<p>Are you familiar with Shakespearean sonnets--specifically, the couplets in the sonnets? You know how the couplets use a matching meter (iambic pentameter), have the same number of syllables, have compatible/matching imagery, and rhyme? That's more or less how the Chinese 对联 works (plus the middle 联).</p>

<p>Other than that, no rules.</p>

<p>Some 对联 writers write great couplets which become classics and get copied widely. Some may not be great, but they get posted nonetheless (for all sorts of reasons). That is true of sonnets as well--after all, there is only one Shakespeare.</p>

<p>So I say: Go to town with it. Have a blast. If you write enough 对联, you are bound to come up with some good ones.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-12T04:34:15.383Z
2018-01-12T16:59:29.453Z
2018-01-12T16:59:29.453Z
YCode
<p>The general rule is simple, you just need to make sure the type of characters in same position be the same. But in good couplets characters need to be filtered carefully to make it poetic.</p>

<p>for instance:</p>

<p><code>明月</code></p>

<p><code>清风</code></p>

<p>“明” and “清” here are all adjectives, “月” and “风” are all nouns，so this couplets have a correct format. Also the characters are beautiful, too. They together create a scene of lonely night.</p>

<hr>

<p>see this example:</p>

<p><code>海阔凭鱼跃</code></p>

<p><code>天高任鸟飞</code></p>

<p>海-sea， 天-sky; 阔-board，高-high; </p>

<p>凭 and 任 here are all acts as verb, means let someone do something freely. But 
do what? do 跃-jump and 飞-fly</p>

<p>So in English:</p>

<p><code>| sea | is board | allows | fish | jump |</code></p>

<p><code>| sky | is high  | lets   | birds| fly  |</code></p>

<p>and it implies the world is large allow me do something great! </p>

<hr>

<p>another interesting one, hope you like it :) :</p>

<p><code>海水朝朝朝朝朝朝朝落</code></p>

<p><code>浮云长长长长长长长消</code></p>

<p>I know you want to cruse now, but actually it is pretty neat!</p>

<p>Lets decompose it. This couplets is written by ancient people, and they were allowed to write wrong words! Which is knew as 通假字. you can use character with same pronunciation to replace another one. Not sure why, maybe that time it is hard to learn every characters? Anyway, here 朝 actually has two pronunciation and three meanings, holy crab!</p>

<ul>
<li><p>朝(chao2) replace 潮(chao2), means tide.</p></li>
<li><p>朝(zhao1) just means day, and you can think it as 天.</p></li>
<li><p>朝(zhao1) means daytime.</p></li>
</ul>

<p>Also 长 here has several meanings:</p>

<ul>
<li><p>长(zhang2) replace 张(zhang2), means rise</p></li>
<li><p>长（chang2）replace 常(chang2), means often </p></li>
<li><p>长(chang2) replace 常(chang2), means long period.
// yes, the meaning of 长 didn't be used! I guess it just because 长 is simpler.</p></li>
</ul>

<p>But even when know the meaning of characters, we still don't know which one means what. What should we suppose to do??</p>

<p>We can separate the sentence in to pieces:</p>

<p><code>海水朝 朝朝朝 朝朝朝落</code></p>

<p><code>浮云长 长长长 长长长消</code></p>

<p>read as:</p>

<p><code>hai2  shui3  chao2  zhao1  zhao1  chao2  zhao1  chao2  zhao1  luo4</code></p>

<p><code>fu2   yun2   zhang3 chang2 chang2 zhang3 chang2 zhang3 chang2 xiao1</code></p>

<p>and then replace them with original characters:</p>

<p><code>海水潮 朝朝朝 朝潮朝落</code></p>

<p><code>浮云涨 常常涨 常涨常消</code></p>

<p>And now the meaning is much easier to grab.
PS: there are tons of other way to separate, but I just make one example here.</p>

<hr>

<p>海-sea.</p>

<p>水-water --> 海水-sea.
//just for simplicity. 海 here suppose to be an adjective to describe a lot.</p>

<p>潮-tide. here used as verb means high-tide.</p>

<p>朝-daytime</p>

<p>朝-day</p>

<p>潮-tide, also used as verb</p>

<p>朝-day, here means everyday.</p>

<p>潮-tide, used as verb again.</p>

<p>朝-day, means everyday.</p>

<p>落-down, here used as means low-tide.</p>

<hr>

<p>浮-flowing.</p>

<p>云-cloud --> 浮云-could  </p>

<p>涨-rise， here means spreading</p>

<p>常-long period</p>

<p>常-often </p>

<p>涨-rise, means spreading here</p>

<p>常-often</p>

<p>涨-rise， means spreading here</p>

<p>常-often</p>

<p>消-disappear.</p>

<hr>

<p>So translate in English is:</p>

<p><code>| sea | rise tide | everyday | daytime | rise tide | everyday | rise | everyday |fall</code></p>

<p><code>| cloud | spread | in long period | often | spread | often | spread | often | disappear</code></p>

<p>In human language is:</p>

<p><code>Sea tides up, tides up daytime everyday. tides up everyday, tides down every day.</code></p>

<p><code>cloud spread, spread quite often all the time. spread often, disappear often.</code></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-12T10:07:56.907Z
2018-01-12T10:21:59.653Z
2018-01-12T10:21:59.653Z
Ailrk
<p>When you combining characters, you have to ensure:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Others know what you are talking about</p></li>
<li><p>If it is a rare words, you can give source(典故, 化用) to proof you did not invent it.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>For example, 明思, most people don't know the meaning, but if one can find the usage in books, the word still make sense, otherwise, you are inventing words, that is not a good writings, in ancient national test, that is fail.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-12T08:14:55.697Z
2018-01-12T08:23:11.570Z
2018-01-12T08:23:11.570Z
sfy
<p>So I want to practice writing Chinese couplet poetry. I have been reading about the character count matching in each line, with parallel meanings, etc.</p>

<p>However, my question is, are there limits to what characters can be combined in couplets to be understandable?</p>

<p>For example, I tried writing</p>

<pre><code>明月
明思
</code></pre>

<p>or</p>

<pre><code>明月
明脑
</code></pre>

<p>This is supposed to translate to "Bright moon, Bright mind".</p>

<p>Would these character combos be allowed? Are there any limits?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-10T20:41:57.303Z
聰明 works better than 明腦; consider reversing 明月 (*bright moon*) for 月明 (*the moon is bright*) instead. Then again, this kind of structure needs to work with the complete poem.
dROOOze
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-10T20:43:03.510Z
There's no such thing as 明思 or 明脑. Couplets is just like any sentence, you cannot put non-existing terms in them.
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-10T20:53:46.653Z
Also, if you want to match 明月 with 明思, you are violating the rule of 'avoid matching a same character with itself'. The typical rule is matching a character with an opposite or similar one-- NOT the same one. 朗月-明星 would be a perfect match. because both 朗 and 明 are adjective related to brightness, while 月 and 星 are both nouns related to heavenly objects
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-10T21:05:17.453Z
If for some reason, you cannot match the meaning, at least match the word type, e.g. adjective with adjective, noun with noun. for example 晧月 (bright moon) -長江(long river); both 晧 and 長 are adjective, both 月 and 江 are noun
Tang Ho
<poetry>
What rules are there for combining characters in couplets? (对联)
# What rules are there for combining characters in couplets? (对联)

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-01-10)

So I want to practice writing Chinese couplet poetry. I have been reading about the character count matching in each line, with parallel meanings, etc.

However, my question is, are there limits to what characters can be combined in couplets to be understandable?

For example, I tried writing

```
明月
明思

```

or

```
明月
明脑

```

This is supposed to translate to "Bright moon, Bright mind".

Would these character combos be allowed? Are there any limits?

**Tags:** poetry

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: 聰明 works better than 明腦; consider reversing 明月 (*bright moon*) for 月明 (*the moon is bright*) instead. Then again, this kind of structure needs to work with the complete poem.  
> **username_2**: There's no such thing as 明思 or 明脑. Couplets is just like any sentence, you cannot put non-existing terms in them.  
> **username_2**: Also, if you want to match 明月 with 明思, you are violating the rule of 'avoid matching a same character with itself'. The typical rule is matching a character with an opposite or similar one-- NOT the same one. 朗月-明星 would be a perfect match. because both 朗 and 明 are adjective related to brightness, while 月 and 星 are both nouns related to heavenly objects  
> **username_2**: If for some reason, you cannot match the meaning, at least match the word type, e.g. adjective with adjective, noun with noun. for example 晧月 (bright moon) -長江(long river); both 晧 and 長 are adjective, both 月 and 江 are noun  

---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2018-01-12. Score: 0 | Accepted answer

Are you familiar with Shakespearean sonnets--specifically, the couplets in the sonnets? You know how the couplets use a matching meter (iambic pentameter), have the same number of syllables, have compatible/matching imagery, and rhyme? That's more or less how the Chinese 对联 works (plus the middle 联).

Other than that, no rules.

Some 对联 writers write great couplets which become classics and get copied widely. Some may not be great, but they get posted nonetheless (for all sorts of reasons). That is true of sonnets as well--after all, there is only one Shakespeare.

So I say: Go to town with it. Have a blast. If you write enough 对联, you are bound to come up with some good ones.


---

### Answer by username_4 on 2018-01-12. Score: 3

The general rule is simple, you just need to make sure the type of characters in same position be the same. But in good couplets characters need to be filtered carefully to make it poetic.

for instance:

`明月`

`清风`

“明” and “清” here are all adjectives, “月” and “风” are all nouns，so this couplets have a correct format. Also the characters are beautiful, too. They together create a scene of lonely night.

---

see this example:

`海阔凭鱼跃`

`天高任鸟飞`

海-sea， 天-sky; 阔-board，高-high;

凭 and 任 here are all acts as verb, means let someone do something freely. But
do what? do 跃-jump and 飞-fly

So in English:

`| sea | is board | allows | fish | jump |`

`| sky | is high | lets | birds| fly |`

and it implies the world is large allow me do something great!

---

another interesting one, hope you like it :) :

`海水朝朝朝朝朝朝朝落`

`浮云长长长长长长长消`

I know you want to cruse now, but actually it is pretty neat!

Lets decompose it. This couplets is written by ancient people, and they were allowed to write wrong words! Which is knew as 通假字. you can use character with same pronunciation to replace another one. Not sure why, maybe that time it is hard to learn every characters? Anyway, here 朝 actually has two pronunciation and three meanings, holy crab!

* 朝(chao2) replace 潮(chao2), means tide.
* 朝(zhao1) just means day, and you can think it as 天.
* 朝(zhao1) means daytime.

Also 长 here has several meanings:

* 长(zhang2) replace 张(zhang2), means rise
* 长（chang2）replace 常(chang2), means often
* 长(chang2) replace 常(chang2), means long period.
  // yes, the meaning of 长 didn't be used! I guess it just because 长 is simpler.

But even when know the meaning of characters, we still don't know which one means what. What should we suppose to do??

We can separate the sentence in to pieces:

`海水朝 朝朝朝 朝朝朝落`

`浮云长 长长长 长长长消`

read as:

`hai2 shui3 chao2 zhao1 zhao1 chao2 zhao1 chao2 zhao1 luo4`

`fu2 yun2 zhang3 chang2 chang2 zhang3 chang2 zhang3 chang2 xiao1`

and then replace them with original characters:

`海水潮 朝朝朝 朝潮朝落`

`浮云涨 常常涨 常涨常消`

And now the meaning is much easier to grab.
PS: there are tons of other way to separate, but I just make one example here.

---

海-sea.

水-water --> 海水-sea.
//just for simplicity. 海 here suppose to be an adjective to describe a lot.

潮-tide. here used as verb means high-tide.

朝-daytime

朝-day

潮-tide, also used as verb

朝-day, here means everyday.

潮-tide, used as verb again.

朝-day, means everyday.

落-down, here used as means low-tide.

---

浮-flowing.

云-cloud --> 浮云-could

涨-rise， here means spreading

常-long period

常-often

涨-rise, means spreading here

常-often

涨-rise， means spreading here

常-often

消-disappear.

---

So translate in English is:

`| sea | rise tide | everyday | daytime | rise tide | everyday | rise | everyday |fall`

`| cloud | spread | in long period | often | spread | often | spread | often | disappear`

In human language is:

`Sea tides up, tides up daytime everyday. tides up everyday, tides down every day.`

`cloud spread, spread quite often all the time. spread often, disappear often.`


---

### Answer by username_5 on 2018-01-12. Score: 1

When you combining characters, you have to ensure:

1. Others know what you are talking about
2. If it is a rare words, you can give source(典故, 化用) to proof you did not invent it.

For example, 明思, most people don't know the meaning, but if one can find the usage in books, the word still make sense, otherwise, you are inventing words, that is not a good writings, in ancient national test, that is fail.


---

