How Can One Make Tea with Cold Water?

When I give you the first line to match for a couplet, it is always impromptu. Whatever I see at the time will be the subject. It is not fixed, so you may not be able to predict it. It has always been this way: myriads of changes with no fixed rules. It is just like children playing at drunken boxing.

The skill of matching couplets depends on your wisdom. If you have wisdom, eloquence, the ability to adapt to the situation, and quick wits, then you will be able to match even the difficult ones. If you do not have true wisdom, then when it becomes challenging, you will not be able to pass. You cannot fake it. The match made by one with wisdom is fresh and outstanding, and not the same old tune played over and over. If you just model your match after others', then your thoughts will never broaden. You will be running back and forth on the same track. "Others use these words in their match, and I follow suit." That is what those who lag behind do. So, from the couplets people match, we can see their wisdom. When you are quick-witted, your match will correspond perfectly with the first line; the meaning can either be similar or contrary to that of the first line; your match can also hold personal significance. However the match should read very smoothly and not be forced. If it's too stiff and people do not understand what it means, that will not do. If you match just the words and not the meaning, that still won't do. The two lines must be matched in both words and meaning. That is the most difficult part. You cannot make hot tea with cold water, trying to force it. You have to really be good at it.

The Child with a Bright Mind and Sharp Ears

To determine a person's learning, just see if his mind is discerning and penetrating, and if he understands at the first sight. Though matching couplets is a refined, cultural activity, a match still should be easily understood by people and not be something which no one understands. It should also make sense. There should be some constant principle in it. Therefore, if you do not spend some effort in studying it, it won't work. When I was a kid, I loved to match couplets. One time, the teacher gave the phrase "A cock crows" to be matched. Do you know what my classmate matched it with? He matched it with "Chou period" (the period from I to 3 A.M.), which the teacher marked as nonsense. I matched it with "A dog barks," and the teacher gave me a circle (signifying approval). I still remember this.

I was pretty naughty at that time. There were over thirty students in the class. When we had to match couplets, they would shove their notebooks towards me and ask me to do it for them. Then I would write a few words for this one, and another few words for that one. I imitated their handwriting. I remembered once when the teacher gave the line: "The wild geese fly through the sky." I matched it for another student with: "The elk roam in the mountains." The teacher kept looking at the notebook with a frown and asking, "Did you match this? I don't think you would normally come up with such a good match!" The student didn't dare to say that I had done it for him. That's how naughty I was. At that time, I reasoned that since they could not come up with any matching lines, I would write matches for them. Helping others is the source of happiness.

In matching couplets class, usually people write their matches in their own notebooks. Each person knows only his own matches. Here, we have so many people writing their matches on the blackboard. Everyone can see whose is right and whose is wrong. Everyone can learn by watching. Gradually, you will understand the skill involved in matching couplets. It develops people's wisdom.

The Principles for Writing Poems, Verses, and Rhyming Compositions Are the Same

What we're doing is called "playful samadhi." Literary people should not only be good at matching couplets, but should also be able to compose poems, verses, and prose. However, matching couplets is the stepping stone for writing poems, verses, and rhyming compositions. If you know how to match couplets, other forms of composition will be easy for you.

In matching couplets, when there is a "sky" in the top line, you should match it with "earth" in the bottom line. The meaning of your match should not be contradictory. You should match "rain" with "wind," "the vast sky" with "the great earth," "Trees by the sea" with "flowers in the mountains," "fisherman" with "woodcutter," "hazy fog" with "dim clouds," "The evening clouds are crimson once the rain has stopped" with "The autumn night is silver when the wind is blowing high," and "The fog is hazy" with "The thunder is muffled." All of these have a fixed cadence and rhyme.

Everyone should pay attention to this. You should also read the poems composed by the ancients to see what they are like. Take this one, for example: "The white sun disappears behind the mountain; the Yellow River flows into the ocean. If you want to gaze a thousand miles farther, you should climb one story higher."This is a poem of five-character lines (in Chinese); it rhymes well when recited. The meaning is very good, too. The white sun disappears behind the mountain. "White" is a color. "Rests upon the mountain" means the sun disappears; it sinks behind the western mountain. It disappears when resting on the mountain. The next line should have the word "moon" to match "sun." However, it is difficult to come up with a good line with "moon." So, instead, the author wrote, "The Yellow River flows into the ocean." "Yellow" is a color, "flows into the ocean" means the water from the Yellow River flows into the ocean and loses its color. The yellow is no longer visible. If you want to gaze a thousand miles farther, if you would like to gaze a thousand miles into the distance, then you should climb one story higher. You should go one floor up. Then you will see farther. This poem has matching couplets in it.

Verses consist of long and short lines; there may be seven, five, or three characters in each line. Songs should be easy to sing smoothly. The compositions of the ancients all contained matching lines. Also, there was Wang Bo's "Preface for Teng Wang Pavilion." Its format has become the standard for rhyming compositions." Within prose, there are poems. He started the prose by saying "The ancient town Nanchang." Nanchang was the name of an old place. He matched it with the next line: "The new capital Hongdu." Hongdu is the name of a newly established place. "Among stars, it divides Yi and Zhen." [Note: If one looks at the heavens above the capital Hongdu, one finds that it corresponds to a point in space midway between the distant stars Yi and Zhen of the Little Dipper.] "On land, it is close to Heng and Lu." It is located near Mount Heng and Mount Lu. These lines are all matched. "Three rivers as its lapel and five lakes as its belt." This talks about the geographic location of Nanchang. It has three rivers as its lapel and five lakes as its belt. The next line is: "Controlling the barbarian state of Jing and extending to the states Ou and Yue.” [Note: controlling the barbarian state of Jing means its location enabled it to control the southern barbarian states of Jing and Chu; extending to the states of Ou and Yue means it could also establish relations with the eastern states of Ou and Yue.] "The splendid produce of the land is heaven's treasure. The light of the dragon shoots up towards Herdboy and Dipper. Great men are born in this propitious place. Xu Ru often visited Chen Fan. [Note: The choicest of the earth's resources is the fortune of the heaven. Just like the twin swords of the City of Fong, the bright light of the dragon prints shot straight up to the areas of the star Herdboy and the Southern Dipper. Heroes are born in this propitious land, such as the eminent scholar Xu Ru Zi of Hongdu, who often stayed at the Prefect Chen Fan's.] These lines are all matched couplets. Once you understand how to write matching couplets, you will be able to write compositions that are unique.

Whether it is matching couplets, or writing poems, verses, songs, or rhyming compositions, you should all learn little by little. Don't limit yourself to matching couplets. The study of literature is endless. The ocean of learning has no shores; it is boundless.

→To be continued