What is the legend of posting Spring Festival couplets during the Spring Festival? What is the best time to post Spring Festival couplets?
Introduction: "On New Year's Day, people in every household replace the old charms with new ones." Wang Anshi's poem describes the scene of pasting Spring Festival couplets during the Spring Festival, which shows that the history of Spring Festival couplets is very long. So, how did the custom of pasting Spring Festival couplets become popular? Are there any particular requirements for pasting Spring Festival couplets? When is the best time to post Spring Festival couplets? With these questions, let’s follow the editor to find out. New Year’s Eve is the time for families to reunite and the Chinese New Year is the most important festival for our Chinese nation. If you want to know more about the culture and content of New Year’s Eve, please read the special topic on New Year’s Eve carefully compiled for you by Mr. Shui Mo!The legend of Spring Festival coupletsIn ancient Chinese mythology, it is said that there is a ghost world. In the middle of the world, there is a mountain. On the mountain, there is a huge peach tree covering three thousand miles. On the top of the tree, there is a golden rooster. Every morning when the golden rooster crows, the ghosts that wander out at night must be driven back to the ghost realm. The gate to the ghost realm is located in the northeast of the peach tree. Two gods named Shencha and Yulei stand beside the gate. If a ghost did something harmful to the world at night, Shencha and Yulei would immediately find and catch it, tie it up with a rope made of reed, and feed it to the tiger. Therefore, all the ghosts in the world are afraid of Shencha and Yulei. So people began to carve their images out of peach wood and place them at their doorsteps to ward off evil and harm. Later, people simply carved the names of Shencha and Yulei on peach wood boards, believing that doing so could also ward off evil. This kind of peach wood board was later called "Tao Fu". In the Song Dynasty, people began to write couplets on peach wood boards. First, to retain the meaning of peach wood in warding off evil spirits, second, to express their good wishes, and third, to decorate the door for beauty. "Tao Fu" is the prototype of today's Spring Festival couplets.The Origin of Spring Festival CoupletsThe origin of Spring Festival couplets should be traced back to the Spring and Autumn Period. At that time, the words on the Spring Festival couplets were carved on the door courtyards or on stone pillars. In the later period, they were carved on wooden boards, which were called "Tao Fu". Peach boards were selected at that time, which were about six to eight inches long and three inches wide. Auspicious words were engraved on them to celebrate joy and pray for good luck and happiness (because it is said among the people that peach wood has the effect of warding off evil spirits, and hanging it at the door can make you immune to all evil). Therefore, after hanging up the Spring Festival couplets, the people would open the door of their home. The door could not be closed on the night of New Year's Eve, and it had to be kept open until dawn. Neither bad people nor ghosts would enter the house. In the Song Dynasty, spring festival couplets were made of peach boards, which can be fully reflected in the poem by Wang Anshi, which says: "On the day of the New Year, thousands of households always replace the old peach charms with new ones."After Zhu Yuanzhang established Nanjing as the capital in the Ming Dynasty, he ordered every household to post antithetical couplets and renamed door couplets as Spring Festival couplets, all of which were written on red paper. Because red represents auspiciousness and joy, and it is a sign of prosperity for the country and the people, peach charms were later changed to Spring Festival couplets. Legend has it that once, Zhu Yuanzhang personally went to the people to investigate, and found that only one family did not put up Spring Festival couplets. Upon inquiry, it turned out that the man was a pig castrator and illiterate, so he wrote a couplet for him: "Split the road of life and death with both hands, and cut off the root of right and wrong with one knife." Due to the strong promotion of successive dynasties, Spring Festival couplets have become a special folk art form in my country and have remained prosperous. Requirements for writing Spring Festival coupletsThe couplets before the gods are particularly exquisite, and are mostly words of admiration and blessing. Common couplets for the gods include those for the gods of heaven and earth, "Heaven's grace is as deep as the ocean, Earth's virtue is as heavy as a mountain"; those for the god of land, "White jade grows in the soil, gold comes out of the ground"; those for the god of wealth, "The master of wealth in heaven, the god of fortune and luck on earth"; and those for the god of well, "The well can connect to the four seas, and the home can reach the three rivers."The Spring Festival couplets hanging in granaries, animal pens, etc., all express warm congratulations and hopes, such as "a good harvest of grains, and thriving livestock"; "rice and flour as thick as mountains, oil and salt as deep as the sea"; "cows are like tigers in the South Mountains, and horses are like dragons in the North Sea"; "the big sheep are growing year by year, and the little lambs are increasing month by month", etc. There are also some single couplets, such as "Look up and see happiness" in every room, "Go out and see happiness" opposite the door, "Prosperous energy soars to the sky" on the fire, "The yard is full of gold" in the yard, "Deep roots and lush leaves" on the tree, "White tiger brings good luck" on the millstone, etc. The couplets on the front door are the face of a family and are given special attention. They may be lyrical or descriptive, with rich content and witty words. Spring Festival couplets have evolved into a form of folk art. There are certain requirements for their writing format: (1) The number of characters must be equal. For example, "New Year brings prosperity and prosperity every year, and good years bring peace and prosperity step by step." Each couplet has seven characters, and the number of characters in the upper and lower couplets is equal. This is the most basic requirement for Spring Festival couplets. (2) The parts of speech must be consistent, that is, the number of words in each phrase that makes up the first couplet must be the same as the number of words in the corresponding phrases in the second couplet. The parts of speech of the upper and lower couplets, that is, the category nature of the words, such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc., should be arranged in equal parts, and should be both the same and relative. (3) The harmony of level and oblique tones. When expressing the upper and lower couplets, we should pay attention to the harmony of the tones. This is mainly for the sake of harmonious rhyme, ups and downs, pleasant sound and sonorous power. (4) Choose a good horizontal scroll. A horizontal scroll is also called a horizontal banner, horizontal plaque, or horizontal couplet. Except for funeral couplets and birthday couplets, most of the horizontal scrolls are used. The horizontal banner should be combined with the content. Time to post Spring Festival coupletsThe time for pasting Spring Festival couplets has its own customs all over the country. Generally speaking, the best time to post Spring Festival couplets is at noon on the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month (13:00 to 15:00). After the New Year, the pasted Spring Festival couplets should be taken down and burned (or thrown away) in the first month of the year. There is a folk myth that Spring Festival couplets are the gods in the sky. After they are burned, they will ascend to heaven to report the situation of the people to the Jade Emperor, hoping that the gods can bring good luck to the families in the people. In short, the purpose of Spring Festival couplets is to ward off evil and hope for a good year in the coming year, so no matter where you post Spring Festival couplets, the latest time should not exceed New Year's Eve.Summary: Through the above article content, we know the legend and origin of Spring Festival couplets, and also know the writing requirements and time requirements for posting Spring Festival couplets. I hope these contents can provide some reference for everyone. I wish you all a prosperous and smooth new year! |
>>: Where to go during the 2017 Spring Festival holiday? Spring Festival Travel Guide
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