Tracing riddle

China's riddles have a long history, with a history of more than 3,000 years. As early as before the Western Zhou Dynasty, when the productivity was still very low, the linguistic phenomenon of riddles appeared, that is, songs with metaphorical and suggestive nature, such as an idyll popular in Shang Dynasty, "A woman is carrying a basket, which is not true. Stone (Guixian) sheep, bloodless. "It uses the sophistry of folk riddles. A young man and a young woman on the pasture, the woman is holding a basket, and the man is shearing the wool one by one. Nothing is real, and no blood is just right. The whole pastoral poem is very impressive, full of scenes, enthusiasm, meaning and poetry, without losing contradictory sophistry and interesting mystery.

With the progress of human society and the development of science and culture, in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, languages became increasingly rich, and hidden songs developed greatly, and the earliest riddle forms in China-Chinese characters and hidden characters-appeared, which was the initial germination of riddles. The word "augury" first appeared in Zuo Qiuming's "Mandarin Today". "There is an augury in Qin Ke, but the doctor can't be right." What happened here was in 542 BC. Although the specific content of Qin Ke's obituary is not recorded, it can be seen that in the Spring and Autumn Period, obituary has become a form of diplomatic struggle.

Implicit words appear later than embarrassing words. Just like embarrassing words, they also reveal things with vivid comments, so they are very popular. Almost everyone likes argot, from princes to generals to civilians. Some rulers like to hide what they don't like to hear. If subjects want to satirize the affairs of state, they must protest in argot at will. In the political struggle between countries, in order to achieve ulterior motives, argot is often used to hide people's eyes and ears and secretly understand people. Han Feizi's Talking Old and Zuo Qiuming's Zuo Zhuan Gong Xuan Twelve Years recorded the stories of Chu Zhuangwang and Shen Wuwei, Wu Sheshe and Shen solve riddles on the lanterns respectively.

Just like other stages of history, literature in the pre-Qin period also had its glorious page. During the Warring States period, a hundred schools of thought contended and produced many literary works, some of which were extremely subtle argot. For example, Xunzi's Silkworm Fu is like this. It completely uses argot to describe the shape, posture, performance, function and living habits of silkworm, and finally puts the word "silkworm" throughout. Xunzi's "Silkworm Fu" had a great influence on later poems about objects and folk riddles. Many mysteries in the past dynasties believed that this was the beginning of the Chinese mystery, saying that "Xun Qing's Silkworm Fu has been revealed.

From the pre-Qin Dynasty to the Western Han Dynasty, argot began to gradually become a riddle. At that time, popular shooting had become a folk and court entertainment. Shooting is a game in which words or boxes are hidden in advance, and then the covered objects are guessed by divination. It's a game in which code words develop to a certain stage. Dong Fangshuo, a writer, was a representative figure of argot echo at that time, and his echo activities were recorded in Ban Gu's Han Shu and Zhang Ying's Yuan Jian Han Lei. There is a story in Li Yun's Taiping Guang Ji: "Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty tried to call Dong Fangshuo in code. When Lin Xianzao. The emperor struck the threshold of Weiyang Hall with his staff, saying, "Scold Sir, tie him up". The new moon came and said, "Did you give the forest forty-nine dates?" New moon, I saw two trees hitting the windowsill with sticks, two pieces of wood and a pile of dates, and I scolded 49 people. "As you can see, this code word adopts modern riddle spelling, supplemented by movements and sounds, which is somewhat characteristic of literal riddle.

During the Eastern Han Dynasty, argot developed further. According to the structural characteristics of Chinese characters, the puzzle of the first sentence meaning is produced by using the changes of shape, sound and meaning of square characters in the process of clutch increase and decrease. According to Liu Yiqing's "Shi Shuo Xin Yu Wu Jie", it is recorded: "After tasting Cao E's tablet, Yang Xiu saw the title' Huang Juan, Young Woman' from the back of the tablet. Sun Tzu, mortar "eight characters. Say to Xiu: "Do you understand?" ? A:' solution. Wei Wu said,' Your Majesty has nothing to say, so let me think about it. Three miles later, Wei Wu said, "I found it." . Tell Yang Xiu not to remember what he knows. Yuexiu:' Yellow silk, colorful silk, unique words; Young women, girls, and wonderful words; Grandchildren, women are also kind words; If you are embarrassed, you will be relieved. I will resign you with words. The so-called "Miao Yan" also. Wu Wei also remembered it and sighed with Xiu:' I am not as good as Qing, but I feel three miles'. "The story of Cao Cao and Yang Xiu guessing the tablet is fictional. In fact, Cao Cao and Yang Xiu have never been to Huiji, Zhejiang, where Cao Ebei is located. Even so, according to the publication time of Shi Shuo Xin Yu, it is at least certain that this mystery existed before the Northern and Southern Dynasties.

At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, divination was very popular. Using the structural characteristics of Chinese characters, the absurd divination was divided and combined as a prediction of the future. In this case, the poetry riddle of clutch characters was born, and Kong Rong in the period of Emperor Xian in the Eastern Han Dynasty initiated the six-character "Lu Guo Kong Wen Rong Ju". During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the riddle of on-off characters was very popular, and as a style, it was active in the literary world and all the rage. With the development of clutch, the loss-increasing body appeared in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. Combined with the earliest knowledge body, it can be used in real life. According to Li Bai's "Biography of Xu Zhicai in Northern Qi Dynasty", Xu Zhicai in Northern Qi Dynasty was eloquent and observant. Public-private discussions are full of ridicule. On one occasion, he called Wang Xin's surname "If you have words, you will go crazy near dogs, be a horse with a neck and feet, and be a sheep with horns and tails." In just four sentences, the word "Wang" jumped out, which was simply a farce.

During the Southern Dynasties, the first word "enigma" appeared in the history of China's enigma. At that time, Bao Zhao, a poet, included a self-created "three-character puzzle of well, turtle and soil" in his "Bao Ji". The word "well" is like this: "One body with four branches and eight heads; 1858, the flying spring flowed upward. " The first three sentences use clutch, and the last sentence will further mean "hmm"

The appearance of riddle books marks the maturity of riddles. During the Warring States Period, there were books and periodicals devoted to recording argot in China. Liu Xiang said to New Preface that "Qi Xuanwang sent books and read them", and Ban Gu's Han Shu Yi Wen Zhi also said that "there are 18 books". Wen Xin Diao Long, written by Liu Xie, a literary critic in the late Southern Dynasties, is the first monograph in China to systematically expound literary theory, among which Harmony is the first article to study riddles, which makes an incisive exposition of riddles before the Southern Dynasties. For example, regarding the emergence, definition and characteristics of riddles, he made the following statement: "Since Wei Dynasty, it has been quite good, but it has become a riddle after being ridiculed by a gentleman. If you don't understand, just reply to him and put you in a coma. Or text, or image objects. Think delicately, try to observe the words, and the righteousness is graceful and positive, and the words are hidden and obvious. "

Since the Han, Wei, Southern and Northern Dynasties, argot has become a mystery. At that time, literati drew nutrition from the people and created and developed riddles such as separation of bosom friends and gradual loss, which not only enriched the contents of riddles in the same historical period, but also laid the foundation for the development of riddles in the future.

During the Sui Dynasty, China was reunified, the economy and culture between the north and the south gradually became harmonious, and riddles were more active than the previous generation and were widely used in social life. In the Tang Dynasty, riddles became popular. According to Miscellanies of Chu Hai in Ming Dynasty, in the third year of Tianbao, the secretary supervised why he retired and returned to his hometown. Before he left, Emperor Ming of the Tang Dynasty asked him what he wanted. He said, "I have an unknown minister, but fortunately your majesty gave him the honor of returning home." Upon hearing this, Ming Taizu said with a smile, "If you are lucky, you will believe. The son of Qing must believe in it, worthy of the name. " He Zhangzhi thanked him happily and left. It took me a while to understand that "you can't tease me." I'm from Wu, and I'm the son of Funai. Why not call my son's paw? "It's really exquisite and wonderful to learn from the clutch. According to Tang Duan's "Luling Pass", Cao took the opportunity according to reason and had a guest to try it. As a riddle says, "Everything is sitting, so is lying, standing and walking." He replied, "On official land, on private land. It is also a riddle: "Everything lies while sitting, lying while walking, lying and lying". The guest can't be right, so he wrote, "My riddle swallowed yours." "The guest is very ashamed. The guest is a "frog" and Cao's book is a "snake", so there is a saying that "my mystery swallowed your mystery".

There are many riddles in the Tang Dynasty that were not found in the previous generation, such as Li Gongzuo's Legend of Xie Xiaoe, Wu Chuhou's Mystery of Tang Monument, and Feng Yi's Poems in the Garden. It is worth mentioning that at that time, the street language allusions in all walks of life were very rich and widely circulated, which promoted the prosperity of riddles.

The riddle entered a period of great development in the Song Dynasty. Kyoto is a place where politics, economy and culture are concentrated. With the strong national economic strength and the improvement of people's material living standards, corresponding cultural activities have emerged. In the Northern Song Dynasty, a place dedicated to geisha appeared in the capital of song dynasty-Washe. Riddle is one of the hundred plays, which has gained unprecedented popularity through the spread of business and geisha places. The wind of making riddles and guessing riddles is very strong, and a large number of riddle artists such as Ma Dingzhai, Huo Baichou, Zhang, Hu Liulang and Wei Dalin have emerged.

As early as the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first month has become a folk custom. In the Northern Song Dynasty, the Lantern Festival was even more warm and grand. According to Song Meng's "Tokyo Dream": "On the fifteenth day of the first month, there will be a lantern festival in front of the door. From the winter solstice, the mountain shed will be opened and the wood will face Xuande Building. Tourists have gathered, and under the two corridors of the Imperial Street, there are strange skills, songs and dances, scales, scales, and the music is noisy for more than ten miles. " Forced by Jin, the Northern Song Dynasty moved its capital to Lin 'an to find a peaceful corner. In order to whitewash the peace, every year the rulers invite Chinese people to decorate the Lantern Festival to celebrate important events. The so-called Southern Song Dynasty is full of lanterns. Taking this opportunity, some scholars "cut poems with silk lanterns, sometimes satirize them, sometimes draw words, and use hidden words to tease pedestrians." At this point, the lamp came into contact with the riddle, forming an indissoluble bond, and the "lantern riddle" was born. The riddle at this time refers to the riddle written on the lamp, not the riddle of meaning now, and there is an essential difference between them.

With the emergence of riddles, a riddle organization appeared. At that time, a riddle club was established in Lin 'an, the capital of the Song Dynasty. According to Naide Weng's Jingshi Jisheng, there are two argots, namely, the dirty Zhai in the north and the dirty Zhai in the south and the western Zhai in the west, all of which are based on Jiangyou riddle. The stream of riddles and poems is extracted into a fast one. " The members of the riddle club are all literati who fly poetry. They either rewarded each other with riddles, mocked each other with riddles, played riddles, or wrote books, all of which promoted the development of riddles in the future.

The diversification of riddle forms is an important symbol of the great development of riddle in Song Dynasty. Crossword puzzles, physical puzzles, painting puzzles, printing puzzles and famous puzzles dominated the riddle world at that time, forming a certain guessing system, such as Tao puzzles, guessing right, next episode, paste set, wisdom, horizontal, asking questions, eyes and ears. There are many riddles handed down from the Song Dynasty. Up to now, there are more than 70 riddles collected from various ancient books, most of which are poems. Wang Anshi was not only a politician and writer in the Northern Song Dynasty, but also an influential riddle expert. He is good at guessing riddles. Some unofficial history in Song Dynasty recorded some of his riddle activities and riddles, such as adding two points to the word "mu" instead of guessing the word "bei". Beizi owes two points, no guessing. "Shoot the words" he "and" zi "respectively. Another example is "I always follow the measures of leading officials, full of elegant articles, sometimes wearing red makeup and loving romantic." "guess the mystery of" seal "

On the basis of riddles in Sui and Tang Dynasties in Song Dynasty, painting riddles and physical riddles developed rapidly. Here are two riddles quoted by Su Dongpo and Fo Yin, which can be seen. According to Dongpo Collection, "Dongpo picked up a piece of paper and drew a monk with a fan in his right hand and a long-handled hedge in his left. Fo Yin said,' You can discuss this mystery', and Fo Yin pondered for a long time:' Isn't it the language in the preface to Guansui?' Dongpo said,' What is it?' Fo Yin replied: "The wind can move it, and teaching can change it." . Don't you think so? Dongpo said:' My teacher is also capable.' Just laughing. According to "Miscellanies of Dan and Lead", "Fo Yin holds 250 yuan to show Dongpo and wants to discuss this mystery with you." Dongpo thought about it and later said to Fo Yin, "A dollar has four words, and 250 yuan is a thousand words." . Is this a riddle of 1000 words? Fo Yin just smiled. "

Scholars in Song Dynasty were good at seal cutting and attached importance to seal cutting science, which led to the appearance of seal cutting spectrum, thus solving the most primitive mystery of seal cutting. According to Song Dynasty's "The Story of Clouds Passing Eyes", Jiang Kui, a famous poet in Song Dynasty, carved his name as a riddle on the seal. The seal reads: "The eagle flies around the room and the phoenix waits for the court." The first sentence is quoted from the Book of Songs, "Wei Shi, when Yang", and hidden ginger. The last sentence is quoted from Shangshu, "Kui Qule, Phoenix comes to the instrument", and "Kui" is hidden. Jiang Kui's seal riddle is a pioneering work, which has played a role in attracting jade for the later development of seal riddle.

In the Song Dynasty, riddles of names with names as mysterious materials became more and more common and occupied a place in the mysterious world. Song Pengcheng's "Mo Ke Dao Xi" recorded such a name riddle: "A beautiful woman pretended to be drunk and asked for help, revealing the white jade skin on her chest, but she couldn't find it when she walked into the account, leaving her covered in Feng Shui." The words are subtle and colorful, and the feelings are lingering. Every sentence implies a poet in the Tang Dynasty, namely: Jia Dao (fake autumn), Li Bai (Li Bai), Luo Yin and Pan Lang (war wave).

All true art has great vitality. The riddle did not stop and disappear after the Song Dynasty, but continued to develop in different historical environments and conditions. In all kinds of riddle activities, the bachelor of arts has always been the protagonist. Mystery novels appeared in Song, Jin and Yuan Dynasties. During the Song and Yuan Dynasties, there were four volumes of Collected Works published by Su Dongpo, Huang, Wang Anshi, etc. During Jin Zhangzong's reign, there was a White Tiger Note edited by Yang Puxiang, a Sichuanese. In the first year, Zhu Shikai, a native of Zhejiang Province, compiled a Chronicle of Heaven and Earth. Due to the influence of the times and regional culture, lantern riddles in the Yuan Dynasty were temporarily at a low ebb, and the number was small. Even so, there were still many excellent works. For example, the great poet Sadula created a riddle, which can be found in his Wild Goose Gate Collection: "Open like a wheel, fold like a lotus leaf, cut paper and adjust glue to protect Hsinchu, and the lotus leaves in Japan and China show graceful shadows." The banana is quiet in rainy days, and it is sunny and cloudy. " The answer is "umbrella", which expresses ambition with riddles and has extraordinary skill in solving puzzles.

Lantern viewing on the fifteenth day of the first month began in Sui and Tang Dynasties as a folk custom, while lantern riddles as the entertainment of the Lantern Festival began in Song Dynasty and became popular throughout the ages. By the Ming Dynasty, they had spread all over the country and became indispensable decorations for the Lantern Festival. During the Lantern Festival, the atmosphere of riddles was extremely lively and unprecedented. According to Liu Dong's "A Brief Introduction to the Scenery of the Imperial Capital": "On the eighth to eighteenth day of the first month, people gather outside Donghua Gate, which is called the Lantern Festival. There are also poems that hide things on the temple walls, called Shang lanterns. It is not stupid to imagine and spread it. " According to Ruan Dacheng's Legend of Spring Lantern riddles: "There was a scene in playing riddles where the riddles were broken. The note said "stop and go". Money is small, you can send it when you are on the road, and the punishment without it is still the same. There are several lines in the city dialect, and the names are hidden tightly to teach you to think. " This is the scene of guessing activities at that time.

The riddles in Ming Dynasty are rich in forms. On the basis of inheriting several forms such as ci riddle, name riddle and object riddle since the Song Dynasty, the style of riddle has been further innovated, such as the wine riddle initiated by the writer Huang. This wine mystery is like a poem. It takes turns guessing riddles and shooting riddles at the banquet instead of drinking wine. The one who guesses wins, the one who guesses loses, and the one who loses is punished with wine. The creation of alcohol riddles makes riddles free from the restrictions of festivals such as Lantern Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival, and can be used in daily activities. Huang has a name riddle: "It's cold and hot, when it's cold, it's warm on your head, and when it's hot, it's sad in your ears." Name one of the Three Kingdoms, the answer: the story of Diusim. The ancients often used mink to make hats, so warm head in cold weather is a reference to "mink". Every hot day, cicadas sing loudly in the trees, so it is a reference to "cicada" when it is hot, and the first two sentences echo each other.

Most riddles in the Ming Dynasty were written by literati. At that time, the sentences in the four books were used as riddles, and the production skills were greatly improved. The quality of riddles is constantly improving. Some of these riddles are masterpieces of a generation, and they are still popular and interesting. For example, Xu Wei's crossword puzzle says, "What can be discarded and sheep can be changed." Guess "feint", guess "present" by "making people difficult", guess "he" by "asking Guan Zhong", guess "foot" by "the moon is gone" and so on, all of which are rare masterpieces. Li Kaixian, known as one of the eight gifted scholars in Jiajing, is not only a master of traditional Chinese opera, but also a master of riddles. Some of his riddles are mixed with Zen, such as the mirror riddle: "Know people's faces but don't know their hearts" and the lice riddle: "When you are found, everyone, big or small, will die." The idea is novel and ingenious, with far-reaching significance.

The riddle developed to the end of the Ming Dynasty, and lantern riddles appeared. Due to the popularity of riddles, especially literary riddles, there are riddles not only in Lantern Festival, Chinese Valentine's Day and Mid-Autumn Festival, but also in other festivals and free time. Due to frequent riddle activities, riddle materials are in short supply. In view of the mystique and obsession of some literati, under these circumstances, there is a new trend in the riddle world. According to "Notes on Yunhe Xuan", "Guangling Eighteen Grids" were created in the late Ming Dynasty, namely, louver grid, Xu grid, Zhige, Harmonic grid, Yage grid, vivid grid, tablet grid, birthday star grid, foundation grid, shrimp grid, swallow tail grid, grid, double chisel grid, fishing grid, sand grid, brocade grid, broken brocade grid and palindrome grid. The emergence of lantern riddles marks the maturity of lantern riddles, which have been separated from folk lantern riddles and formed their own system.

The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of feudal society in China. Like novels and plays at that time, suspense activities were very active, and the suspense style was far better than that of the Ming Dynasty. In the early Qing dynasty, there were many riddles and few innovations, such as Chu's "Yin" riddle: "There is no one in Iraq, and the sheep's mouth is its group. If you cut off your head and shoot it, it will become ugly. You will open the door with your feet straight, and a long sedan chair bar will suffocate a dead body. " Each sentence becomes a button, which shows the legacy of the clutch loss-increasing body since the Eastern Han Dynasty. Since the mid-Qing Dynasty, riddles have taken a big step forward. Although the materials of riddles and answers are still mostly four books and five classics, they have become more novel and exquisite in production techniques and strive for vividness. For example, the human feelings in The Book of Songs, the beauty without children in Zuo Zhuan, and Huo Qubing in The Book of Rites.

Since the late Qing Dynasty, riddles, especially those with literal meaning, have reached an unprecedented popularity, riddles have been increasing and riddles have made great breakthroughs. Riddle experts are brave in reform and have created some novel and unique riddles, such as Liang Zhangju's Red Tiger and Zhang Qinan's foreign language riddles. According to "Miscellanies of Returning to the Field", Liang Zhangju once wrote a word with a brush and guessed two ancient Chinese words. The answer is: don't talk in the same way, but suddenly look at its color. The first sentence of the answer is closely related to the riddle, and the second sentence echoes the color used to write the riddle. Zhang Qinan, a riddle master, has a foreign language riddle in his masterpiece "Spring Lantern in the Garden", which means "good".

"Morning" is a mystery. Guess the word "tan", which means "speaking early in the West". In the late Qing Dynasty, riddles were famous for riddles. At that time, riddles were made from a wide range of materials, including words, proverbs, idioms, poems, names of people, country names, place names, flowers, Chinese medicine and so on.

The prosperity of mystery novels in Qing Dynasty was also reflected in some literary works at that time, such as Eight Cave Days by the master of five-color stone, A Dream of Red Mansions by Cao Xueqin, The Edge of Flowers in the Mirror by Li Ruzhen, The Treasure of Flowers by Chen Sen, The First Floor by Yin Zhannaxi, Witnessing Wonderland in Twenty Years by Wu Woyao, Flowers and Moon Marks by Wei Zian and Han Bangqing. During this period, a large number of riddles based on theory and puzzles based on works also appeared, which were published worldwide. For example, Zhou Lianggong's Ci Touch, Mao's Lantern Enigma, Fei Xingtian's Guessing, Yu Yue's Collection of Books, Zhang's Occasional Poems, Gao's Heart Garden Enigma, Xin Tan Furnace, Gu's A Preliminary Compilation of Enigma, and Tang's Eighteen-character Enigma.

Since the Southern Song Dynasty, there appeared dirty Zhai and western Zhai in Lin 'an, and the riddle club had spread all over the country and flourished for a while from Yuan and Ming Dynasties to the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China. At that time, there were three most famous riddle organizations: Zhuxi Houshe, Peiping Tiger Shooting Association and Shanghai Ping She. Zhuxi Houshe was founded in Guangxu period of Qing Dynasty. Gao Naichao, a Fujian enigma living in Yangzhou, made great contributions to the establishment of Zhuxi Houshe by using the restaurant opened by the school. The organization has a large number of people and many experts, including Ma Zhiren, Zhou Lianggong, Chen Tianyi and Li. And it is powerful. They often use teahouses, restaurants or private houses as places for lantern riddles, or get together to discuss and discuss lantern riddles; Or hang a riddle to attract speculation and entertain the people. Peiping Tiger Shooting Club was initiated by Fan Fanshan, Han, Gao Buting, Xue, Yi Shifu, etc. It was established in Huizhou Guild Hall in Peiping in the 32nd year of Guangxu, with Han as its president. The club has more than 300 members, including Gu, Chen Tun, Wu Yulin, Zhang Qinan, Zhang Chaonan, Yu Zanhou, Jin Gan, Wu, Song Dunfu, Qian Nanyang, and other enigmatic heroes. In addition to the monthly meeting and annual meeting, they hold large-scale mystery meetings every major festival, with a large number of talents, experts, and tens of thousands of tourists. Shanghai Ping She, which was established at the same time as Peiping Tiger Shooting Club and has a far-reaching influence in the mysterious world in the south, is no less powerful than Peiping Tiger Shooting Club. The club is presided over by Sun Yusheng and has gathered a large number of enigmatic elites such as Kuang Huifeng, Xie, Yu Sheng, Zhu Juechang, Wang Xianxian, Zhu, Liu Jieyu, Xu Zhenya and Shi Jiqun. They make a big show in the new world, the big world and other amusement places, or guess at each other and entertain themselves; Or take turns to hang a tiger and set up a game to hit people.

At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, there were many riddles organizations, among which Zhuxichun Club, Yinxiu Club, Yuxue Club and Dingmao Club in Yangzhou, Yuquanxuan crossword club, Dazhong crossword club, Songjiang crossword club in Shanghai, Xiting crossword club in Suzhou, Cui Xin crossword club in Xiamen, Tanhu House in Jinjiang, Hu Wen crossword club and Longmen crossword club in Longhai, Crystal crossword club in Lanzhou and Fengxi were more influential. Numerous riddles organizations have played an active role in popularizing riddles knowledge, promoting riddles creation and cultivating riddles talents, expanding riddles from the literati class to the civilian class with a certain culture, which greatly promoted the development and prosperity of riddles.

In the early years of the Republic of China, lantern riddles formed two factions with different styles: Nanzong and Beipai. At that time, Zhang Yuting, an enigma scientist, advocated the riddles with five or seven words in harmony with modern poetry, and thought that riddles were poetic and unique. For a time, there were many mysterious people echoing and echoing in Beiping area, thus forming the Northern School. In order to make it easier to distinguish, people call the expression of using traditional riddles Nanzong. Generally speaking, the main characteristics of the Southern Sect are vague and careless, and elegant, while the main characteristics of the Northern Sect are interlocking and exquisite about Ye Yun. For example, we can use "honeymoon trip" to guess "I will move forward anyway" in five-character Tang poems, and "bending the flag to move the dragon and snake" to guess "corpse change". The former belongs to the Southern Sect, while the latter belongs to the Northern Sect. Although there are differences between the South School and the North School in the expression of riddles, in actual creation, the South has the North and the North has the South, which complement each other.

During the period of the Republic of China, there were quite a number of mystery books compiled by enigmas, such as Mystery Solution by Cai San, Hu Wen by Xu, Ensemble of Ancient and Modern Riddles by Han, Mystery in the Heart, Spring Lantern by Qian Nanyang, Tiger Note by Xu Zhenya and Yingying by Han.

Since the founding of New China, people have taken a keen interest in lantern riddles, an ancient traditional culture, and lantern riddles have changed greatly in content and form. It is elegant, popular and entertaining. Guessing has become an indispensable entertainment in festivals or parties. In recent years, the ranks of lantern riddle lovers are growing day by day, and mass lantern riddle activities are frequent in many cities and township enterprises and institutions across the country, lantern riddle organizations have been established one after another, and lantern riddle associations are numerous. According to incomplete statistics, as of May 1989, there are nearly 200 large-scale lantern riddle organizations in China.