Famous People's Five-Style Name couplets

Author: Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2003-12-01
Features: The couplet evolved from peach symbols (taofu) during the Five Dynasties period. The famous couplet "New Year brings remaining blessings, auspicious festivals herald eternal spring," attributed to Meng Chang, the ruler of Later Shu in the Five Dynasties, is considered one of the earliest. Couplets used on doors are called "door couplets," and when extended to pillars, they are known as "pillar couplets." During the Song Dynasty, scholars like Su Shi and Zhu Xi left behind renowned couplets. After the Yuan and Ming dynasties, more authors contributed to the art of couplets. By the Qing Dynasty, especially during the reign of Emperor Qianlong, court halls displayed over a hundred couplets. In the Republican era, prominent scholars also frequently composed and presented couplets.
Couplets emphasize tonal patterns (pingze) and parallelism, often combined with calligraphy art. A well-crafted couplet, with both poetic lines and exquisite calligraphy, evokes infinite aesthetic pleasure, leaving viewers lingering and reciting repeatedly. In today's peaceful era, with people's aspirations rising and material lives improving, spiritual needs have grown. The charm of couplets, a long-dormant literary form, has resurfaced: pasting a spring couplet during the New Year brings joy; gifting a wedding couplet to a friend adds poetic elegance; mourning couplets express grief while honoring the deceased's life and virtues; couplets at scenic spots blend harmoniously with nature and architecture; and those in study rooms reflect the owner's tastes and sentiments.
In light of this, calligraphy masters like Han Tianheng have published couplets written with decades of artistic expertise, each paired with five calligraphic styles: Han Tianheng ( Seal script), Fang Chuanxin (Clay script), Dai Xiaojing (Regular script), Zhang Weisheng (Cursive script), and Sun Min (Running script).
The classification of couplets lacks a fixed standard. Our publishing house has categorized the eighty selected couplets into ten types based on common usage: Spring Festival couplets, Wedding couplets, Birthday couplets, Mourning couplets, Scenic spot couplets, Hall, Study, and Living Room couplets, Self-Reflection couplets, Proverb couplets, Gift couplets, and Specialized couplets. All selected couplets are renowned masterpieces. Each is accompanied by a brief explanation. The ideal couplet is one that is timely, relevant, and resonates deeply.
When selecting couplets, we have strived to balance appreciation and practicality. Most of the chosen couplets are reusable, while a few are purely for admiration. The release of master calligraphers' five-style couplets is an experiment aimed at providing readers with opportunities to appreciate, use, and study them. This initiative seeks to revitalize the traditional Chinese literary form of couplets, contributing to the spread of Chinese culture and enhancing the cultural literacy of the Chinese nation.