10th century, China, Chinese, East Asia, historical figure, primary source, quotes, Southern Tang, stories
The ability to extemporize poems and ditties is often attributed to jesters, with some overlap also existing in Europe between jesters and those who might be termed court poets: bards, skalds, troubadours or similar. In addition, some form of musical ability was also...
2nd century BCE, bibliography, canon, China, Chinese, East Asia, folk fool, Han dynasty, historical figure, primary source, quotes, stories
One of many sources concerning the clever and outspoken Dongfang Shuo 東方朔 (c. 160 – c. 93 BCE), part courtier, part jester and, according to some more outlandish claims, a Daoist immortal. Known among ordinary people for his dazzling wit and intricate riddles,...
2nd century BCE, China, Chinese, East Asia, Han dynasty, historical figure, primary source, quotes, stories
Dongfang Shuo 東方朔 (c. 160 – c. 93 BCE), sometime jester to emperor Han Wudi 漢武帝 (r. 141-87 BCE), appears to have been one of those who developed a reputation among ordinary people for their wit, with their wisecracks becoming common currency.Ban Gu’s 班固...
10th century, bibliography, canon, China, Chinese, East Asia, historical figure, primary source, quotes, stories, Tang dynasty
Ouyang Xiu’s 歐陽脩 (1007-72) ‘Lingguan zhuan’ 伶官傳 (Biographies of Jesters) in the New History of the Five Dynasties is a key primary source for Chinese accounts of jesters at the court of Tang Zhuangzong 後唐莊宗 (r. 923-26), with particular emphasis on...
10th century, China, Chinese, East Asia, historical figure, primary source, quotes, Southern Tang, stories
The jester’s quiver of skills could include poetry, or at least verse. There is evidence of overlap between bards and jesters, and there are accounts of jesters engaged in verse-capping – finishing off someone else’s couplets with something funny or...
10th century, China, Chinese, East Asia, historical figure, primary source, quotes, stories, Tang dynasty
An early example of reductio ad absurdum approach to changing the ruler’s mind. Rather than having a head-on confrontation with unreasonable behaviour, the jester instead agrees wholeheartedly, taking the whole thing to such a logical but extreme degree that...
10th century, bibliography, book, canon, China, Chinese, East Asia, historical figure, primary source, Southern Tang
The Song dynasty Ma Ling (fl. c. 1105) wrote a history of the Southern Tang, a short-lived dynasty (937-75) which was one of the Ten States in southern China in the 10th century. Among its imperial and other biographies, there is one folio dedicated to jesters, the...
4th century BCE, biography, China, Chinese, East Asia, historical figure
Chunyu Kun 淳于髡 (‘Baldy Chunyu’) is one the jesters included in Sima Qian’s (145-c. 86 b.c.) ‘Accounts of Jesters’ in the Historical Records. He served at the court of Weiwang of Qi (c. 356-319 BCE) and used wit and other forms of...
