Ancient and Modern Ingenious Couplets, Marvelous Answers, and Interesting Sayings

Author: Zhu Kechao
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-10-01
Features: Mr. Zhu Kechao's contributions to the cause of Chinese couplets, especially in popularizing couplet knowledge and making them accessible to the general public, are best exemplified by his series "Fascinating Stories of Skillful Couplets in Ancient and Modern Times" and the five works "Fascinating Stories of Name-Carving Couplets in Ancient and Modern Times" and "Fascinating Stories of Riddle Couplets in Ancient and Modern Times." When the Chinese Couplets Association was first established, relevant leaders proposed two major tasks: popularization and advancement. While couplet theory certainly needed to be summarized and studied, the work of popularization was by no means to be underestimated. After Professor Chang Jiang, the Vice President of the Chinese Couplets Association, hosted the CCTV series program "Fascinating Couplets for a Happy New Year" during the Spring Festival in 2002, he published a series of articles, one of the key points of which was "getting closer to the masses." He said, "The seven-episode CCTV program 'Fascinating Couplets for a Happy New Year,' broadcast during the Spring Festival, received an overwhelming response in society, and the couplet community was particularly inspired. Summarizing the successful experience, the key is accurate positioning and getting closer to the audience." The program planning emphasized entertainment value, in short, it was meant to be engaging. Why was it engaging? To make it appealing to the audience, especially those who did not know how to write couplets or even had little understanding of them. Shouldn’t this become a new concept, a new perspective on the masses for the couplet community?" He also proposed "striving to make the masses 'enjoy couplets'" and "greatly innovating and reforming the content and form of popularizing couplets."