Why should we write Spring Festival couplets during the Chinese New Year?

Every year at the end of the year, trade unions, civil affairs and other departments from various places go to rural areas to carry out "sending Spring Festival couplets, literature and art, and warmth" to the countryside. For example, Zhuhai recently invited famous calligraphers from the Calligraphers Association to carry out "cultural warmth" activities in Shanyao Village. They splashed ink on the spot and wrote Spring Festival couplets for the villagers, which was very popular among the villagers.

Why are the villagers welcoming? Because Spring Festival couplets are special, they can drive away ghosts and evil spirits, and keep every household safe. It is said that in the Zhou Dynasty more than 2,000 years ago, the Spring Festival couplets were peach charms (peach stems) with incantations engraved on them. A pair was hung on both sides of the door every New Year. "Book of the Later Han·Book of Etiquette" says that the peach charm is six inches long and three inches wide, with the two gods "Shen Tu" and "Yulei" written on it. "On the first day of the first lunar month, a peach charm is made and placed in the household. It is called a fairy tree and is feared by all ghosts." Therefore, "Yanjing Chronicles of the Years" of the Qing Dynasty said: "Spring couplets are also peach charms."

Since Peach charms have such magical power that everyone hangs them one after another. However, the power of the two gods "Shen Tu" and "Yulei" on the peach charms only lasts for one year, and they will be replaced with new peach charms in the next New Year. Therefore, Wang Anshi of the Song Dynasty wrote in "Yuan Ri": "The sound of firecrackers eliminates the year, and the spring breeze brings warmth into Tusu. Thousands of households always replace old talismans with new peaches." The New Year is here, and every household is busy. Change the peach charm.

I don’t know since when, people no longer carve spells on peach charms, but carve or write some beautiful sentences, and like metrical poetry, they pay attention to the equality of words and the opposition of levels. That is, each word in the upper and lower couplets requires its tones to be equal and opposite to each other. As if this was not enough, literati also liked to write beautifully and show their calligraphy skills in every square inch. Therefore, the peach charms used to ward off ghosts and evil spirits became Spring Couplets and became an elegant art form.

Judging from the existing historical records, the earliest Spring Festival couplets may have been written by Meng Chang, the Emperor of Later Shu during the Five Dynasties. According to "History of the Song Dynasty: Shu Family": Meng Chang, the Lord of Later Shu, ordered the scholar Zhang Xun to inscribe the peach wood board , "Because it is not a workman, the self-titled inscription reads: 'New Year's greetings Yuqing, Jiajie Changchun'". This is China's earliest Spring Festival couplets. In the Song Dynasty, paper was invented, and the peach board was changed to paper, which was called "Spring Sticker".

In the Ming Dynasty, Spring Festival couplets suddenly became a favorite. The reason is that although the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang, came from a lower class, he yearned for culture and preferred Spring Festival couplets. Chen Yunzhan of the Ming Dynasty recorded in "Hao Yun Lou Miscellanies": "The establishment of Spring Festival couplets began with Taizu of the Ming Dynasty. In the imperial capital Jinling, before New Year's Eve, a decree was suddenly issued: a Spring Festival couplet must be added to the door of the house of the ministers and common people. Taizu went out for a visit. I thought it was funny."

Once, Emperor Zhu was very angry when he saw a house without Spring Festival couplets. The men quickly found out that the head of the household was a butcher and could not read a word. After Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he wrote a Spring Festival couplet in his imperial book: "Cleave the road of life and death with both hands; cut off the root of right and wrong with one knife" and gave it to the butcher. In fact, Emperor Zhu, who liked to pretend to be elegant, often wrote spring couplets or antithetical couplets to the princes and ministers. The couplet he gave to Xu Da, the king of Zhongshan, is: "He defeated the barbarians and brought down the barbarians. He is the best in ancient and modern times. He is a general and prime minister, and his civil and military talents are unparalleled." The couplet he gave to Tao An is: "A man of unparalleled strategy in the country and dynasty, Hanyuan." The first one in the article. "

As the saying goes: "The king of Chu has such a thin waist, there are many hungry people in the palace." Emperor Zhu loved the Spring Festival couplets so much that he vigorously promoted them. How could the Spring Festival couplets not become popular? However, those who are illiterate are not all as lucky as the butcher above to get a royal letter from the emperor. What should they do if they can't write Spring Festival couplets? It's okay, ancient times were a patriarchal society, and some literati were mostly country squires. For the sake of fellow villagers, they would help out, just like today's calligraphers "send culture and warmth" and "spring couplets to the countryside." For ordinary people, all year round, no matter how hard it is, no matter how tired they are, they still have to post Spring Festival couplets to celebrate the New Year, adding a festive atmosphere, making them happy and auspicious.