Spring Festival Couplets (Chunlian)
By tradition the Chinese love to paste couplets on
their gateposts or door panels when celebrating Spring Festival.
The couplets are generally written on red paper and the sentences contain
auspicious meanings. In the region south of the
Yangtze River, couplets are inscribed on yellow
paper during funerals.
The Spring Festival couplets originated in the
peachwood charms against evil (hung on the gate on New
Year's Eve) in ancient China. Legend has it
that the names of two celestials beings who were conquerors of demons
and goblins are written down on pieces of peachwood
to be hung on the gate to protect a family from evil and disaster and
greet the coming of an auspicious year. Later, people
simply drew the images of these two celestial beings ontheir doors.
Looking ferocious with glaring eyes and sharp weapons, they were enough
to scare off demons of all descriptions. Even today, pictures of the
two gods can still be seen in ancient buildings. Later, people simplified
the ritual by writing couplets on the peachwood to give expression to
thier best wishes.
In the begining putting Spring Festival Couplets on
the doors was a privilege for aristocratic families by which to sing
praise of their ancestors' meritorious deeds and show off their wealth.
Later they became popular among commoners. Byteh Song Dynasty
the couplets had become part of local life.
It is no easy job to compose a good couplet because it requires symmetry
in every field: sentence to sentence, noun to noun, verb to verbg, and
numbers to numbers. And it should sound poetic and reflect the actual
situation of the family.
Today, Spring Festival couplets have acquired a new
meaning - they have become a folk form to eulogize social development
and people's better life.
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