Expats write Spring Festival couplet in Shandong

Shanxian Hope School – located in Shanxian county of Heze city in East China's Shandong province – recently hosted a group of international friends from Venezuela, Ghana, South Africa, Jamaica and South Korea.

They got the chance to experience the traditional Chinese New Year custom of writing Spring Festival couplets in a calligraphy classroom.

The school's calligraphy teacher, Xu Qingqing, gave an insightful introduction into the origins of Chinese New Year couplets.

"The concept of spring couplets traces back to the tradition of hanging peach wood charms. Initially, characters were inscribed onto peach wood boards and later they were written on large red paper," she explained.

"In Chinese folklore, spring couplets are believed to possess the ability to welcome the new, dispel evil spirits, convey wishes, as well as to adorn homes and boost the festive ambiance," she added.

Delving into the fundamentals of calligraphy, including brushwork techniques, the structural composition of Chinese characters and paper layouts, Xu went on to offer a demonstration on how to write the character chun, or spring in English.

"It's quite challenging, but we've managed to do it!" said two expats, from Ghana and Venezuela. (Edited by Wang Xi)

Expats learn how to write the Chinese character chun on red paper. [Photo by Wang Xiaolan for chinadaily.com.cn]