2nd century BCE, China, Chinese, East Asia, Han dynasty, primary source, quotes
Sima Qian (c. 145-86 BC), the Herodotus of China, testifies as to the potential for a joke or a clever turn of phrase to unravel knotty problems. This is from his biographies of jesters, the first and perhaps foremost source of classical Chinese references to jesters...
4th century BCE, China, Chinese, East Asia, historical figure, primary source, quotes, stories
Riddles are one technique in the rag-bag of fools’ tools and can prove a playful, indirect way of bringing someone round to another view. First they focus the person on solving the riddle, allowing a moment for the real meaning to sink in quietly. The decoy of...
4th century BCE, China, Chinese, East Asia, historical figure, primary source, quotes, stories
This account of a Chinese jester is from what may be the earliest study of their exploits. It highlights a common technique for influencing behaviour – not through confrontation but by lightly indirect means, allowing the king to draw his own conclusions.In the...
4th century BCE, China, Chinese, East Asia, historical figure, primary source, quotes, stories
A common theme in the interactions between fools and kings is the need to rein in regal carousing or other forms of distraction from the affairs of state.On one occasion Chunyu Kun (Baldy Chunyu 淳于髡) used a riddle to talk Weiwang of Qi (c. 356-319 BC, whose name has...
2nd century BCE, China, Chinese, East Asia, folk fool, Han dynasty, historical figure, primary source, quotes
This ringing endorsement of the effectiveness of court jesters seems a good way to launch a website celebrating them across time and space. It comes from Sima Qian 司馬遷 (c. 145-86 BC), ‘father’ of Chinese history, who wrote what may be the first ever study...
