#shufa

It's that time of year again for writing Spring Festival couplets. Chinese netizen: There's someone who forgot to drink Mengpo Soup before reincarnation. (Mengpotang is The Broth of Forgetfulness—potion you drink before reincarnation to forget your past life.) (cr 粥+冰, 牛桐童书墨趣, 小朗朗书法点滴)

The signs are: roasted sweet potatoes at 8 yuan per jin, name of a catering company, a public service notice about electricity safety, and a public service notice about preventing mosquitoes and insects.

Hunshu婚书 (Chinese calligraphic marriage certificate scroll)

The traditional Chinese marriage certificate, known as hunshu (婚书), originated as a ceremonial contract within the Zhou Dynasty’s “Six Rites (Matchmaking Proposal, Name Inquiry, Divination Approval, Betrothal Gifts, Wedding Date Selection, and the Wedding Procession)” (c. 1046–256 BCE) and gained formal legal standing after the Tang (618–907 CE) and Song (960–1279 CE) periods. Typically handwritten on vermilion paper accented with gold, it recorded astrological details, betrothal gifts, and poetic vows, and was often decorated with symbolic motifs such as dragons, phoenixes, and the double happiness character. More than a record of marital alliance, it was an artistic heirloom embodying the promise to “grow old together.” Though largely replaced by state-issued marriage certificates in the modern era, the handwritten hunshu has seen a revival in recent years as a meaningful cultural practice within traditional-style weddings.

Traditional hunshu contained extensive details, whereas modern hunshu are greatly simplified — typically stating who is marrying whom, the wedding date (Nongli农历, the traditional Chinese calendar), and offering classical poetic blessings for the couple. While no longer legally binding today, these hunshu still carry deep ceremonial significance. Many now choose to handwrite them again, both for the sense of ritual and to preserve this old-fashioned romance, often treasuring hunshu as a work of calligraphy art.

Here's a bit from the above hunshu. The original is beautiful, full of rhythm and poetic lines. It reads like light shimmering down a flowing river— really hard to capture in English. Hope this still gives you a feel for it.

两姓聯姻 一堂缔约 良缘永结 匹配同稱 看此日桃花灼灼 宜室宜家 卜他年瓜瓞绵绵 爾昌爾炽 謹以白頭之約 書向鴻箋 好将紅葉之盟 載明鴛譜