Walking through the entrances to many palaces, homes or important buildings, you are likely to spot a panel of characters down each length of the door frame on both sides. This is a duilian, or Chinese couplet. Couplets are short poems or witty phrases meant to bring good fortune to those who work or live inside. Decorating with couplets is still very much a traditional part of Spring Festival in China. Couplets portray hopeful messages for the coming year. In this lesson we created a craft with special Chinese couplets to bring luck and prosperity to our families.
We also read a children’s rhyme which is also a song called 找朋友 or Finding Friends.
The children wrote the Chinese character for Spring 春 to hang above their family to show the beginning of a new year! They worked hard drawing their families and adding festive Chinese firecrackers to the drawings. See how diligently they are working below.
The craft we created in this lesson are Chinese doors with hanging lucky Chinese couplets. These words on the couplets are read from top to bottom and from the right banner to the left banner. These doors open up with a pair of jeweled doorknobs. Inside the doors, you are greeted with the artists’ family members and sometimes their pets. The couplets will bring luck and prosperity to each artist’s family. Check out our finished works!