The origin of traditional couplets in the Spring Festival.

Spring Festival couplets originated in Fu Tao (rectangular red boards were hung on both sides of the gate in the Zhou Dynasty). According to the Book of Rites, the peach symbol is six inches long and three inches wide, and the names of ghosts and gods Shen Tu and Lei Yu are written on the mahogany board. "On the first day of the first month, I made a peach symbol for this family and named it Xianmu. All ghosts are afraid of it."

Spring Festival couplets in North Korea and Vietnam (2) Therefore, in the Qing Dynasty, Yanjing's Eating Sui Ji recorded: "Spring Festival couplets are also in Fu Tao." During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, in the court, someone inscribed couplets on peach symbols. "History of Shu Family in Song Dynasty" said: Meng Chang, the master of the later Shu Dynasty, asked Xin, a bachelor, to write a poem on the red board, "Because he is not working, he pretended to write a cloud:' Spring Festival is coming, and Changchun will be celebrated'". This is China's first Spring Festival couplets. Until the Song Dynasty, Spring Festival couplets were still called "Fu Tao". There is a saying in Wang Anshi's poem that "thousands of households always exchange new peaches for old ones." In the Song Dynasty, the peach symbols were changed from red boards to paper, which were called "spring stickers" and "Spring Festival couplets".

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It is said that Meng Changjun, the monarch of Shu after the Five Dynasties, was a monarch who liked to be unconventional. On New Year's Eve at the end of 964, he had a whim to let a bachelor named Xin write two sentences on the mahogany board and hang them on the door frame of his living room as peach symbols. These two sentences are "Qing Yu in the New Year, Changchun in the First Festival". Enjoy the legacy of the previous generation in the new year. The second sentence is to the effect that festivals show that spring is always there. Since then, the form and content of Fu Tao have changed, not only by replacing "Shen Tu" and "Lei Yu" with parallel couplets, but also by expanding the connotation of Fu Tao, not only to ward off evil spirits and disasters, but also by adding the content of praying and wishing. This became the earliest Spring Festival couplets in China. In the Song Dynasty, it was quite common to write couplets on mahogany boards. Wang Anshi wrote in his poem "January Day" that "firecrackers are one year old, and the spring breeze sends warmth into Tu Su. Thousands of families always exchange new peaches for old ones, which reflects the grand occasion of hanging peach symbols on New Year's Eve (today's Spring Festival couplets). At the same time, with the appearance of the door god and the peach symbol symbolizing happiness and auspiciousness written on red paper, the mission of exorcising evil spirits and avoiding disasters shouldered by the previous peach symbol has gradually shifted to the door god, and the content of the peach symbol has also evolved into expressing people's good wishes for good luck and good harvest in the coming year. The word "Spring Festival couplets" appeared in the early Ming Dynasty. When Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, was emperor, he liked ostentation and extravagance, and he also liked the peach symbols posted by the big family on New Year's Eve every year, so he wanted to promote them. One year before New Year's Eve, he issued an imperial edict requiring every household in Jinling to stick Spring Festival couplets written in red paper on their doorframes to welcome the Spring Festival. On the morning of New Year's Day, Zhu Yuanzhang made a tour incognito and went door to door to check the Spring Festival couplets. Whenever he sees a well-written Spring Festival couplets, he is very happy and full of praise. Zhu Yuanzhang was very angry when he saw a family that didn't stick Spring Festival couplets. He asked why. The attendant replied, "This is a master who is engaged in killing and cutting pigs. He is very busy during the New Year, and he hasn't had time to find someone to write. "Zhu Yuanzhang ordered people to bring pen and ink, and wrote a pair of Spring Festival couplets for this family:" Split the road of life and death with both hands, and cut off the root of right and wrong with one knife. "After writing, I will continue to patrol. After a period of time, Zhu Yuanzhang passed by here again when he returned to the palace. He saw that the butcher's house had not posted his Spring Festival couplets, so he asked what was going on. The host respectfully replied, "This pair of Spring Festival couplets was written by the emperor himself. We hang high in nave and burn incense every day. " Zhu Yuanzhang was very happy, so he ordered his entourage to give the family thirty taels of silver. It can be seen that the naming and promotion of "Spring Festival couplets" was promoted by Zhu Yuanzhang in every household by means of administrative orders and imperial edicts.