Spring Couplets Maker
Make a set of spring couplets for your door: the upper and lower lines, the horizontal scroll that goes above, and a diamond square with 福 or another character. Pick one of seven traditional couplets, each with its pinyin and an English meaning, or type your own lines in simplified or traditional characters. Choose a brush font, gold or black ink and the size of your door, and download a true-size PDF that prints across several sheets, or a small set on one page. Free, with no sign-up and no watermark, and nothing is uploaded.
100% private — everything runs in your browser. Made on your device; nothing is uploaded.
Words
Diamond square (斗方)
Look
Size
Measure your door frame first: there is no single standard size.
Printing
Made in your browser. Nothing is uploaded; your settings are saved on this device only. Chinese characters are drawn as pictures in the PDF, so they print as you see them.
How to make spring couplets
- Pick a couplet from the list, or choose “My own lines” and type them.
- Choose simplified or traditional characters, and which way your horizontal scroll reads.
- Pick the square’s character and whether to turn it upside down.
- Choose a font, the ink and whether to print the red paper or only the characters (for red paper you bought).
- Measure your door and set the strip width. Leave the length blank to work it out, or type the length you need.
- Download the PDF and print at 100% (Actual size). Trim the margins, line up the dashed overlap lines, and tape or glue the sheets together.
What you can use it for
- Couplets for the front door for Lunar New Year
- A small set for a desk, a shop counter or a classroom wall
- Outline characters to colour in or to trace with a brush
- Traditional characters for Hong Kong, Taiwan and many overseas families
- A 福 square for a door, a fridge or a gift
- Decorations for a Lunar New Year party or school event
The four pieces
| Piece | Chinese | Where it goes |
|---|---|---|
| Upper line | 上联 (shàng lián) | On the side where the horizontal scroll starts: the right, traditionally |
| Lower line | 下联 (xià lián) | On the other side of the door |
| Horizontal scroll | 横批 (héng pī) | Above the door, often four characters |
| Diamond square | 斗方 (dǒu fāng) | On the door or elsewhere, hung with a corner at the top |
The square is cut as a square and hung as a diamond, so the tool turns the character 45° on the paper. Turned upside down, 福 is turned another half turn.
Seven traditional couplets
| Upper / lower / horizontal | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 红梅含苞傲冬雪 / 绿柳吐絮迎新春 / 欢度春节 | hóng méi hán bāo ào dōng xuě / lǜ liǔ tǔ xù yíng xīn chūn / huān dù chūn jié | Red plum buds brave the winter snow / Green willow catkins welcome the new spring / A happy Spring Festival |
| 迎新春事事如意 / 接鸿福步步高升 / 好事临门 | yíng xīn chūn shì shì rú yì / jiē hóng fú bù bù gāo shēng / hǎo shì lín mén | Welcome the new spring: may all go as you wish / Receive great fortune: rise step by step / Good things come to the door |
| 丹凤呈祥龙献瑞 / 红桃贺岁杏迎春 / 福满人间 | dān fèng chéng xiáng lóng xiàn ruì / hóng táo hè suì xìng yíng chūn / fú mǎn rén jiān | The red phoenix brings good omens, the dragon offers blessings / Peach blossom greets the year, apricot welcomes spring / Blessings fill the world |
| 春雨丝丝润万物 / 红梅点点绣千山 / 春意盎然 | chūn yǔ sī sī rùn wàn wù / hóng méi diǎn diǎn xiù qiān shān / chūn yì àng rán | Fine spring rain nourishes all things / Dots of red plum blossom embroider a thousand hills / Spring is in the air |
| 迎新春江山锦绣 / 辞旧岁事泰辉煌 / 春意盎然 | yíng xīn chūn jiāng shān jǐn xiù / cí jiù suì shì tài huī huáng / chūn yì àng rán | Welcoming the new spring, the land is like brocade / Seeing off the old year, all is calm and bright / Spring is in the air |
| 春归大地人间暖 / 福降神州喜临门 / 福喜盈门 | chūn guī dà dì rén jiān nuǎn / fú jiàng shén zhōu xǐ lín mén / fú xǐ yíng mén | Spring returns to the earth and the world grows warm / Fortune comes down on the land and joy arrives at the door / Fortune and joy fill the home |
| 冬去山川齐秀丽 / 春来桃李共芬芳 / 辞旧迎新 | dōng qù shān chuān qí xiù lì / chūn lái táo lǐ gòng fēn fāng / cí jiù yíng xīn | Winter goes, and hills and rivers grow lovely together / Spring comes, and peach and plum share their fragrance / Out with the old, in with the new |
Couplets read 7-Nov-2026 on Travel China Guide, Spring Festival Couplets (characters and pinyin) and China Travel, Chinese couplets; pinyin and traditional forms checked against the Unicode Unihan database. The English lines are ours.
Which side goes where
Read the horizontal scroll first. If it reads from right to left, as it traditionally does, the upper line goes on the right of the door as you face it and the lower line on the left. If the scroll reads from left to right, swap them: the upper line goes on the left. To tell the lines apart, look at the last character: a falling tone ends the upper line and a level tone ends the lower line.
Sources, read 7-Nov-2026: China News Service, 5 February 2016 (which side goes where), Guangming Daily, 27 January 2025 (tones of the last characters), Wikipedia, Chunlian and TVBS, 13 February 2026 (the upside-down 福).
Sizing your couplets
No standard size turned up in the sources we read, so the tool sizes everything from your strip width. These lengths are worked out the same way the tool does it, for a seven-character line and a four-character scroll:
| Strip width | Strip length, 7 characters | Character size | Horizontal scroll |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 cm | 80.5 cm | 9.1 cm | 49.8 × 12 cm |
| 15 cm | 100.6 cm | 11.4 cm | 62.3 × 15 cm |
| 18 cm | 120.7 cm | 13.7 cm | 74.8 × 18 cm |
| 22 cm | 147.6 cm | 16.7 cm | 91.4 × 22 cm |
| 25 cm | 167.7 cm | 19.0 cm | 103.8 × 25 cm |
Type a length instead if your door needs a set length: the characters shrink or spread out to fit.
Printing and putting them up
- Print at 100% or Actual size, not Fit to page, then check the bar on each sheet with a ruler.
- Trim the white margins on one side of each overlap and line up the dashed grey line with the edge of the next sheet.
- Join the sheets with tape on the back or a thin line of glue.
- For red paper you bought, choose “Characters only” and print black or outline characters on it.
- For the square, trim to the outline and hang it with a corner at the top.
Finish the door with a Paper Lantern Template, fill a Red Envelope Template, or make a greeting with the Lunar New Year 2027 Image Maker. For lettering in other styles, try the Calligraphy Generator.
More free Lunar New Year tools
Decorating for the new year?
Red envelopes, lanterns, cards and greeting images: free tools that run in your browser, with no sign-up and nothing uploaded.
Frequently asked questions
What are spring couplets?
Spring couplets (春联, chūnlián) are a pair of lines of verse, usually seven characters each, written on red paper and pasted on either side of a door for Lunar New Year, with a short horizontal scroll above. In Cantonese they are called fai chun (揮春).
Which side does the upper line go on?
On the side where the horizontal scroll starts. Traditionally the scroll reads right to left, so the upper line goes on the right as you face the door. If your scroll reads left to right, put the upper line on the left. The tool lays it out either way.
How can I tell the upper line from the lower line?
By the tone of the last character: the upper line usually ends on a falling tone (3rd or 4th in Mandarin) and the lower line on a level tone (1st or 2nd). Every preset here follows that rule.
Should 福 be upside down?
Many people hang 福 upside down, because “upside down” (倒, dào) sounds like “arrives” (到, dào), so it reads as “good fortune arrives”. Others keep it upright on the front door and turn it upside down elsewhere. Customs differ, so the tool lets you choose.
What size should spring couplets be?
There is no single standard size, so measure your door frame. Set the strip width and the tool works out the length from the number of characters: at 18 cm wide a seven-character line is 120.7 cm long. You can also type the exact length you need.
Can I use traditional characters?
Yes. Choose Traditional and the preset couplets switch to traditional characters. LXGW WenKai TC is the font made for traditional characters; the others may fall back to your device’s font for some characters, and the tool tells you which.
Can I write my own couplet?
Yes. Choose “My own lines” and type up to 12 characters a line and up to 6 on the scroll. The tool warns you if the two lines are not the same length.
How do I print couplets bigger than my paper?
Choose True size and the PDF splits each piece over several sheets with a 10 mm overlap and a check bar. Print at 100%, trim, line up the dashed lines and join the sheets with tape or glue. Or choose “Small set on one sheet”.
Can I print gold characters?
Home printers have no gold ink, so gold prints as a warm yellow. For a richer look, print black characters on red paper, or print outlines and fill them in with a gold pen.
What if the brush font does not load?
The tool uses your device’s own Chinese font instead and keeps working. The fonts are free OFL fonts loaded from a font library; only the characters you use are fetched.
Is anything uploaded?
No. Everything is made in your browser, and your settings are saved on this device only.
Can I use what I make?
Yes. The designs are our own drawings: you may use them and anything you make with them, including things you sell, with no credit needed.