In Chinese poetry, a couplet is a pair of lines of poetry which adhere to certain rules. Outside of poems, they are usually seen on the sides of doors leading to people's homes or as hanging scrolls in an interior. Although often called antithetical couplet, they can better be described as a written form of counterpoint. The two lines have a one-to-one correspondence in their metrical length, and each pair of characters must have certain corresponding properties. A couplet is ideally profound yet concise, using one character per word in the style of Classical Chinese. A special, widely seen type of couplet is the spring couplet, used as a New Year's decoration that expresses happiness and hopeful thoughts for the coming year.
The lexical category of each character must be the same as its corresponding character.
The tone pattern 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: 好年好景好运气 good year good conditiongood fortune 多财多福多吉利 more wealth more happiness more lucky 心想事成百业兴 heart wish business success hundred industries flourishing 时来运到家昌盛 Chance come fortune arrive home prosperous 天增岁月人增寿 Heaven add years people gain ages 春满乾坤福满门 spring full universe happiness full house 宏图大展万事兴 grand prospect widely unfold millions things prosperous 富贵吉祥财源旺 rich honour lucky auspicious financial resource flourishing 人兴财旺平安宅 family growing finance flourishing peaceful house 福寿双全家常贵 happiness longevity both possessed house always honourable 旺犬旺财旺新年 vigorous dog flourishing finance prosperous new year 好年好景好运气 good year good condition good fortune 开工大吉 commencing work propitious 出入平安 travel safe and sound
History and usage
Originating during the Five Dynasties, and flourishing during the Ming and Qing dynasties 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. A notable modern-day example occurs at the 7:24 point of the second segment of the satirical machinimaWar of Internet Addiction.
