NEWS//New year's couplets

Across China red banners are being posted in homes: on their walls, doors, and windows.

The poetry on the banners express wishes for new year blessings. Their form — a heading banner and two side banners — is an ancient Chinese tradition to mark the beginning of a new year. The poetry on the two side panels has parallel structures. Their meanings are related but antithetical (think of poetry in the Psalms where the second half of a verse makes a point that is antithetical to the statement in the first half). The horizontal scroll is a four-character phrase that which sums up the meaning of the two side banners.

Examples

Here are several examples of Spring Festival couplets.

Side banners: Dragon and phoenix bring the prosperity; Peach and apricot blossoms welcome the spring

Horizontal banner: Blessing on the Land

15 Days of Prayer

316NOW’s 15 Days of Prayer effort began on January 25 and runs through February 8. Tap here for prayer suggestions for each of those 15 days.

Side banners: Red plum’s bud stands the snowy winter; Green willow’s catkin indicates the new spring
Horizontal banner: Happy Spring Festival

Side banners: Spring rain nourishes the plants; Red plum decorates the mountains
Horizontal banner: Spring in the Air

Side banners: May you have good luck in everything; May you feel content and your family healthy
Horizontal Scroll: Flourishing in Four Seasons

Side banners: Ring in the spring; landscape is splendid; Ring out the past; everything is glorious
Horizontal banner: A Refreshed Spring

Sources: Spring Festival Couplets, Why The Blessing Symbol Is Upside Down, Three Chinese New Year Poems, Five Famous Poems that every Chinese Kid Knows.