Low-cost image advertising？ In Taiwan Province, Spring Festival couplets are a ＂political science＂
Ma Ying-jeou, the former leader of Taiwan Province, recently wrote a Spring Festival couplets. The first batch of 100,000 Spring Festival couplets were sold out by the public in one day, and then urgently printed to 220,000 copies, which were also auctioned online at 350 yuan NT. Writing and posting Spring Festival couplets in New Year is a common cultural phenomenon in Chinese on both sides of the strait. But on the island, Spring Festival couplets are given too many "political" meanings.
Touchstone of popularity
Taiwan Province’s Spring Festival couplets have a special function, which can test the popularity of politicians. Ma Ying-jeou personally writes Spring Festival couplets every year and distributes them to the public free of charge. Last year, he wrote "Golden Rooster Offering Ruins to Get rid of the Old Year, Lucky and Wishing for the Spring Festival", although it also won the public’s appreciation for "beautiful words and correct words", but it was not as popular as the Spring Festival couplets in the Year of the Dog.
What is the reason for it People in the Kuomintang said that it was only because Tsai Ing-Wen’s administration had been ineffective for more than a year and caused public grievances that people finally felt Ma Ying-jeou’s goodness again. As the saying goes, "Missing always comes after breaking up" and "it must be Tsai Ing-Wen who is fair to Ma Ying-jeou".
Taiwan Province people praised Ma Ying-jeou’s "correct words" because Tsai Ing-Wen launched the Spring Festival couplets "Since Ran Ran, Happy New Year" last year, which was questioned by many scholars as an own goal of "since freedom". A netizen in Taiwan Province said, "Without comparison, there will be no harm". Tsai Ing-Wen is not only afraid to write Spring Festival couplets by hand because of her poor handwriting, but also makes mistakes in extracting them. Tsai Ing-Wen’s support rate fell below 30%, and her Spring Festival couplets also followed the market. Ma Ying-jeou’s Spring Festival couplets are the most expensive online to sell to 350 yuan NT, while Tsai Ing-Wen’s "Everything is happy and good in spring" this year is only about NT$ from 40 yuan to 60 yuan.
People will also use the Spring Festival couplets to express their feelings. Last month, a pair of Spring Festival couplets made by netizens in Taiwan Province became popular. The first couplet was "accustomed to the boss being legal on the spot", and the second couplet was "slave workers being punished on the spot", and it was criticized that "there is virtue in sin". Democratic Progressive Party was criticized by the upper and lower authorities for harming labor rights and interests, while the horizontal criticism contained the names of Tsai Ing-Wen and Lai Qingde, the "Executive Dean" of Taiwan, which was very spicy. Netizens have left messages "Where can I buy or get it? I want to post Spring Festival couplets for the first time. "
Write for the ballot
Businesses in Taiwan Province like to send Spring Festival couplets because they are low-cost image advertisements. Politicians like to send Spring Festival couplets, also to accumulate popularity. Politicians have a lot to pay attention to when writing Spring Festival couplets, such as what to write, who to give it to, and how to be unconventional, and they have to dig their brains out, which has spawned a "Spring Festival couplets politics".
The content of Spring Festival couplets should be unconventional first. For example, Seo Yin Lou, a legislator of the Kuomintang who is running for the mayor of Taichung, recently launched "ten dogs and ten beauties", which homophones "all" with "dog", which is quite ingenious. Zhang Jinkun, the mayor of Yuanlin Town, Changhua County, wrote Spring Festival couplets to the people on the spot. "People can write whatever they like, and their minds are the most important." What they provide is personalized service.
Besides "what to write", "how to write" is also very important. According to Taiwan Province media reports, Wang Liren, a member of Taichung City Council in Democratic Progressive Party, will write more than 500 Spring Festival couplets in 10 games before the Chinese New Year this year. It is said that he often writes that he needs to put a plaster on his shoulder. From the perspective of moving voters, the effect of sticking plaster may be better than sticking Spring Festival couplets.
Niu Zexun, director of the advertising department of the Chinese Culture University in Taiwan Province, said that Spring Festival couplets can reach every household and expand the ticket source. "Spring Festival couplets politics" is a very interesting knowledge. When you choose to send Spring Festival couplets, voters will get more and post more, which will help boost the momentum and political situation. Even if you lose the election, it will appear that "the loser does not lose the battle."
There are also examples of self-defeating. Yao Wenzhi, a Democratic Progressive Party legislator who intends to participate in the Taipei mayoral election, recently held a press conference to write Spring Festival couplets. He first wrote "If you don’t move, Yao Yao will lead" and then wrote "Don’t be biased, I’m afraid you will change your mind and love me". The latter sentence is considered to be a "confession" to Tsai Ing-Wen, in which the meaning of inviting pets attracts the resentment of netizens on the island, and many people bluntly say "disgusting!" .
Lucky or sad
When Ma Ying-jeou wrote Spring Festival couplets last year, he said that "Spring Festival couplets are Chinese customs", which caused praise from netizens on both sides of the strait. Democratic Progressive Party has long been committed to "going to China". After canvassing with Spring Festival couplets, he was ridiculed by netizens: "Why not write Spring Festival couplets on green paper?" The little Spring Festival couplets are not only a square stage for politicians to fight, but also a mirror to show some people’s duplicity and unbearable intentions.
Chen Chunlin, general manager of Hanya Cultural Consultant in Taiwan Province, said in an interview with this reporter recently that the custom of Spring Festival couplets on the island is well preserved. In the early years, many people would write their own couplets, and some people with good calligraphy would set up stalls to write Spring Festival couplets for their neighbors and collect a small amount of embellishments. Now the printed matter is getting more and more exquisite, and more people are buying Spring Festival couplets to paste. In addition to politicians, local governments, enterprises and merchants, some temples and monks in Taiwan Province will also present Spring Festival couplets, spring stickers and spring strips to believers. For example, Master Foguangshan Nebula’s spring stickers of "Loyalty and Family Heritage" this year are very popular.
Chen Chunlin shuttles across the Taiwan Straits all the year round to engage in cultural exchange activities. According to his observation, there is no obvious difference between the cultural atmosphere of Spring Festival couplets between the two sides, only the difference between urban and rural areas. The culture of Spring Festival couplets in cities of Taiwan Province and mainland China is relatively weak, while in rural areas of Taiwan Province and mainland China, it is relatively strong.
Chen Chunlin said that some old streets in Taiwan Province, such as Dihua Street in Taipei, Hukou Street in Hsinchu and Lukang, have a strong Spring Festival couplets culture. If you go to play during the Chinese New Year, you can see handwritten Spring Festival couplets posted at the door of every household, "looking very happy and comfortable."
Spring Festival couplets are protected from "de-China" because of their "political function", and they are also sought after by blue-green politicians on the island. For a traditional culture, is this lucky or sad? (Reporter Wang Ping)