Author: Zhang Yuxiang spent the New Year in her hometown when she was a child, and I think one of the most ceremonial things is to paste couplets. On the morning of Chinese New Year's Eve, after breakfast, Zhangjia Hutong began to be lively, and the adults of each family led a group of their own children to start pasting couplets, and glued flowers and green Romon money on the lintel. My family posted couplets, and this work was basically led by my father to complete it. At that time, there was no scotch tape and no double-sided tape, and the couplets were glued with batter. First of all, my father first boiled a pot of thin batter with flour and stirred clockwise as he boiled, which was said to have a better viscosity of the batter. It is estimated that counterclockwise is also possible, as long as it is in the same direction. Then, my father put the door couplet on the stone mill in the yard, and opened it in different categories of "doors", from the outside to the inside, including the gate building at the entrance of the alley, the gate of my house, the doors of each house, the granary of the water tank, and even the wall facing the gate, as well as the big trees in the courtyard and outside the courtyard, as well as the kitchen stove, etc., there are corresponding couplets. 
The matter of pasting couplets, to use an accurate word, is to remove the old and cloth the new. Clean up the old couplets as much as possible, then dip the batter with a broom to brush the pot on the door, and then paste the new couplets according to the upper and lower couplets. Because my family is the first in Zhangjia Hutong, so the convention, the couplets on the gate of the Hutong are basically my family is responsible for pasting, sometimes my father is slightly sluggish, Zhang Xinshan, who lives in the third house in the alley, will be the first to go, not waiting for my father to shoot, his old man will first paste the gatehouse couplet. One year, I took out the batter basin and put it outside the gate building at the entrance of the alley, and my father put the couplets one by one and smoothed them with a broom on the broom, and then asked me to see if it was horizontal and vertical and balanced left and right. I stood outside the gate and read it aloud, and my father felt that the upper and lower couplets seemed to be in the wrong order, and the father and daughter got together and decided to repost this group of couplets after several rounds of friendly exchanges and consultations. When my father removed the couplet and was ready to re-paste it, I went to the batter basin outside the door and found that while we were not paying attention, I don't know whose dog had drunk the batter while it was hot, and at the moment it was sitting there contentedly, tilting its head and smacking its mouth as if looking at me with a smile on its face, is it praising this batter for boiling well, and the taste is quite good? This dog thing has also had a "delicious" year?! 
Photo: Chen Guangjun).
After pasting the door, then paste other doors in turn, such as the pigsty kennel in the kitchen of the wing. I still remember that the couplet of the statue of the king of the stove next to the pot stove in the kitchen is often "Heaven says good things and goes down to earth to bring auspiciousness", or "God says good things and the lower world keeps peace". The pigsty and sheepfold should also be pasted with a new purple couplet, the content of which is "fat and strong" or "six animals are prosperous", expressing the farmer's expectation of a happy life and simple and beautiful wishes for pigs, fattening and cattle in the coming year. In addition, the wall facing the gate should be pasted with "Go out and see joy"; On the trees outside the courtyard, the water tank, granary, and wardrobe in the house must be pasted with the word "Fu". After pasting the couplet, the children stepped on the stool and pasted Rohmin money one after another on each lintel, praying for a lot of money in the coming year. Some people who are more elaborate and have wealthy families also have to paste red paper-cuts on their windows. Then there is the hanging of red lanterns, usually wrapped in red paper to wrap a windproof kerosene horse lantern, picked up with a bamboo pole, the bamboo pole near the lantern tied some green pine and cypress branches just cut from the mountain, the other end is inserted in the grinding eye, Chinese New Year's Eve night horse lantern began to light up. When all this is done, looking around, the old mud-walled and thatched huts look particularly bright and festive, which makes people feel happy. Next, put a table in the middle of the courtyard, put an incense burner on the table, and fold a tablet with yellow mounting paper, there is also a word couplet written on it, vaguely remember that it is "the position of the gods of the three worlds of heaven and earth", at this time, the father will light three incense, the children light a big firecracker, or put a small firecracker, after the crackling **, the smoke of gunpowder is scattered, which is equivalent to announcing the completion of the whole ceremony of pasting the Spring Festival couplets. Children are cheering, mothers are frying and cooking in the kitchen, warm and lively Chinese New Year's Eve is approaching, and joy fills the faces of every member of the family. At this point, I suddenly miss my home in the small mountain village of my hometown, the "New Year" in my childhood, and the good times when I pasted couplets with my father, when my parents were very young and my grandmother was still healthy and ......
Photo: Wang Dao).
On the day of the New Year, a friend organized a pen meeting and invited a few literati who liked to write and paint to get together for tea and dinner, and the main activity was to write couplets. As a vassal and elegant old lady who has been called a "literary young woman" for many years, I am also among them. After writing a basket of the word "Fu", an old friend asked me, what do you want to write this year's couplet. After searching on the Internet, I saw the "New Year's Greetings" stamp issued by China Post in 2015, and the couplet selected at that time was "Heaven increases the years, people increase longevity, spring is full of blessings". This couplet was also used on the 1997 Macao souvenir sheet "Sticking to the Door for the New Year" stamp. It is said that this is a birthday couplet written by Lin Daqin, the champion of Chaozhou in the Ming Dynasty, to his father-in-law. Easy to understand, familiar since childhood, this should be regarded as the first joint in China, right? Throughout the ages, people's yearning for a better life has never changed, even if the times have changed, the font is very different, but the desire for longevity, good spring, and happiness has been passed down from generation to generation. This couplet shows the traditional virtues of Chinese culture of reverence for the gods of heaven and earth and cherishing precious lives, and also fully expresses the same good wishes and wishes of the Chinese nation. That's it! The old friend laughed loudly and said, "Vulgar is elegant", and then the chic and elegant stroke of the pen and ink, a wave of it, on the big red paper, the dragon flying and the phoenix dance, the first Chinese couplet, meaningful ......
Zhang Yuxiang February 4, 2024).