春聯(the spring couplet)是中國一種獨特的文學形式。它由貼在門兩側的兩個對立的(antithetical)句子和貼在門上方的橫批(hotizontal scroll)組成,橫批通常是一個吉祥的(auspicious)短語。隨著春節的來臨,無論城市還是農村,家家戶戶都要精選一副大紅春聯貼在門上。在中國人的傳統觀念里,一年中有個好的開端是最愜意、最吉利的事,所以他們就用貼春聯來表達自己在過去一年中的美好感受和對未來的一種美好期盼。
The spring couplet is a unique form of literature in China. It is composed of two antithetical sentences pasted to both sides of the door and a horizontal scroll, usually an auspicious phrase, pasted above the door. With the coming of the Spring Festival, every family, no matter in the city or in the countryside, will carefully select a bright red spring couplet and paste it to the door. In traditional Chinese view, a good beginning of the year is the coziest and most auspicious, so they paste spring couplets to show their good feelings in the past year and express their hopes for a good future.