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, 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...
9th century, China, Chinese, East Asia, historical figure, primary source, quotes, stories, Tang dynasty
Two common features of the jester come together in this anecdote: resilience and quick wittedness. The emperor’s idea of a joke, giving his jester a dunking underwater, is a bit schoolboy-bullyish, but the jester reacts so cheerily and cleverly that he wins...
10th century, China, Chinese, East Asia, historical figure, primary source, quotes, stories, Tang dynasty
Generally speaking, jesters enjoyed a widely recognised licence which included the latitude to be irreverent. However, they were dealing with very powerful individuals and sometimes their barbs or mockery would hit home too hard and they would find themselves...
8th century, China, Chinese, East Asia, historical figure, primary source, quotes, stories, Tang dynasty
The Chinese jester Huang Fanchuo (黃幡綽 In Full Streamer Huang) is mentioned in a musicological work, the Tang dynasty Jie Drum Record (羯鼓錄), for having stunned the emperor, Tang Xuanzong 唐玄宗 (r. 713-56), with his ability to guess the emperor’s mood from his...
8th century, China, Chinese, East Asia, historical figure, primary source, quotes, stories, Tang dynasty
During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong (r. 713-56), his beloved consort (and one of the most famous in Chinese history), Yang Guifei, showed great favouritism towards her `adopted’ son, An Lushan, the man who later instigated a rebellion which brought down the...
10th century, China, Chinese, East Asia, historical figure, primary source, quotes, stories, Tang dynasty
A rare example of a jester facing execution and all the more exceptional for having the ruler about to strike the fatal blow himself. Equally astonishing is the quick-wittedness to come up with a pun which made the emperor laugh and so commute the death sentence....
10th century, China, Chinese, East Asia, historical figure, primary source, quotes, stories, Tang dynasty
Jesters, like other entertainers or courtiers, could enjoy the generosity of the ruler, and there are many such examples in anecdotes or, in the European case, in court account records. In China, a few specifically mention rolls of silk being doled out, but this...
