13th century, China, Chinese, East Asia, historical figure, primary source, quotes, Song dynasty, stories
During the Baoqing reign period (1225-55) of Emperor Song Lizong 宋理宗 (r. 1224-64), Prime Minister Shi Miyuan 史彌遠 (1164-1233) gave a banquet at his residence at which variety skits were performed. Such skits were a regular vehicle for jesters to draw attention to...
15th century, China, Chinese, East Asia, historical figure, Ming dynasty, primary source, quotes, stories
During the reign of Emperor Ming Xianzong 明宪宗 (r. 1468-87), Zhu Yong (朱永), Duke of Baoguo, ran twelve military camps and used conscripted soldiers to repair his vast residence. The jester Brother Clown (A Chou 阿丑) used an historical allusion to expose his...
15th century, China, Chinese, East Asia, historical figure, Ming dynasty, primary source, quotes, stories
Following the practice of Chinese jesters to cook up a simple skit in order to draw the emperor’s attention to what’s really going on, here a group of them used a pun to expose corruption in the civil service exams. During the reign of the Hongzhi 弘治...
