Spring Festival couplets

Synopsis

Spring couplets are pairs of poetic lines written in black ink on red paper, displayed on doorframes during the Chinese New Year period. They originated from peach wood charms, with Emperor Meng Chang of Later Shu during the Five Dynasties period composing China’s first spring couplet. Hanging spring couplets is one of the most important rituals of the Spring Festival, with the color red symbolizing joy and warding off evil spirits. The basic rules of couplets involve matching characters such as “heaven” to “earth” and “rain” to “wind.” The calligraphy of spring couplets reflects the everyday application of Chinese calligraphic art and stands as one of China’s most visually recognizable cultural symbols.

Overview

Spring couplets are red poetic couplets pasted on doorframes during the Chinese Spring Festival. They feature auspicious phrases written with a brush on red paper and are one of China's most visually recognizable cultural symbols. On the eve of the Lunar New Year every year, streets and alleys across China transform into a sea of red—every household's doorframe is adorned with fresh red spring couplets bearing good wishes for the coming year. Spring couplets are not merely festive decorations; they represent the perfect fusion of Chinese calligraphy and literary creation—a good pair requires both elegant calligraphy and well-balanced, profound poetic couplets.

Pasting spring couplets is one of the most important rituals for Chinese people during the New Year celebrations. On the 29th or 30th day of the twelfth lunar month, people remove the old couplets from the previous year and put up new ones. This process is called "bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new"—removing the old couplets signifies leaving behind the misfortunes and bad luck of the past year, while putting up new ones symbolizes welcoming the good fortune and auspiciousness of the New Year.

Historical Origins

The predecessor of spring couplets was the ancient "peach wood charms" (taofu). Ancient Chinese believed that peach wood had the power to ward off evil and disasters. Therefore, during the Spring Festival, two peach wood boards were hung on either side of the door, inscribed with the names of the door gods Shen Shu and Yu Lei to drive away evil spirits. This is the origin of peach wood charms. The famous line by Wang Anshi, "Amid the dawn light of thousands of households, old peach wood charms are always replaced with new ones," describes the scene of replacing these charms during the Spring Festival.

The first true spring couplet in Chinese history appeared during the Later Shu period of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms era. In 964 AD, Emperor Meng Chang of Later Shu ordered inscriptions to be written on peach wood boards before the Spring Festival. He personally wrote: "New Year ushers in lingering blessings; the festive season proclaims enduring spring." This is considered the first spring couplet in Chinese history.

By the Ming Dynasty, the custom of pasting spring couplets began to spread nationwide. It is said that Emperor Taizu of Ming, Zhu Yuanzhang, was very fond of spring couplets. He not only wrote them himself but also ordered every household in Nanjing to paste them. Once, while traveling incognito, he discovered a household without spring couplets. Upon inquiry, he learned the family were castrators of pigs and could not write. Zhu Yuanzhang then personally wrote a couplet for them: "With both hands, cleave open the road of life and death; with one knife, sever the root of right and wrong." From then on, pasting spring couplets became a nationwide Spring Festival custom.

Rules of Spring Couplets

The basic rule for writing spring couplets is parallelism—heaven pairs with earth, rain with wind, continent with vast sky, mountain flowers with sea trees. The last character of the upper line must be a falling tone (3rd or 4th tone), and the last character of the lower line must be a level tone (1st or 2nd tone). Although these rules are strict, it is precisely this beauty of prosody that makes spring couplets one of the most refined art forms in Chinese literature.

Classic Spring Couplets

Calligraphy and Spring Couplets

Spring couplets represent the most widespread daily application of Chinese calligraphy. Every year before the Spring Festival, calligraphers and cultural institutions across the country hold events to write and distribute spring couplets as blessings. Calligraphers dip their brushes in thick ink and write with bold strokes on red paper, bringing exquisite couplets to life. Regular script is dignified, running script is fluid, cursive script is unrestrained—different calligraphic styles impart different artistic qualities to the couplets.

In recent years, printed spring couplets have flooded the market—uniform fonts, exquisite patterns, and low prices. However, many Chinese still prefer handwritten couplets—they feel that handwritten couplets have warmth and human touch. The unique texture of ink spreading on red paper is irreplaceable by any printed product.

Cultural Influence

Spring couplets are not only popular in China but have also spread throughout the Chinese character cultural sphere. Chinese communities in South Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Singapore, and other places have preserved the custom of pasting spring couplets. The image of black characters on red paper has become the most distinctive visual symbol of Chinese New Year globally—wherever such door couplets are seen, the world knows that Chinese New Year has arrived.

References

1. Baidu Baike: https://baike.baidu.com/item/春联
2. Wikipedia: https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-cn/春联
3. Chinese Calligraphy: https://baike.baidu.com/item/对联
4. Spring Festival Customs: https://baike.baidu.com/item/春节