11th century, China, Chinese, East Asia, historical figure, primary source, quotes, Song dynasty, stories
In the Tiansheng reign period (1023-32) of Emperor Song Renzong 宋仁宗 a banquet was held at which poems were to be presented, the rhyming scheme to follow the word paihuai, or ‘dithering’. Jesters put on a skit using the various meanings of the word. A...
11th century, China, Chinese, East Asia, historical figure, primary source, quotes, Song dynasty, stories
The capacity to compose poems was long a critical skill among China’s elite. Similarly, the ability to come up with rhymes or ditties was a common qualification of jesters, complementing all round verbal quick wittedness. In this anecdote, a Chinese jester may...
China, East Asia, quotes, research
There is much common ground between jesters and actors, particularly comic actors. Jesters could perform in court entertainments, whether impromptu skits or full-blown plays or masques. Similarly, actors could play the role of a jester either as a character in a...
China, Chinese, East Asia, historical figure, Liao dynasty, primary source, quotes, stories
A paradox of the jester’s method is that they could hit home all the better for using the indirect means of jokes, stories and other roundabout ways of getting a point across. Is there something we can learn here? A Chinese official is described in his...
11th century, China, Chinese, East Asia, historical figure, primary source, quotes, Song dynasty, stories
Chinese jesters didn’t hesitate to mock the great names of Chinese thinking and religion, including Confucius. And just as jesters everywhere could be upbraided for such irreverence, here we see an official presenting a memo to the emperor to complain of the...
6th century, China, Chinese, East Asia, historical figure, Northern Qi, primary source, quotes, stories
There are several stories of Chinese jesters running punning rings around this or that sage scholar or religious master. When Emperor Gaozu of the Northern Qi 北齊高祖 (r. 550-59) held an erudite gathering, his jester Shi Dongtong 石動筩 (Moving Bucket) mocked one of the...
11th century, China, Chinese, East Asia, historical figure, primary source, quotes, Song dynasty, stories
During the Tianxi reign period (1017-21) of Song Zhenzong 宋真宗 (r. 997-1022), Yang Danian, Qian Wenxi, Yan Yuanxian and Liu Ziyi all won a place at court by virtue of their literary achievements. Their poetry belonged to the school of Li Shangyin 李商隐 (813-58) and...
2nd century BCE, China, Chinese, East Asia, Han dynasty, historical figure, primary source, quotes, stories
The irrepressibly bumptious Dongfang Shuo told the emperor what he thought of scholars, in terms of brazen self-praise. Emperor Han Wudi 漢武帝 (r. 141-87 BCE) gave him a long list of some of the most renowned literary names in Chinese history and asked him how he...
