According to literature, couplets belong to the genre of random prose, originating from peach blossom digging, consisting of 2 contrasting verses expressing the author’s thoughts, feelings, and ideas. Couplets originated in China about 3000 years ago and were initially written in Chinese characters by the Vietnamese.
A couplet cannot be arbitrarily used but must follow the rules of tone, rhyme, and quantity of words and meanings. For poetic couplets, in the pentathlon or heptathlon poetry form, the author must use the correct rules of static and dynamic couplets. In Vietnam, couplets are divided into many types depending on the purpose of use, such as: congratulatory couplets, responsive couplets, worship couplets, satirical couplets, etc. However, in this article, we will explore the couplets for Tet.
Origin and meaning of Tet couplets
Tet couplets originated from the time of the Chu dynasty, with each family hanging two “peach blossom” plaques (meaning wooden peach tree amulets) in front of their door.
According to the “Later Han Book – Ceremony and Ceremony”, “Peach blossoms are 6 feet long (about 20 inches) and 3 feet wide (about 10 inches), on which the names of two Deities who control evil spirits, namely Deity Do and Uat Luy, are written. On the first day of Tet, the peach blossom amulet is hung at the door, which can frighten away hundreds of demons.”
Peach blossom amulets can drive away evil spirits, suppress demons, and eliminate bad luck, bringing good luck.
By the time of the Five Dynasties, the royal court of the Western Han dynasty began to write couplets on peach blossom amulets. According to “Tong Shi – Shu Shi Jia”, it was written that King Manh Suong of the Later Shu dynasty ordered scholars Chuong Ton to write two couplets on peach blossom amulets:
Tan nien nap du khanh
Gia tiet hieu truong xuan.
Rough translation:
The New Year joyfully welcomes abundance
Tet is forever the spring of youth.
This couplet is considered the first Tet couplet in the history of Asian countries. From the Song dynasty onwards, the people began to popularize Tet couplets, and during the Ming dynasty, it officially changed the name of the peach blossom amulet to “Tet couplets” (Xuan Lien).
This custom gradually spread throughout East Asian countries such as Vietnam, Japan, and Korea. Currently, there is no accurate research on when Tet couplets in Vietnam originated, but they have been popular since the Tran era. In addition to the meaning of bringing good luck, it also reflects the intelligence and cleverness of the couplet players.
Meaning of Tet couplets on Tet
Each Tet couplet carries deep beauty and profound meanings. Tet couplets are lines of words, sentences that poets want to send hopes, ideas, and wishes to everyone to wish them a year full of luck, peace, and joy.
Hanging Tet couplets in the house makes the atmosphere more solemn, warm, bringing a fresh and lively feeling. Sending Tet couplets to relatives and friends helps deepen the feelings and create a bond between people.
Tet couplets also express hopes and motivations for people to have the energy to start a new and improved year. In addition, according to the belief of ancient people, hanging couplets also helps ward off evil spirits, eliminate disasters, and unhappiness for a new year. Moreover, the couplet game also helps us see clearly the intellect, knowledge, and morals, and traditions of the Vietnamese people.
Meaningful Tet couplets
There are many Tet couplets that have been passed down orally or recorded in many documents. Surely we are familiar with the couplet:
Dried meat with pickled onions red couplet
Banyan tree, firecrackers, green Chung cakes
This is a couplet that often appears on Tet holidays, New Year’s Eve. Red couplets and green Chung cakes are typical symbols that cannot be missed when families gather around their year-end meal. Without these elements, the festive atmosphere, joy, and liveliness of Tet seem to be lost. Besides, we also have many Tet couplets with the melodious tone of East Asian countries, wishing a favorable and lucky new year:
May the New Year be safe and prosperous
May prosperity and longevity be boundless
The New Year joyfully welcomes abundance
Tet is forever the spring of youth
Marigolds blooming to celebrate the new year
Peach blossoms showing their colors to welcome spring
This year’s spring is better than the past
Good luck accompanies every household
A few words to congratulate the new year
May everything be safe and sound
Pale green fortune, yellow apricot, happy spring
Joyful life, good health, Tet is safe
Tet indoors, Tet outdoors
Fortune in the sky, luck to the people
Marigolds blooming to celebrate the new year
Peach blossoms showing their colors to welcome spring
Young boys and girls smile happily to welcome Tet
Young and old rejoice to welcome spring
New year with new age for everyone
Fortune for a thousand homes, good luck for everything
The above couplets open up a cheerful atmosphere of Tet and the arrival of spring. They show the joyous and festive atmosphere when Tet knocks on every door. The couplets also express the New Year’s wishes of most people. They hope for a new year filled with wealth, success in careers. The word “Loc” here symbolizes budding shoots, showing the freshness, lushness, and vitality for the coming year.
Best Tet couplets
There are many Tet couplets that you can choose from:
May fortune and wealth come like a flood
Greetings of prosperity and longevity
Tet couplets for boss, business
May the New Year be a prosperous and prosperous year
Welcoming the Year of the Ox with great success
Tet couplets for customers
Peaceful prosperity
Successful achievements
Tet couplets for teachers
The noblest profession is a teacher
Glory has no measure, nurturing future generations
Tet couplets for Catholics
The New Year brings joy to celebrate the birth of the Lord
Tet couplets for celebrating the party and welcoming spring
Congratulations to celebrate the Tet, may families be harmonious and Tết bring joy
Best Tet couplets with 5 characters
Do not miss the most familiar 5-character couplets that are full of meanings yet not outdated. Let’s take a look at these couplets.
- Fill with happiness and luck – Package with full wealth
- Keep for endless peace – Tie tightly for abundant fortune
- Prosperous New Year – Prosperous and long life
- Bright fortune for a thousand years – Spring gathers all blessings
- Prosperity fills the world – Family is joyful and prosperous
- The year of the ox brings abundant blessings – Welcome Tet with great success
- New Year’s Eve, gathering fortune,
- Wish everyone happiness and wealth.
- A thousand auspicious fortune – Six harmony, unity
- Welcoming the Year of the Ox – Lucky Spring
- Tight bond like glue – Enduring happiness
- Blooming apricot blossoms bring wealth – Pink blossoms bring peace
- Congratulating the new year – Infinite health
- New Year sorrows greet longevity – family happiness
- Trained youth happy to welcome Tet – In old age, joyously welcomes spring
- A year older, a year wiser – A year full of peace and prosperity
- About the house hang memories and warmth enclosed – Preserving the ancient customs, longing for the source.
- Boundless blessings – Pleasant harmony, full of spring
- Spring brings wishes coming true – Tet brings peace and happiness
- New Year’s expenses double – Prosperity overflows
- Harmony and profit for this year – Harmony and great prospects for the future
- Bells ring, drums beat, prosperity opens the door – Flowers bloom in celebration of the New Year
- Year of the ox, lucky number rises – Spring evening, prosperity comes rampantly
- Establishing blessings and longevity – Prosperous spring
- Couplets welcoming the new ox – Thanh Binh leads the way
- Lucky is flooded, prosperity and wealth are abundant – Peace and security for every household and individual
- Dream-like New Year, receiving luck and fortune – Hundred things, unexpected events, happy life
- Hooray for spring, everyone gathers – Blooming flowers, everyone misses the past
- Happiness like keo sticky candy – Wealth as abundant as candy – Love is strong like adhesive – Enduring happiness
- Old and young, men and women, everyone enjoys Tet – Trees, grass, flowers, and leaves also celebrate spring
Best Tet couplets with 7 characters
Couplets with 7 characters are capable of conveying feelings, purposes, and full of hope for a new year full of luck, wealth, longevity, and talent. These are preferred by many people to hang in their homes.
- May prosperity overflow, happiness radiate – Fortune and longevity fill your home
- Green fortune, yellow apricot, happy spring – Joyful life, good health, Tet is safe
- May heavenly blessings increase, fortunes enhanced – Spring brings flourishing prosperity
- Complete prosperity, abundant happiness, health, and longevity – Auspiciousness fills the home
- Abundance of blessings reaches the family, tranquil and prosperous – Prosperity overflows, wealth and honor arrive in spring
- Prosperous blessings, family flourishing
- Congratulations to the new year, boundless health, continuous success – Happiness and blessings endlessly
- May the five blessings visit, bring joy and luck – Welcoming the prosperous spring
- Prosperity and longevity flood households – The Tet season fills with good fortune
- Laughter fills the house, welcome is voiced – Luscious fruits fill the garden
- The year past ends with good fortune and success – Raising a glass to a new year of wealth
- Youth forever, joyous as ever – Remaining bright, year after year
- Good fortune flowing, abundant blessings everywhere – Success in all endeavors, prosperity in every home
- Peaceful prosperity, longevity, and happiness – A thousand-year-old daisy, a long-lived pine tree
- May peace and prosperity fill the home – Fortune and luck overflow from top to bottom
- Let the house fill with happiness and joy
- Welcome spring with your home covered in prosperity and happiness
- Everyone is happy for Tet – Plants, trees, flowers, and leaves welcome spring too
- Success in all things and boundless health – Prosperity, peace, and happiness
- Young and old, men and women, all love Tet – Family, plants, flowers, and leaves celebrate spring
- New spring brings abundant life – Blooming peach blossoms welcome the new year
- Fill the house with joy, wrap the year with prosperity – A new year full of happiness and peace
- Nature welcomes abundance, doors are decorated – Water source welcomes prosperity
- Harmonious golden spring
- Everywhere is filled with fortune and abundance
- Blessings come from the country
- Families gather together to celebrate Tet
- Goodbye to the old year with loosened hair, goodbye, hello to spring
- Welcome the new year with casual clothes, hello to a new beginning
- The earth is filled with success, talents shine – Heaven becomes rich, countless blessings come
Best Chinese-Vietnamese couplets with meanings
1. Mountains and rivers are tall and endless spring is boundless – Gods and fairies enjoy the scenery all their lives
2. The door welcomes talents, the family and friends gather – Thousands of objects come and go
3. Living on the earth to prosper the nation and the world – Popularizing virtues that last for thousands of years
4. Think of ancient ancestors, derived from the beauty of virtues – Trust children and grandchildren to have moral beauty for generations to come
5. Spring like valuable silk, people like precious jade – The house is full of guests, and wine glasses overflow
6. The heavens add years, age increases – Everything is prosperous, every household is fortunate
7. Earthly wealth is prosperous, earthly career is shining – Heavenly blessings, peace, and prosperity
8. The Earth brings wealth, the sky brings fortune – The Earth, all four are prosperous
9. Home in peace, fortune achieved – Health and wealth, a prosperous spring
10. New Year’s Day arrives and all people hope – Year after year, infinite peace
Best Vietnamese couplets with 6 characters (4-2)
Perhaps not all of the couplets have been captured in this rewriting. Nonetheless, these are the couplets that maintain the meaning of the original text.
- Fortune fills the house, longevity fills life
- A grand scene from heaven, multiplied with every birth
- Full of blessings, reaching the heavens
- From generation to generation, a prosperous and peaceful life
- Infinite blessings, full of fortune
- Following ancestors’ virtue, carrying on a thousand years of culture
- Four seasons, a thousand blessings – Luck and harmony in every family
- Heavenly blessings, family harmony
- Congratulations on the new year – Wealth without bound (4-2) – Immortal love
- Prosperity and fortune never end – Graceful and wealthy, longevity
- Full of love, like glue – Flexible happiness
- Achievement for this year, harmony for the soul – Fortune and virtue for the next year (4-2)
- Memories and warmth fill the land – Ancient customs are preserved
- Infinite blessings, joyful harmony
- Pure and beautiful, heaven and earth happy
- Talent after talent, the effect of virtue
- Smart children, prosperous parents
- May the year be calm and prosperous – A thousand things prosper, love remains
- Love for the land, but peace is enough
- Seeing the rise and fall, nothing surpasses blood and love
- Heaven and earth have endless kindness, and family harmony is important to ancestors
- Love for a thousand years, health and fortune
- Welcoming spring with wisdom and grace
- Long-awaited blessings for family and country prosperity
- Great achievements come with virtue
- True love is for generations
- Eternal love, eternal thanks
- Living together, with love to give
Beautiful Images of Traditional Vietnamese New Year Couplets
People often use Tết greetings or hang red couplets in front of their homes to wish each other happiness and good luck. The following article will compile beautiful images of Tết couplets that you can refer to.
