Spring Festive Customs—Pasting Spring Festival Couplets 春节民俗之贴春联

春联也叫门对、春贴、对联、对子、桃符等，它以工整、对偶、简洁、精巧的文字描绘时代背景，抒发美好愿望，是中国特有的文学形式。每逢春节，无论城市还是农村，家家户户都要精选一幅大红春联贴于门上，为节日增加喜庆气氛。这一习俗起于宋代，在明代开始盛行，到了清代，春联的思想性和艺术性都有了很大的提高。　
Spring Festive couplet is also called gate couplet, spring paste, pair and peach wood charm. Spring Festive couplet is a special Chinese literary genre, depicting the times and expressing good wishes in simple and neat words with antithetical parallelism. During the Spring Festival, either urban or rural households will paste a red Spring Festive couplet on the door to celebrate the festival. This custom originated from the Song Dynasty and became popular in the Ming dynasty. To the Qing Dynasty, both contents and artistic value of Spring Festival couplets had improved.
春联的种类比较多，依其使用场所，可分为门心、框对、横披、春条、斗方等。“门心”贴于门板上端中心部位；“框对”贴于左右两个门框上；“横披”贴于门媚的横木上；“春条”根据不同的内容，贴于相应的地方；“斗斤”也叫“门叶”，为正方菱形，多贴在家俱、影壁中。
There are many kinds of Spring Festival couplets. According to different paste places, Spring Festival couplets can be classified into: Menxin (gate center), Kuangdui (frame pair), Hengpi (horizontal scroll), Chuntiao (single-line scroll), and Doufang (square sheet). Menxin is pasted on the center of door. Kuangdui is hung on the two sides of the gate. Hengpi is pasted across on door header. Chuantiao is posted in the corresponding place depending on its content. Doujin, also called Menye, is a square diamond, posted mostly on the furniture and the screen wall.