China traditional culture door couplet

As an important traditional culture in China, couplets have been used by every household ever since. Every Spring Festival, people will put a new couplet on the lintel, which has become a custom. The new atmosphere of the New Year is also reflected in red paper and black couplets.

In ancient history, there were many scholars who made achievements in pairing. For example, the familiar romantic genius Tang Bohu is one of them. Tang Bohu is a bohemian. Although his image on the screen is somewhat exaggerated, it is not groundless. He once had a couplet with an old farmer in the countryside. The old farmer said, "A truck of mud blocked the road." Tang Bohu replied: "Trackers on both sides of the Taiwan Strait smile." Although popular, it is also interesting to taste it carefully.

Couplets, called couplets in ancient times, are named because they are often engraved or pasted on the pillars in front of the door. The record of couplets in historical materials can be traced back to Meng Changjun, a great scholar in Shu after the Five Dynasties. As the last emperor of Houshu, he was arrogant and extravagant, and his life was decadent, which was in line with everyone's impression of the king who had perished.

According to Shu Konglang, on the occasion of the Spring Festival the year before Hou Shu was captured by the Northern Song Dynasty, Meng Chang wrote on the door panel of his bedroom: "The New Year is coming, and the first festival is Changchun." This is probably the first Spring Festival couplets in the history of China. However, Meng Chang's good wishes have not been realized. The following year (965), he was kidnapped by Zhao Kuangyin in Song Taizu.

Simply put, couplets are antithetical literature with parallel and symmetrical characters, similar to the "Yin and Yang" emphasized in China's ancient philosophy. Xunzi's Book of Rites said: "Heaven and earth combine to create everything, and Yin and Yang combine to change." The neat antithesis in couplets actually conforms to the way of yin and yang.

However, antithesis is only the most basic feature of standard couplets. Reading couplets should have a sense of language antithesis, and writing couplets should have a sense of text antithesis. Simply put, the number of words should be equal, the parts of speech should be relative, the words should be flush, the syntax should be consistent, and the words should be neat and beautiful. This is the requirement of the ancients for couplets.

The couplets we are going to talk about today belong to a special kind of couplets, called "homophonic couplets". From the literal meaning, we can know that the upper and lower couplets of this couplet are not bad, but the pronunciation is not the same. Therefore, it is also the strangest couplet in history, but it has been circulated for thousands of years and no one has surpassed it.

Its upper and lower couplets are all seven words: "Good reading is not good reading." How to read this couplet? The correct reading methods are: good (ho) reading is not good (ho) reading, good (ho) reading is not good (ho) reading. From the mouth of Xu Wei, a famous painter in Ming Dynasty. Although Xu Wei was revered as the originator of "Qingxue" by later generations, his official career was not smooth and he was poor all his life.

This couplet was written by him to his students in his later years. In his later years, Xu sincerely felt that the best time for learning in life was in his youth, but many children of this age did not like learning. Use books, hate less. By the time they woke up and were willing to study, it was too late and they missed that good time.

"I advise you not to cherish gold clothes, and advise you to cherish youth." Xu Wei vividly explained this truth with a clever couplet. This seemingly odd couplet can only be understood by heart. Word for word, but inspired countless people.