10th century, China, Chinese, East Asia, historical figure, primary source, quotes, Southern Tang, stories
Here a jester cracks a joke in response to a question from the emperor, not only making him laugh but also persuading him to ease excessive taxes. This isn’t the only example of Chinese jesters intervening to reduce taxes, and we will be sharing other such...
10th century, bibliography, book, canon, China, Chinese, East Asia, historical figure, primary source, Southern Tang
The Song dynasty Ma Ling (fl. c. 1105) wrote a history of the Southern Tang, a short-lived dynasty (937-75) which was one of the Ten States in southern China in the 10th century. Among its imperial and other biographies, there is one folio dedicated to jesters, the...
10th century, China, Chinese, East Asia, historical figure, primary source, quotes, Southern Tang, stories
Jesters could use their freedom in the court to intervene on behalf of others. In most cases this would mean interceding with the king to protect someone more vulnerable or hard done by, and to reverse an injustice.This is a rare case of the jester stepping in to save...
