25/02/2018
Spring Festival holiday is over. Would review a bit the traditional customs for our Chinese New Year.
Spring Couplets & Door Gods
Couplet #, also called couplet, or a pair of antithetical phrases, is a special form of literature in China.
Couplet # is composed of two antithetical sentences on both sides of the door and a horizontal scroll bearing an inscription, usually an auspicious phrase, above the gate.
The sentence pasting on the right side of the door is called the first line of the couplet and the one on the left the second line.
On the eve of the Spring Festival, every household will paste on doors a spring couplet written on red paper to give a happy and prosperous atmosphere of the Festival.
In the past, the Chinese usually wrote their own spring couplet with a brush or asked others to do for them, while nowadays, it is common for people to buy the printed spring couplet in the market.
Another important custom among the Chinese Spring Festival is up door gods #, or door gods #. The pictures of door-god are often pasted on the front door of a house as a talisman for a whole year.
The image of the door gods is also different in different dynasties. For instance,
-till to Eastern Han Dynasty (AD25-AD220), the door god is not a picture, but a puppet made by peach wood as sign.
-till to Tang Dynasty (AD618-AD907), the door god is a picture with the image of two generals who is the guard for the emperor.
-till to Ming Dynasty (AD1368-AD1644), the custom and manner for Spring Festival is completed as a set. Besides posting couplet, also include: set off firecrackers, offer Buddha with rice, and play music for overnight.
