Recently, the news that a 72-year-old man in Shandong offered a reward of 10,000 yuan to collect the lower league has aroused the interest of many cultural and literature lovers. According to reports, the old man made a link at a union event in 1977, and the reward at that time was 5 yuan. In the 1979s, when the monthly salary was only about 10 yuan, 5 yuan was a "huge amount"!
But 45 years later, the amount of rewards has risen from 5 yuan to 10,000 yuan, and the elderly Wang Yucheng has received five or six thousand lower links from all over the country.
Why is a pair of couplets that no one has matched for decades?
Is this really an "absolute"?
To understand this problem, we need to have a holistic understanding of the couplet, the absolute, and what is called the "favorite" downlink.
First, the couplet is a treasure of Chinese culture
Couplets are dual sentences written on paper, cloth or engraved on bamboo, wood and pillars, paying attention to the neatness of the battle, the coordination of the level and the servant, is a unique cultural and artistic form of the Chinese language with one word and one sound, and belongs to a literary genre of the battle. In general, there are four requirements for couplets: 1. The number of words is equal and the sentences are consistent; 3. Harmony of tones (traditional custom is "rise and fall"); 3. The parts of speech are relative and the positions are the same ("virtual to virtual, real to real"; 4. To be relevant, up and down.
The couplet originated five generations later from the Shu lord Meng Chang (who planted hibiscus flowers all over Chengdu and later became the abbreviation of Chengdu), according to the "Shu Han Zhuo", Meng Chang wrote the inscription "New Year Na Yu Qing, Jia Jie Changchun" on the peach symbol on the door plate of the palace, which is the earliest couplet in China since the record, and it is also the first Spring League.
There are many types of couplets, which can be divided by the number of words, such as the famous "Kasa Ong Pair Rhymes" there are many. At present, it seems that the most common is the 7-character couplet, and the longest surviving couplet in China is the self-mentioned couplet of the late Qing Dynasty in Sichuan (now Jiangjin, Chongqing), and the literary scholar and scholar Zhong Yunfang on the sixtieth birthday, with 446 characters each in the upper and lower links, for a total of 892 characters.
At the end of the Qing Dynasty, Zhang Zhidong had a total of 408 characters in the Xiangfei Ancestral Hall of Quyuan Temple, which is the most widely influential Long Lian. The Qing Dynasty Sun Qiweng for the Yunnan Kunming Dianchi Grand View Building made a long link can be called "the first link between ancient and modern times", a total of 180 words, quoting the scriptures, the battle is neat, the artistic conception is magnificent, so far to read, let people be proud, and there is a sense of indignation in life.
According to the occasion of use, the couplet can also be divided into spring union, marriage union, life union, banglian, gift union, industry union, etc., in a word, it is a special union and a universal union.
Second, absolutely, how many times have there been?
When writing, there is generally a creator who writes a complete upper and lower sentences (some also need horizontal batch), but there is also a situation, that is, after coming up with an upper link, it is impossible to think of a lower link, which requires someone to help. There are also literati singing harmony with each other, pairs of children, but it is a traditional Cultural Activity in China.
But sometimes, after the uplink comes out, it is delayed to be unable to match a favorite lower link, if it cannot be matched for a long time, it becomes "absolute", and if it cannot be corrected for thousands of years, it is called "the absolute of eternity".
For example, the famous couplet "Smoke Lock Pond Willow", it is said that the Qianlong Emperor came out, this uplink, the artistic conception is very beautiful, the key is to contain gold, wood, water, fire and earth "five elements". Later, some people showed the "Mirror Han Fire Tree Embankment", although there are also gold, wood, water, fire and earth, but it is too pretentious. Until more than 200 years later, during the First Opium War, when ten thousand cannons roared, some people remembered the "Smoke Lock Pond Willow", and they faced out the "Cannon Town Haicheng Tower". Some people think that it is already far away, in fact, the upper and lower links can be the same kind of mood, or the opposite, I think this is the best downlink.
There is also a pair of couplets, related to the Wangjiang Tower in Chengdu, the upper link is "Wangjiang Tower, Wangjiang Stream, Wangjiang River Stream, Wangjiang River Stream, River Stream, River Tower Thousand Years", but also many years later, some people have paired up with "Moon Well, Moon Shadow, Moon Shadow in Moon Well, Moon Shadow in Moon Well, Moon Shadow Ten Thousand Years, Moon Well Ten Thousand Years".
As far as I know, there is a pair of couplets, no one has been out for more than 1,000 years, according to legend, Su Shi Buddha Yin and others did not do anything when they visited the West Lake, and the common things of the great talents were not right, and the upper link was "Tour the West Lake, lift the tin pot, the tin pot drops the West Lake, and the tin lake is sorry." There are many people who are right, but they basically do not meet the requirements of part-of-speech consistency. For example, "The wine bowl, over nine bowls, the wine bowl lost nine bowls, the long regret wine bowl", it is obviously not right.
Third, the couplet of the favorite is the individual perception of the person
After talking about some knowledge about couplets, let's look at this couplet again. Mr. Wang Lao's uplink is "Ibsen Andersen Shengsheng Shenghua Magic Pen", "Ibsen" is a Norwegian dramatist and poet, representative works include "Doll's House", "Enemy of the People", etc., "Andersen" is a well-known fairy tale writer, as a famous writer, the text of the two is indeed "Raw Flower Magic Pen".
So, from this point of view, this couplet is still very interesting. But it's not hard to figure it out— aren't they two names? Finally, generalize with a juxtaposed idiom in the form of a moving object?
Therefore, some netizens are right: Fu Baoshi Qi Baishi Stone Stone Broke the Sky, the content is good, and it is still relatively neat. I tried to match a couplet: Cao Mengde Liu Xuan De De De De Fu sentient beings.
But in fact, no matter how you are right, you can't do what the right person wants - as long as the right person is willing, there will never be a satisfactory downlink. Why?
The reason is very simple, the right to explain is in his hands.
For example, if you follow the name of a person, he will tell you that I, the "Ibsen" and "Hans Christian Andersen", are not only the people, but also "divination life with the I Ching" and "living a peaceful life"
The second is that this person's name should have a clear alternative solution, and the Ibsen of the upper link can not be interpreted as divination of life with the I Ching; Andersen is not understood as Ann can live a lifetime.
Obviously, this explanation is very far-fetched, but the right to explain to the person, he is willing to explain it this way, what can you do?
Even if someone is right in this sense, he will say that "raw flower magic pen" is the inversion of the idiom "magic pen raw flower". And "Ibsen Andersen Shengsheng Shenghua Magic Pen" can also be interpreted as "how can you use the I Ching to divinate your life in an empty space for a lifetime, and write a wonderful article?" ("Disciple" also has the meaning of "emptiness"), and behind it conveys a materialist view of history.
More than ten years ago, there was a newspaper that solicited couplets, and the upper link was "Qian Zhong Shu Light Qian Zhong Shu", and I sent a lower link "Ma Zhi Tu Lao Ma Zhi Tu". Was awarded a second prize for saying that "light" is an adjective used as a verb, or is it intended to be used, the meaning of "light with money" means, and my "old" is only an adjective - you say, my "old" here can still be understood as an adjective used into a verb, or is it intended to use "horse as old".
Writing here, I will tell you a little story about couplets. It is said that there is a veteran who guards the customs and likes the couplet, and when he sees the reader, he will be admitted to the exam. Once, a reader who had entered Beijing to take the exam wanted to enter the customs, but the gate was already closed. At this time, the veteran came up with a pair:
Switch early, close late, let the guest pass.
The reader thought about it for a while and said to the veteran, "It is easy to come up with pairs, but it is very difficult to come out, so please sir, right?" In this sentence, it contains the following link: out of the easy to pair difficult, please sir first. It is said that this reader is Ouyang Xiu, the literary leader of the Song Dynasty.
Do you understand? The old man's upper link has 5 or 6 thousand lower links, and the old man is not satisfied, because of two points: one is that the old man has the right to interpret, he can interpret it at will, as long as he wants to not let you on the right, it is reasonable to say; the other is that it is very easy to make pairs, but it is very difficult to come out, and sometimes it is necessary to have coincidences.
For example, Li Tiaoyuan, a great talent in the Qing Dynasty, rode home and accidentally trampled a child's stone. The child does not do it, stop him, Li Tiaoyuan is very arrogant, I am a master of political science, you are disobedient, I will arrest you into the school to study. When the little boy listened, since you are a political master, then I will make a pair, and if it comes out, I will not ask you to compensate, and if you don't come out, you will pay.
The little boy's upper link is "stepping on the three stones of the Lei Bridge". You see, "Lei" is composed of three "stones" and skillfully uses the method of word breaking. The great talent Li Tiaoyuan couldn't think of it, so he had to concede defeat and help the child build a bridge before he could go home. After returning home, Li Tiaoyuan's eyebrows were locked, sullen and unhappy, and the lady asked, and Li Tiaoyuan told the lady about this matter. Madame smirked and wrote a word, cutting it in half with scissors. Li Qiaoyuan suddenly realized, to the next link: cut out the word two mountains.
The next day, Li Tiaoyuanxing hurriedly found the little boy and said his subordinate. The little boy said, "Yes, but you are not right. Li Tiaoyuan was taken aback, and the little boy said, "As a scholar and political adult, you deal with the four treasures of the study room every day, how can you think of scissors?" It must have been your lady who helped out."
You see, without this opportunity, sometimes you can't figure it out at all.
In short, if you want to make this couplet pair come out, you must first explain the meaning of the upper link (can not be far-fetched), and a review team composed of several professionals as a third party, otherwise, he will pay 100 million, and no one can come out!
But from another point of view, this kind of solicitation, which has aroused heated discussion among everyone, is very good for promoting traditional culture - after all, with the invasion of external culture and the development of information technology, more and more people are gradually drifting away from tradition.
(Original article, please do not reprint, infringement will be investigated!) ）