "The vast atmosphere permeates the sun and the moon" and "Running at dusk" are also subject-predicate structures, and the predicate part is also a verb-object structure; A spare hero's heart and a thousand words of sadness. "is a verb-object structure, and the object part is a complement structure.

Another example is the Nantianmen couplet in Taishan Mountain, Shandong Province:

"Open the door for nine nights and take a step back for three days; The order is 100 levels, overlooking the wonders. "

"Open the door for nine nights" and "make a hundred classes" are both subject-predicate structures, and the predicate part is also a verb-object structure. "Go back for three days and overlook the wonders" are all verb-object structures, the object part is affirmative and the structure is exactly the same.