Handy Guide: How to craft your own spring couplets?

Dear Friend,

I hope this letter finds you well!

Heard you're all about getting some Chinese Lunar New Year vibe at home. Well, how about trying something special—putting up chunlian, or spring couplets, right on your doorframe? It’s a long-cherished tradition for us, simple yet deeply meaningful.

For your chunlian messages, you could express wishes for family happiness, a successful career, or blissful love…the possibilities are endless. However, keep in mind that it’s not an easy job to incorporate your ideas into a handful of words. This challenges you to articulate your visions, expectations, and plans for the new year with concise, clever and cheery verses. Yet, this very process serves as a journey inward, allowing us to delve deeper into our inner thoughts and life aspirations.

The wording of the pair of poetic lines on chunlian usually follows certain rules. We really pay attention to choosing words wisely and keeping things snappy. Spring couplets usually have five to seven Chinese characters each, and there's this cool thing where the two vertical lines match up in content and wordplay. Plus, they gotta sound rhythmic and catchy when you say them out loud. The third, the horizontal, one is like the title or punchline with a four-character short phrase.

You can also throw in some different calligraphic fonts - regular script for neatness, clerical script for a more squared-off feel, or cursive for that free-flowing and lively vibe.

The best time to put up chunlian is on lunar New Year's Eve from 6 a.m. to noon, which falls on February 9 this year. On this day, we replace the old couplets with the new ones, symbolizing leaving behind the old and embracing the new with fresh energy and luck. There's also a folk belief that chunlian are like heavenly messengers. When torn, they ascend to the big boss, the Jade Emperor, reporting the happenings of each household. Quite an interesting twist, isn't it?

Once the celebration wraps up, the red signs stick around to adorn homes as everyday decorations, telling stories of the family’s literary talent, dreams, and blessings to anyone swinging by.

I'm sure you've noticed how much attention goes into choosing, writing, and putting up these couplets. It's like a psychological reset with the change of the year, giving us a fresh outlook and the motivation to approach life with a more positive mindset.

Keeping up with traditions for centuries like putting up couplets enriches our festive experience. It's like what the Little Prince said, "It's these things that make one day stand out from the others, one moment different from the rest." In this rapidly changing world, familiar routines and traditions offer comfort and reassurance, especially for those unable to celebrate festivals at home. Maintaining special habits can contribute to lasting memories of individuals. It also creates a cultural space and time where the community collectively participates and shares experiences, forming a unique tapestry of memories that we can cherish and revisit over time.

If you feel like crafting chunlian in your own language, go for it! Just spill your thoughts, pick your words wisely, and put those couplets up at the right time. May it add a touch of genuine joy to your first Spring Festival experience!