The custom of pasting Spring Festival couplets began in the post-Shu period about 1000 years ago. It is said that Meng Changjun, the monarch of Shu after the Five Dynasties, was a monarch who liked to be unconventional. On New Year's Eve at the end of 964, he had a whim to let a bachelor named Xin write two sentences on the mahogany board and hang them on the door frame of his living room as peach symbols. These two sentences are "Qing Yu in the New Year, Changchun in the First Festival". Enjoy the legacy of the previous generation in the new year.
The next sentence is to the effect that festivals indicate that spring will always be there. Since then, the form and content of Fu Tao have changed, not only by replacing "Shen Tu" and "Lei Yu" with parallel couplets, but also by expanding the connotation of Fu Tao, not only to ward off evil spirits and disasters, but also by adding the content of praying and wishing. This became the earliest Spring Festival couplets in China. Spring Festival couplets originated in Fu Tao (rectangular red boards were hung on both sides of the gate in the Zhou Dynasty).
"Song Shi Shu Jia" said: Who is the post-Shu master? Meng Changjun wrote a new poem on the mahogany board. Because I have nothing to do, I wrote a poem on the pretence:' Qing Yu celebrates the New Year, Changchun Festival'. This is China's first Spring Festival couplets. However, different historical materials in the Song Dynasty have different opinions on this, and some say that it was written by Xin or Meng Zhe, the son of Meng Chang. Until the Song Dynasty, Spring Festival couplets were still called "Fu Tao". ? There is a saying in Wang Anshi's poem that "thousands of households always exchange new peaches for old ones." "
In ancient times, on New Year's Eve or the day before, the door was decorated with peach stalks, Lei Yu stalks and reed stalks. "Customs Pass" said: "In ancient times, the Yellow Emperor had two brothers, shentu and Lei Yu, and they both had ghosts. Peach stalks, stalks are more, and at the end of the year, they are taken care of again. The tiger is a penis, and all animals are long. They can fight cockroaches and eat ghosts. " Drawing a tiger or brothers like Shen Tu and Lei Yu on the door is the original style of sticking the door. In the early Tang Dynasty, the goalkeeper was replaced by two famous people, Qin Qiong and Weichi Gong.
Peach wood has divinity, and a "peach stalk" is hung on the door to exorcise ghosts. "Peach stalk" was later replaced by "peach symbol", also called "peach board". In the Tang Dynasty, the names of Shen Tu and Lei Yu were written on it. In the Five Dynasties, someone wrote auspicious words on the peach board, which became the predecessor of Spring Festival couplets. Since the Song Dynasty, Spring Festival couplets have been written on paper and posted on New Year's Eve, which has also become a custom. Sticking Spring Festival couplets has evolved into a folk cultural activity that prays for happiness.
Extended data:
In the Song Dynasty, the peach symbols were changed from red boards to paper, which were called "spring stickers" and "Spring Festival couplets". This custom originated in the Song Dynasty and was popular in the Ming Dynasty. By the Qing Dynasty, the ideological and artistic quality of Spring Festival couplets had been greatly improved. Spring Festival couplets, also known as "Spring Signs", "Door Pairs" and "Couplets", are unique literary forms in China. They depict beautiful images and express good wishes with neat and concise words. There is no limit to the number of couplets, but they must be equal.
The two sides of couplets should correspond. Spring Festival couplets used to be a symbol of peach and an important symbol for China people to celebrate the Spring Festival. When people put couplets and blessings on their doorsteps, it means the official start of the Spring Festival. Yu Yafei's "Welcome the New Year" said: "The jubilation is red, and every household sticks Spring Festival couplets; Resign from the old and welcome the new, and the wheel always moves forward. " ? Wang Anshi's "January Day" "firecrackers are one year old, and the spring breeze sends warmth into Tu Su.
The rising sun sheds light on doors of each household, New peachwood charm is put up to replace the old. "Every Spring Festival, whether in urban or rural areas, every household should take off beautiful red couplets and stick them on the doors to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new, so as to increase the festive atmosphere. Traditional Spring Festival couplets are written with a brush, but now they are usually made by an external machine. There are many kinds of Spring Festival couplets, such as door to door and door to door. Spring Festival is celebrated all over the world, so in addition to posting couplets at all doors, piggery, chicken and duck houses and other places should also post couplets.
References:
Interesting talk about the origin of Spring Festival custom-theory-People's Network