Chinese poetry Chinese poetry is poetry written, spoken, or chanted in the Chinese language. While this last term comprises Classical Chinese, Standard Chinese, Mandarin Chinese, Yue Chinese, and other historical and vernacular forms of the language, its poetry ...

, a couplet () is a pair of lines of poetry which adhere to certain rules (see below). Outside of poems, they are usually seen on the sides of doors leading to people's homes or as

hanging scroll A hanging scroll is one of the many traditional ways to display and exhibit East Asian painting and calligraphy. The hanging scroll was displayed in a room for appreciation; it is to be distinguished from the handscroll, which was narrower and ...

s in an interior. Although often called antithetical couplet, they can better be described as a written form of

counterpoint In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tradi ...

. The two lines have a one-to-one correspondence in their metrical length, and each pair of

characters Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...

must have certain corresponding properties. A couplet is ideally profound yet concise, using one character per word in the style of

Classical Chinese Classical Chinese, also known as Literary Chinese (古文 ''gǔwén'' "ancient text", or 文言 ''wényán'' "text speak", meaning "literary language/speech"; modern vernacular: 文言文 ''wényánwén'' "text speak text", meaning "literar ...

. A special, widely seen type of couplet is the

spring couplet ''Fai chun'' () is a traditional decoration that is frequently used during Chinese New Year. People put ''fai chun'' in the doorways to create a jubilant festive atmosphere since the phrases written on it means good luck and prosperity. Cust ...

(), used as a New Year's decoration that expresses happiness and hopeful thoughts for the coming year.

Requirements

A couplet must adhere to the following rules: #Both lines must have the same number of Chinese characters. #The lexical category of each character must be the same as its corresponding character. #The

tone pattern Tone patterns () are common constraints in classical Chinese poetry. The four tones of Middle Chinese—''level'' (平), ''rising'' (上), ''departing'' (去), and ''entering'' (入) tones—are categorized into level (平) tones and oblique (仄 ...

of one line must be the inverse of the other. This generally means if one character is of the level () tone, its corresponding character in the other line must be of an oblique () tone. #The last character of the first line should be of an oblique tone, which forces the last character of the second line to be of a level tone. #The meanings of the two lines must be related, with each pair of corresponding characters having related meanings too.

Example

Example of a couplet: : ::

Tone pattern Tone patterns () are common constraints in classical Chinese poetry. The four tones of Middle Chinese—''level'' (平), ''rising'' (上), ''departing'' (去), and ''entering'' (入) tones—are categorized into level (平) tones and oblique (仄 ...

: ::

Pinyin Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally written in Chinese for ...

: ''shū shān yǒu lù qín wéi jìng'' ::Translation: The mountain of books has one way and hard work serves as the path : ::Tone pattern: ::Pinyin: ''xué hǎi wú yá kǔ zuò zhōu'' ::Translation: The sea of learning has no end and effort makes the boat 好年好景好運氣 good year good condition good fortune 多財多福多吉利 more wealth more happiness more lucky 心想事成百業興 heart wish business success hundred industries flourishing 時来運到家昌盛 Chance come fortune arrive home prosperous 天增歲月人增壽 Heaven add years people gain ages 春滿乾坤福滿門 spring full universe happiness full house 鴻圖大展萬事興 grand prospect widely unfold millions things prosperous 富貴吉祥財源旺 rich honour lucky auspicious financial resource flourishing 人興財旺平安宅 family growing finance flourishing peaceful house 福壽雙全家常貴 happiness longevity both possessed house always honourable 旺犬旺財旺新年 vigorous dog flourishing finance prosperous new year 好年好景好運氣 good year good condition good fortune 開工大吉 commencing work propitious 出入平安 travel safe and sound

History and usage

Originating during the

Five Dynasties The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (), from 907 to 979, was an era of political upheaval and division in 10th-century Imperial China. Five dynastic states quickly succeeded one another in the Central Plain, and more than a dozen conc ...

, and flourishing during the

Ming The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

and

Qing dynasties The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speaki ...

in particular, couplets have a history of more than a thousand years and remain an enduring aspect of Chinese culture. Often, couplets are written on red paper and stuck on walls. Sometimes, they are carved onto plaques of wood for a more permanent display. Dueling couplets are a popular pastime with Chinese speakers, a game of verbal and intellectual dexterity, wit and speed which shares some parallels with

the dozens The Dozens is a game played between two contestants in which the participants insult each other until one of them gives up. Common in African-American communities, the Dozens is almost exclusively played in front of an audience, who encourage the ...

. A notable modern-day example occurs at the 7:24 point of the second segment of the satirical

machinima Machinima, originally machinema () is the use of real-time computer graphics engines to create a cinematic production. Most often, video games are used to generate the computer animation. The word "machinima" is a portmanteau of the words ''ma ...

War of Internet Addiction ''War of Internet Addiction'' (}) is an anti-censorship machinima advocacy production on behalf of the mainland Chinese ''World of Warcraft'' community, aesthetically notable for being made entirely in in-universe style. A protest against interne ...

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Gallery

File:后街清真寺 - panoramio.jpg, Arabic couplets outside Tianshui temple File:Grand View Tower.jpg, Couplet written by a famous poet at

Daguan Park Daguan Park () is a lakeside park located in the southwestern suburb of Kunming, Yunnan, China. Today many locals come to sit, drink tea, fly kites, and go boating. Among shady walks and pools, Daguan's focal point is Daguan Lou, a square, three ...

File:Schreiben eines Spruchbandes.jpg File:Rotes Duilian aus Lijiang.jpg File:Rotes Duilian aus Baishuitai.jpg File:Gruenes Duilian aus Zhongdian.jpg File:Duilian aus Baishuitai mit Zitat Maos.jpg File:Duilian.JPG File:Xlhhduilian.jpg File:Manuscripts in the Yunnan Nationalities Museum - DSC04013.JPG, Manuscripts in the

Yunnan Nationalities Museum The Yunnan Nationalities Museum () is located on the east bank of Dianchi Lake in Kunming, Yunnan, China, next to the Yunnan Ethnic Village. Completed in 1995, it is a comprehensive ethnology museum. Covering an area of over 200 mu, the museum h ...

Nakhi The Nakhi or Nashi (; Naxi: ; lit.: "Black people") are an East Asian ethnic group inhabiting the foothills of the Himalayas in the northwestern part of Yunnan Province, as well as the southwestern part of Sichuan Province in China. The Nakh ...

weather lore Weather lore is the body of informal folklore related to the prediction of the weather and its greater meaning. Much like regular folklore, weather lore is passed down through speech and writing from normal people without the use of external me ...

Dongba symbols The Dongba, Tomba or Tompa or Mo-so symbols are a system of pictographic glyphs used by the '' ²dto¹mba'' (Bon priests) of the Naxi people in southern China. In the Naxi language it is called ''²ss ³dgyu'' 'wood records' or ''²lv ³dgyu'' 's ...

References and notes

External links

''China the beautiful'' web site on duilian and chunlian

Hubert Delahaye, "The ''duilian'', parallel and converging sentences. A few sociological aspects", ''Études chinoises'', vol. XXI, n° 1-2, Spring-Fall 2002 (in French with English abstract)
{{Chinese poetry Chinese poetry forms Chinese calligraphy Arts in China