Should I paste the upper couplet on the left or the right? How to distinguish the upper and lower couplets?

The Spring Festival is the most important festival among all the traditional customs, and the most popular custom is pasting Spring Festival couplets. As a traditional culture that has been passed down in China for thousands of years, Spring Festival couplets embody people's yearning for a better life. As the name suggests, couplets are supposed to form a pair, that is, they are composed of an upper link and a lower link. So, should the upper couplet of the Spring Festival be placed on the left or right?

Should I paste the upper couplet on the left or on the right?

When pasting Spring Festival couplets, the upper couplet should be pasted on the right and the lower couplet on the left. The left and right are divided according to facing the door or pilaster. The reason for posting it like this is that ancient people wrote in straight lines from right to left, so they also read couplets from right to left.

How to divide couplets into upper and lower couplets

1. Differentiation of Pingze

Look at the last word of the couplet. The last word of the upper couplet is the third and fourth tone (uneven tone), and the last word of the lower couplet is the first and second tone (even tone).

2. Posting method distinction

The requirements for posting and writing couplets are that the upper couplet is on the right and the lower couplet is on the left. Because ancient people wrote from right to left. It is very difficult to distinguish couplets using this method now, because many people don’t know how to do it and just post them casually. So it is easy to identify errors.

3. Distinguishing between meaning and method

Each couplet has its own specific meaning. When writing couplets, the one with the most profound meaning is usually used as the second couplet, while the value of the first couplet lies more in its guiding role. The upper and lower couplets are basically a cause-and-effect relationship, the cause is the upper couplet and the effect is the lower couplet.

4. Differentiation of time relationship

In the old days, the upper couplet is in the front, and in the new days, the lower couplet is in the back. This is commonly reflected in the Spring Festival couplets during the Chinese New Year. Commonly used ones include the zodiac and bidding farewell to the old year/welcoming the new year.

5. Distinguish between range and size

Generally speaking, the upper couplet has a smaller range, and the lower couplet has a larger range.

6. Differentiate between writing styles

Couplets are usually written vertically, with the last character of the upper couplet (falling tone) attached to the right (upper hand), and the last character of the lower couplet (level tone) attached to the left (lower hand). Although the parallelism of couplets has similarities with poetry, it is more demanding than poetry. Couplets can be divided into wide couplets and narrow couplets. A loose couplet only requires that the contents of the upper and lower couplets be related, while a narrow couplet must be written strictly according to the standards of "Lishou Duiyun". However, in practical couplets, broad parallelism is more commonly used, while narrow parallelism is rarely used because the requirements for parallelism are too strict, which restricts people's thinking and may harm the meaning due to the form.