2nd century BCE, China, Chinese, East Asia, Han dynasty, historical figure, primary source, quotes, stories
The jester Guo Sheren 郭舍人is often paired with Dongfang Shuo, coming off worst in riddle-battles. Here, Sima Qian 司馬遷 tells us that this favourite jester of Emperor Han Wudi 漢武帝 (r. 141-87 BCE), although not deeply philosophical, nevertheless brought pleasure and...
2nd century BCE, China, Chinese, East Asia, Han dynasty, historical figure, primary source, quotes, stories
The jester Guo Sheren 郭舍人 enjoyed great favour with Emperor Han Wudi 漢武帝 (r. 141-87 BCE), due to what Burton Watson called his ‘never-ending fund of waggery’, and he was always at the Emperor’s side. He seems to have regularly engaged in riddles...
2nd century BCE, bibliography, book, canon, China, Chinese, East Asia, Han dynasty, historical figure, primary source, Qin dynasty
There are a hundred ways to kick off a canon*, and one on fools and jesters could trigger as much argument about what should be included as any other body of essential works on a given topic. One advantage of slow-mo online accretion is that it is never final and so...
2nd century BCE, China, Chinese, East Asia, Han dynasty, historical figure, primary source, quotes, stories
At the court of the Emperor Han Wudi 漢武帝 (r. 141-87 BCE), two jesters would regularly fire off riddles at each other in front of the emperor. On one occasion, Guo Sheren (郭舍人) offered to submit himself to a beating if he didn’t manage to out-wit Dongfang Shuo...
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...
