Painting Xiaolin--Commentary. English Translation of the Treasured Edition

Author: (Ming) Feng Menglong et al., Liu Ergang illustrated, Du Wenhe selected and commented, Chen Yuankai translated
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2003-08-01
Features: The most beautiful sound in the world may be laughter. Laughter moves the nerves of health, it is the lively performance of cells, and the resonance of vigorous vitality. Life is always chasing laughter. The steps of life pass by in a hurry, expecting countless laughs. Jokes have existed since ancient times. The "" (Biographies) of the "" (Records of the Grand Historian) contains the stories of people like Chunyu Kun and Dongfang Shuo who were good at making jokes. However, before the Ming Dynasty, there were not many books specifically collecting jokes. The reason is very simple: jokes, like slang, folk songs, and small tunes, were not considered suitable for the refined, and the upper class merely laughed at them. Even if there were wise people in the (folk), they had little money to afford the cost of printing. In the Ming Dynasty, the fate of jokes changed. Spoken jokes gained the attention of scholars. Scholars and refined gentlemen, in addition to chess clubs, qin clubs, tea clubs, wine clubs, and poetry clubs, also formed "joke clubs," which were places dedicated to exchanging and collecting jokes. Since jokes were cherished and passed down orally, although they were extremely folk literature, they were not devoid of elegance and had every right to be given a place in literature. Thus, numerous joke collections appeared. Among them, Feng Menglong's "" (Laughing) was particularly famous. During the Qianlong era, a person with the alias "Game Master" restructured the "" and compiled it into a book called "" (Broad Jokes of the Laughing Forest). In the late Qing Dynasty, Cheng Shijue of Pingjiang compiled folk jokes into a book, still titled "." The two "" books have slightly overlapping content but each has its own merits. "" became very popular and even became the byname for joke collections. Jokes are full of wit and wisdom. Although they are considered a "minor art," they should not be taken lightly. Jokes can not only relieve worries, dispel sadness, and break boredom but also critique matters, clarify principles, and awaken the world.