---
title: "Chinese Couplets: Spring Festival Couplets With Meanings, How They Work, and Which Side Goes Where, With Pinyin"
description: "What a Chinese couplet, 对联, is, how the two lines and the top line 横批 match, which side each goes on, why 福 is upside down, well-known spring couplets 春联 with their meanings, and 46 words with pinyin and sound."
canonical: "https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-couplets"
author: "Mandarin The Wild"
---

Free · 46 words

# Chinese couplets

[Print as flashcards](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-flashcards?level=mine&words=%E5%AF%B9%E8%81%94%20%E6%98%A5%E8%81%94%20%E4%B8%8A%E8%81%94%20%E4%B8%8B%E8%81%94%20%E6%A8%AA%E6%89%B9%20%E9%97%A8%E8%81%94%20%E5%AF%B9%E5%AD%90%20%E6%A5%B9%E8%81%94%20%E6%8C%BD%E8%81%94%20%E5%B9%B3%E4%BB%84%20%E5%B9%B3%E5%A3%B0%20%E4%BB%84%E5%A3%B0%20%E5%AF%B9%E4%BB%97%20%E4%B9%A6%E6%B3%95%20%E6%AF%9B%E7%AC%94%20%E7%BA%A2%E7%BA%B8%20%E8%B4%B4%20%E4%B8%87%E4%BA%8B%E5%A6%82%E6%84%8F%20%E4%B8%80%E5%B8%86%E9%A3%8E%E9%A1%BA%20%E5%90%89%E6%98%9F%E9%AB%98%E7%85%A7%20%E4%B8%87%E8%B1%A1%E6%9B%B4%E6%96%B0%20%E4%BA%94%E7%A6%8F%E4%B8%B4%E9%97%A8%20%E5%B2%81%E5%B2%81%E5%B9%B3%E5%AE%89%20%E5%B9%B4%E5%B9%B4%E6%9C%89%E4%BD%99%20%E6%8B%9B%E8%B4%A2%E8%BF%9B%E5%AE%9D%20%E5%90%89%E7%A5%A5%E5%A6%82%E6%84%8F%20%E5%9B%BD%E6%B3%B0%E6%B0%91%E5%AE%89%20%E6%98%A5%E5%9B%9E%E5%A4%A7%E5%9C%B0%20%E5%96%9C%E6%B0%94%E6%B4%8B%E6%B4%8B%20%E5%A4%A7%E5%90%89%E5%A4%A7%E5%88%A9%20%E9%87%91%E7%8E%89%E6%BB%A1%E5%A0%82%20%E6%81%AD%E5%96%9C%E5%8F%91%E8%B4%A2%20%E6%81%AD%E8%B4%BA%E6%96%B0%E7%A6%A7%20%E7%94%9F%E6%84%8F%E5%85%B4%E9%9A%86%20%E9%A9%AC%E5%88%B0%E6%88%90%E5%8A%9F%20%E7%99%BE%E5%B9%B4%E5%A5%BD%E5%90%88%20%E5%8F%8C%E5%96%9C%20%E7%A6%8F%20%E5%80%92%20%E9%97%A8%E7%A5%9E%20%E7%AA%97%E8%8A%B1%20%E5%B9%B4%E7%94%BB%20%E9%9E%AD%E7%82%AE%20%E7%88%86%E7%AB%B9%20%E9%99%A4%E5%A4%95%20%E6%98%A5%E8%8A%82)

Speed

## Well-known couplets, and their top lines

| | The two lines | Across the top |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Long life and spring | 天增岁月人增寿 · 春满乾坤福满门 Heaven adds a year, and people add years to their lives; spring fills the world, and good fortune fills the home | 万象更新 Everything made new |
| Smooth sailing | 一帆风顺年年好 · 万事如意步步高 Smooth sailing, better every year; all as you wish, higher at every step | 吉星高照 A lucky star shines high |
| Peace every year | 年年顺景则源广 · 岁岁平安福寿多 Good times every year, and plenty flows in; peace every year, with blessings and long life | 万事如意 All as you wish |
| For a shop | 生意兴隆通四海 · 财源茂盛达三江 Business booms to the four seas; wealth flows in from the three rivers | 恭喜发财 May you prosper |
| For a wedding | 百年恩爱双心结 · 千里姻缘一线牵 Two hearts tied in a hundred years of love; a match across a thousand miles, drawn by one red thread | 百年好合 A happy union for a hundred years |
| The first on record | 新年纳余庆 · 嘉节号长春 The new year brings blessings to spare; the fine festival is called lasting spring | 桃符 On a peachwood charm, by Meng Chang, ruler of Later Shu, in 964 |

## The couplet and its parts

duì对lián联

couplet (written on scrolls, hung on doors)

chūn春lián联

Spring Festival couplet

shàng上lián联

first line of a couplet

xià下lián联

second line of a couplet

héng横pī批

horizontal scroll (above a pair of couplets)

mén门lián联

couplet on a door (pasted on either side of a doorway)

duì对zi子

couplet (pair of matched lines)

yíng楹lián联

couplet hung on the pillars of a hall

wǎn挽lián联

elegiac couplet

## How a couplet works

píng平zè仄

level and oblique tones (in poetry)

píng平shēng声

level tone (in classical Chinese tones)

zè仄shēng声

oblique tone (in classical poetry)

duì对zhàng仗

antithetical parallelism (in poetry)

shū书fǎ法

calligraphy

máo毛bǐ笔

writing brush

hóng红zhǐ纸

red paper

tiē贴

to stick; to paste

## Top lines and wishes

wàn万shì事rú如yì意

may all go well (a wish)

yī一fān帆fēng风shùn顺

plain sailing; smooth sailing

jí吉xīng星gāo高zhào照

lucky star shining

wàn万xiàng象gēng更xīn新

everything takes on a new look

wǔ五fú福lín临mén门

may the five blessings come to your home (New Year greeting)

suì岁suì岁píng平ān安

peace year after year (blessing, also said when something breaks)

nián年nián年yǒu有yú余

may you have surplus every year (New Year greeting)

zhāo招cái财jìn进bǎo宝

to bring in wealth and treasure (New Year greeting)

jí吉xiáng祥rú如yì意

good luck and happiness (New Year greeting)

guó国tài泰mín民ān安

the country is prosperous and the people at peace

chūn春huí回dà大dì地

spring returns to the earth

xǐ喜qì气yáng洋yáng洋

full of joy; jubilant

dà大jí吉dà大lì利

great luck and prosperity

jīn金yù玉mǎn满táng堂

a house full of treasures; great wealth

gōng恭xǐ喜fā发cái财

Happy New Year; may you prosper (Chinese New Year greeting)

gōng恭hè贺xīn新xǐ禧

Happy New Year (formal greeting)

shēng生yi意xīng兴lóng隆

business is booming; may your business prosper

mǎ马dào到chéng成gōng功

to win instant success

bǎi百nián年hǎo好hé合

may you live happily together forever (wedding wish)

shuāng双xǐ喜

double happiness

## On the door at New Year

fú福

good fortune; blessing

dǎo倒

to fall; to topple

mén门shén神

door god (image pasted on doors at New Year)

chuāng窗huā花

paper window decoration

nián年huà画

New Year picture

biān鞭pào炮

firecracker; string of firecrackers

bào爆zhú竹

firecracker

chú除xī夕

New Year's Eve (esp. Lunar New Year's Eve)

chūn春jié节

Spring Festival; Chinese New Year

## Now read them in a real story

[**十两饺子**How to order dumplings in ChineseHSK 1 · 1 minRead it free](https://mandarinthewild.com/library/read/how-to-order-dumplings-in-chinese)

## What is a Chinese couplet?

A couplet, 对联 (duìlián), is a pair of lines of the same length, written in brush calligraphy, 书法 (shūfǎ), on long strips of paper hung on either side of a door, often with a short third line across the top, the 横批 (héngpī). At Chinese New Year, 春节 (Chūnjié), families paste up new red ones, the spring couplets, 春联 (chūnlián), with wishes for the year. They grew from peachwood charms hung on doors to keep evil away; the first couplet on record was written by Meng Chang, ruler of Later Shu, for the New Year of 964.

## How do Chinese couplets work?

The two lines, the upper line 上联 (shànglián) and the lower line 下联 (xiàlián), have the same number of characters and match word for word, 对仗 (duìzhàng): a number answers a number, a noun a noun, a verb a verb, as 一帆 (one sail) answers 万事 (all things). The tones contrast too, 平仄 (píngzè): the upper line ends on an oblique tone, 仄声 (zèshēng), today’s third or fourth tone, and the lower line on a level tone, 平声 (píngshēng), the first or second: 寿 (shòu) and 门 (mén), 好 (hǎo) and 高 (gāo).

## Which side does each line of a couplet go on?

Traditionally the upper line goes on the right as you face the door and the lower line on the left, because Chinese was written top to bottom and right to left; the top line then reads right to left too. Many top lines are now written left to right, and then the upper line goes on the left. The rule is to match the top line: the upper line goes on the side where it starts. You can tell the upper line by its last character’s tone, the third or fourth.

## Why is 福 hung upside down?

Upside down is 倒 (dào), which sounds like 到 (dào), to arrive: so 福倒了, “good fortune is upside down”, sounds like 福到了, “good fortune has arrived”. The diamond-shaped 福 (fú) goes on doors, walls and the rice jar at New Year. Many people say it should be the right way up on the main door, beside the couplets, and upside down only on inside doors and things like the bin, so that good fortune isn’t poured away.

## When do you put up spring couplets?

In the last days of the old year, often on the 28th or 29th of the twelfth lunar month or the morning of New Year’s Eve, 除夕 (chúxī), along with paper window cuts, 窗花 (chuānghuā), New Year pictures, 年画 (niánhuà), and the door gods, 门神 (ménshén). They usually stay up all year until the next New Year covers them. A family in mourning puts up no red couplets for the first New Year, or white, yellow or green ones instead.

## What couplets are used for weddings and funerals?

Wedding couplets are red, with double happiness, 双喜 (shuāngxǐ), the character 囍, and top lines like 百年好合 (bǎinián hǎohé), a happy union for a hundred years. Funeral couplets, 挽联 (wǎnlián), are white, in praise of the person who died. Couplets also hang on the pillars of temples and halls, 楹联 (yínglián), and in the Year of the Horse a favourite top line is 马到成功 (mǎ dào chénggōng), success the moment the horse arrives.

## Can’t hear it?

Play uses your device’s Mandarin voice. Edge, Chrome and Safari have one; a browser with none plays each character in our recorded voice instead.

## More Chinese culture

- [Chinese New Year words](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-new-year-words)
- [Chinese New Year card](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-new-year-card)
- [Chinese calligraphy generator](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-calligraphy-generator)
- [Chinese poems with pinyin](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-poems)
- [Chinese wedding words](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-wedding-words)

Words, pinyin and meanings from our own dictionary; the history and customs from Wikipedia’s Duilian and Chunlian. The couplets are common ones printed every year; their top lines vary from home to home.