Preface
Couplets are a unique and charming form of literature and art in mainland China, and they are often named after a pair of sentences that are evenly coordinated and neatly arranged.
The couplets are short, concise, diverse, and demanding, both literary and interesting, so many literati and writers like to compete with each other through couplets at gatherings.
China has a long history, and there are quite a lot of couplets that have survived, the most famous is the "strange couplet" at the gate of the Mengjiang Nu Temple, which stands out among the many surviving couplets, and is known as "the first strange couplet through the ages", attracting countless literati and scholars to explore it.
This "strange couplet" is strange, its upper and lower couplets are a total of 20 words, but few people can read it right at once. However, there is a person who discovered its rules as soon as he saw the couplet, and accurately found its pronunciation, this person is Guo Moruo.
1. Broad and profound Chinese culture
The reason why the "strange couplet" at the entrance of the Mengjiang Nu Temple is difficult to pronounce is because it has ten characters in the upper and lower couplets, and seven of them are the same.
As we all know, many Chinese characters are polyphonic, and they correspond to different pronunciations according to the different meanings and language environments, so if there are too many of the same characters in a sentence, it will be a little overwhelming.
For example, the couplet at the entrance of the Mengjiang Nu Temple, "The sea is facing the dynasty and the sea is falling, and the floating clouds are long and long, and the clouds are long and long, and the seven identical characters are put together, and they must be accurately divided into their permutations and combinations, and they must also conform to the meaning of the couplet.
We all know that couplets pay attention to the rhythm of peace, and there is a battle between the upper and lower couplets, which can be called "the first strange couplet in the world", and the meaning behind this couplet will naturally not be simple.
No one knows the origin of this couplet, not even whether it was written by Meng Jiangnu, but it did stump countless literati and tourists who came to pay homage to Meng Jiangnu.
Whenever you go to the Mengjiang Temple, you can always see a group of people scratching their ears and cheeks at the door of the main hall thinking hard about this couplet. Among this group of people, there are those who discuss whether they guessed the pronunciation correctly, those who excitedly show off to the people around them after guessing one or two words correctly, and those who simply give up and ask for answers on the spot.
There are almost no people who can read this couplet right at once without knowing the answer, but Guo Moruo is an exception, he not only reads it right once, but also very easily.
2. Couplets with profound meanings
Mr. Guo Moruo was surprised to see this couplet, he was very interested in Chinese history and culture, and by chance, he went to Qinhuangdao to play, and immediately wanted to see the famous Mengjiang Temple.
Speaking of Meng Jiangnu crying on the Great Wall, this story has been passed down for thousands of years, and people admire the fierceness and persistence of Meng Jiang's female personality, and praise her loyal love for her husband.
In fact, the story behind "Meng Jiangnu Crying on the Great Wall" also hides people's disgust with war and their desire for peace, so it is not surprising that this story can survive for thousands of years.
The Mengjiang Temple not only represents people's recognition and praise of Mengjiangnu, but its existence itself is very historical. Later, in order to commemorate the deeds of Meng Jiangnu, people built the Meng Jiangnu Temple for her.
This temple was built before the Song Dynasty, after the Yuan, Ming, Qing and other dynasties, and after several large-scale repairs, Qianlong, Daoguang and other emperors also had the title here, so the building itself is very historical value.
Guo Moruo, who loves history and literature, naturally did not miss this famous building, and he visited the Mengjiang Temple with his wife and friends.
As they walked, they talked about the profound meaning behind the story of Meng Jiangnu, the style of these buildings and the period of construction. When stepping on the 108 steps, everyone had an epiphany, and this increasingly heavy step seemed to correspond to Meng Jiangnu's heavy mood back then.
After walking through these steps, he finally came to the door of the main hall, and Guo Moruo, his wife, and friends naturally saw the couplet at the entrance of the main hall.
The friend stopped and pondered, but he couldn't come up with an answer for a long time, and turned his head to look at Guo Moruo, only to find that he was smiling and looking confident.
听到友人的询问，郭沫若笑着说道，要先给这幅对联划分节奏，海水朝，朝朝朝，朝朝朝落；浮云长，长长长，长长长消。 (hǎi shuǐ cháo,zhāo zhāo cháo,zhāo cháo, zhāo cháo, zhāo luò;fú yún zhǎng,cháng cháng zhǎng,cháng zhǎng xiāo。 ）寓意世间万物的变化，正如潮起潮落，云长云消。
Mr. Guo Moruo's interpretation made friends and tourists around suddenly realize, and everyone sighed that it was worthy of being "the world's first odd couplet", and praised Mr. Guo Moruo's erudition.
3. The talented Guo Moruo
In fact, Mr. Guo Moruo's life is as wonderful and varied as this couplet. Guo Moruo was born in a family of landlords and businessmen, and when he was a child, in addition to some traditional classics, he also read a lot of new knowledge.
Influenced by the democratic ideology, Guo Moruo had openly opposed the autocracy of teachers, and his behavior was very deviant at the time, and because of this, he could not escape the fate of being expelled from school because of his top grades.
However, this is only the beginning of his wonderful life story. In 1911, Guo Moruo returned to his hometown in response to the Xinhai Revolution to organize a militia group, in 1918, he participated in a strike of students studying in Japan in order to oppose the "Twenty-One Articles", and in 1919, in response to the May Fourth Movement, he published a large number of poems calling for a boycott of Japan......
During the Anti-Japanese War, he also wrote a large number of patriotic literary works to encourage compatriots to unite against Japan and unite with the outside world, and the famous historical dramas "The Flower of Tangtang" and "Qu Yuan" were created during this period.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Guo Moruo published a number of historical works, participated in a number of large-scale archaeological excavations and conservation work, and compiled a number of large-scale historical dramas.
There are not many talents like Guo Moruo who have achieved success in history, archaeology, literature and art, and he really deserves the title of "great talent".
In his life, he has witnessed too many important events and moments. He witnessed the end of the last feudal dynasty, participated in various movements to save the country and the people, experienced the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression with an unprecedented national crisis, and also saw the founding of New China.
It's a pity that on the eve of reform and opening up, Guo Moruo died of illness, otherwise he would definitely be able to see new changes in China.
epilogue
As the couplet in front of the Mengjiang Temple said, everything in the world is changing, perhaps it is precisely because of witnessing these changes that Mr. Guo Moruo felt the meaning behind the couplet at the first time he saw it.
No matter how many twists and turns life will go through, it is normal for the tide to ebb and flow, as long as you have a firm belief, you will not lose your heart in this change of everything.