Biographies of Jesters (滑稽列傳 Guji Liezhuan) Part Four

Paragraph 4: Chunyu Kun (淳于髡) (3/3)

Weiwang was pleased with the withdrawal of the Chu army. He ordered feasts to be arranged and he honored Chunyu Kun with a drink. Weiwang asked, "How much does it take to inebriate my counselor?" Chunyu answered, "I can be drunk on a little, but I can also be drunk on a lot." Weiwang said, "Counselor, if you are drunk on a little, how can you finish a lot? Can you tell me how?" Chunyu said, "When you, my Lord, honor me with a drink at court, with law enforcers on either side, with judicial officials standing behind, I bow low and drink in fear. It takes only a little (a dou) to make me drunk." He continued, "When my parents receive honorable guests at home, I roll up my sleeves and bend over to fill their cups. I stand by at their service and am given a drink from time to time. I hold my cup high and drink to their health in reverence as high. It takes only a few rounds to make me drunk (on two dous)." Chunyu went on to give a third situation, "While socializing with long-lost friends, whom I chanced upon, I rejoice in our conversation of shared old days and in our exchange of life experiences kept to ourselves." "It then takes some more to make me drunk (five or six dous)." "When an informal feast is held in the neighborhood," Chunyu said about the fourth situation, "men and women don't sit apart; people enjoy each other's company and drink for long." "Gambling is allowed; bonding comes natural." "Flirting (holding hands) is inculpable; ogling is acceptable. Earrings are dropped; hairpins, left behind. This caters to my guilty pleasure (This is my péché mignon) and it takes much more to make me drunk (Eight dous equal to slight tipsiness). And further, when the dusk falls and the feast is nearly done, those who linger gather what is left and sit close--men and women share same seats (my emphasis: It is feasible that this means women are sitting in the lap of men, so that everything is piled up or joined "in a pleasant mess": people, shoes, tableware...all things that refer to carnal pleasures); men's shoes are placed upon women's; tableware is piled upon tableware. When the candles burn out from the banquet ball, the host sees off other guests but ask me to stay. This is the time when blouses are loosened and the scent is perceived. This is the moment I favor most. This is the time when I can finish a lot (a dan)." "It is said that drinking without restraint leads to vice; feasting without restraint leads to tragedy. All things under no restraint go in like manner. This is to say that extremities should be avoided, for extremities lead to downfalls." In explaining his toleration for alcohol, Chunyu insinuated a piece of advice into Weiwang's mind. Weiwang replied, "Well said," and restrained from late-night feasting. Chunyu was soon made the supervisor of revelry. When royal banquets were held, Chunyu was always present.

A century and more came to pass. There in Chu was Yo Meng.

*威王大說(yue4)，置酒後宮，召髡賜之酒。問曰：「先生能飲幾何而醉？」對曰：「臣飲一斗亦醉，一石亦醉。」威王曰：「先生飲一斗而醉，惡能飲一石哉！其說可 得聞乎？」髡曰：「賜酒大王之前，執法在傍，御史在後，髡恐懼俯伏而飲，不 過一斗徑醉矣。若親有嚴客，髡帣韝（juan4gou1）鞠？（古字，月+丞+也）(ju2ji4)，侍酒於前，時賜餘瀝，奉觴上壽，數起，飲不過二斗徑醉矣。若朋友交遊，久不相見，卒(cu4)然相睹，歡然道故， 私情相語，飲可五六斗徑醉矣。若乃州閭(lü2)之會，男女雜坐，行酒稽留，六博投壺，相引為曹，握手無罰，目眙(chi4)不禁(jin4)，前有墮珥(er3)，後有遺簪，髡竊樂此， 飲可八斗而醉二參(san1)。日暮酒闌，合尊促坐，男女同席，履舄(xi4)交錯，杯盤狼藉，堂上燭滅，主人留髡而送客，羅襦(ru2)襟解，微聞薌(xiang1)澤，當此之時，髡心最歡，能飲一石。故曰酒極則亂，樂極則悲；萬事盡然，言不可極，極之而衰。」 以諷諫焉。齊王曰：「善。」乃罷長夜之飲，以髡為諸侯主客。宗室置酒，髡嘗在側。

其後百餘年，楚有優孟。

**The original paragraph in Chinese is taken from: Sima Qian. Ed. Han Zhaoqi. New Translation Shiji. vol.VIII. Taipei: Sanmin, 2008. 4941-4942. (司馬遷. 韓兆琦 注譯. 新譯史記, 第八冊. 臺北市：三民, 2008. 4941-4942頁. ISBN: 978-95-14-5001-8). All translation is based upon the text and annotations thereof (4944-4945).

***All translation is mine.

Biographies of Jesters (滑稽列傳 Guji Liezhuan) Part Three

Paragraph 3: Chunyu Kun (淳于髡) (2/3)

When Weiwang reigned his dukedom into the eighth year, the Chu Dukedom posed a military threat to him. Weiwang, as the ruler of the Qi Dukedom, named Chunyu Kun emissary to the Chao Dukedom, to send for defending forces. Weiwang then equipped Chunyu Kun with one-hundred jins (a measure unit; one jin at that time equals to 300 mg or more) of gold and 10 four-horse carriages as gifts for Chao. Chunyu Kun laughed so hard that his laughing ripped his hat ribbons apart. At this, Weiwang said, "My counsellor, do you think my offer is meager?" Chunyu answered, "How dare I?" "Why then you laughed?" asked Weiwang. Chunyu replied, "On my way here from the east, I saw someone pray by the road. With a pork leg and a pot of wine, the prayer went, 'May ample harvest come from barren grounds; may bountiful harvest come from flooded fields; may all crops come ripe and rich; may my house and barns be extravagantly filled.' I laughed simply because he offered so little but asked for so much." Hearing this, Weiwang then added one thousand yis (yi is a measure unit equals to apporximately 2 jins) of gold, ten pairs of royal jadeware, one hundred of four-horse carriages. With all these, Chunyu bade Wenwang farewell and left for Chao. In exchange, Chao launched an army of one hundred thousand best soldiers and one thousand warring chariots. When this information came to Chu, Duke Chu withdrew his invading army overnight.

*威王八年，楚大發兵加齊。齊王使淳于髡之趙請救兵，齎(ji1)金百(bo2)斤，車(jü1)馬十駟。淳于髡仰天大笑， 冠(guan1)纓索絕。王曰：「先生少之乎？」髡曰：「何敢！」王 曰：「笑豈有說乎？」髡曰：「今者臣從東方來，見道傍有禳(rang2)田者，操一豚蹄，酒一盂，祝曰：『甌窶(ou1lou2)滿篝(gou1)，汙邪(wu1ye2)滿車，五穀蕃熟(shu2)，穰穰(rang2)滿家。』 臣見其所持者狹而所欲者奢，故笑之。」於是齊威王乃益齎黃金千溢，白璧十雙，車馬百駟。髡辭而行，至趙。趙王與之精兵十萬，革車千乘(sheng4)。楚聞之，夜引兵而去。
**The original paragraph in Chinese is taken from: Sima Qian. Ed. Han Zhaoqi. New Translation Shiji. vol.VIII. Taipei: Sanmin, 2008. 4941. (司馬遷. 韓兆琦 注譯. 新譯史記, 第八冊. 臺北市：三民, 2008. 4941頁. ISBN: 978-95-14-5001-8). All translation is based upon the text and annotations thereof (4943-4944).
***All translation is mine.

Biographies of Jesters (滑稽列傳 Guji Liezhuan) Part Two

Paragraph 2: Chunyu Kun (淳于髡) (1/3)

Chunyu Kun, a man who wived in Qi the Dukedom and stayed, was short in height (no more than 7 Zhou feet, i.e., 162cm) but eloquent in speech. He set out many times as an emissary to other dukedoms; he never for once yielded himself or his dukedom to any humiliation. In reign was Qi Weiwang, a duke who enjoyed riddles. In the early years of his reign, Weiwang lusted for carnal pleasures and often feasted late into the night. Such indulgence of his took over all obligations due a ruler. His courtiers had to manage a dukedom without a duke at court. The court then fell into disorder and the land began to fall into the hands of other dukes. The future of Qi hung by a  thread. It appeared that the dukedom was about to meet its doom. Even so, none of Weiwang's courtiers durst to utter a word of admonition. Chunyu Kun then made an attempt in his riddle. "There in this dukedom is a bird," he said, "enormous in size, perching upon your palace; for three full years, it neither flipped a wing nor made a sound. I wonder if Your Highness know what bird this is." Weiwang then replied, "This bird rarely flies, but once it does, it reaches the zenith; this bird hardly sings, but once it does, it takes people by surprise." Upon these words, Weiwang convened all his 72 magistrates from around the dukedom. He executed one and rewarded one. With order restored and discipline demanded, Weiwang readied an army to defend his territory. For fear of him, the dukes returned every piece of land they took from Qi. It then became one of the most powerful dukedoms among them all and so it remained for 36 years.  This is recorded in, "House of Wan" (i.e., "House of Tian Jingzhong" 田敬仲世家, one of the 30 volumes of  "Biographies of the Feudal Houses and Eminent Persons" 世家 in The Records of the Grand Historian ).

*淳于髡者，齊之贅婿也。長不滿七尺，滑稽多辯，數(shuo4)使諸侯，未嘗屈辱。齊威王之時喜隱，好為淫樂長夜之飲，沈湎不治，委政卿大夫。百(bo2)官荒亂，諸侯並侵，國且危亡，在於旦暮，左右莫敢諫。淳于髡說(shui4)之以隱曰：「國中有大鳥，止王之庭，三年不蜚(fei1)又不鳴，王知此鳥何也？」王曰：「此鳥不飛則已，一飛沖天；不鳴則已，一鳴驚人。」於是乃朝諸縣令長七十二人，賞一人，誅一人，奮兵而出。諸侯振驚，皆還齊侵地。威行三十六年。語在《田完世家》中。

**The original paragraph in Chinese is taken from: Sima Qian. Ed. Han Zhaoqi. New Translation Shiji. vol.VIII. Taipei: Sanmin, 2008. 4941. (司馬遷. 韓兆琦 注譯. 新譯史記, 第八冊. 臺北市：三民, 2008. 4941頁. ISBN: 978-95-14-5001-8). All translation is based upon the text and annotations thereof (4942-4943).

***All translation is mine.

Biographies of Jesters (滑稽列傳 Guji Liezhuan) Part One

Paragraph One: Preface

Confucius says, “All books of The Six Arts (Liuyi) share one common goal—the making of great leadership. The Book of Etiquette teaches moderation; The Book of Music hails harmony; Shangshu (尚書), a book of historical records, serves to hand down accounts of the ancient times; The Book of Poetry (or The Book of Odes) conveys human emotions; I Ching (易經; or The Book of Changes) turns ruling into art; Chunqiu, the chronicle of Lu (魯) the Dukedom, encourages justice and decency.” The Prefect of the Grand Scribes (i.e., Sima Qian, the Father of Chinese Historiography) says, “The world works in countless ways; there is no telling or teaching for each. A light-hearted talk may as well come to the point or settle a dispute.”

*孔子曰：「《六蓺》於治一也。《禮》以節人，《樂》(yue4)以發和(huo2)，《書》以道事，《詩》以達意，《易》以神化，《春秋》以義。」太史公曰：天道恢恢，豈不大哉！談言微中(zhong4)，亦可以解紛。
**The original paragraph in Chinese is taken from: Sima Qian. Ed. Han Zhaoqi. New Translation Shiji. vol.VIII. Taipei: Sanmin, 2008. 4939. (司馬遷. 韓兆琦 注譯. 新譯史記, 第八冊. 臺北市：三民, 2008. 4939頁. ISBN: 978-95-14-5001-8). All translation is based upon the text and annotations thereof (4939-4940).

***All translation is mine.

A Source Book of Literary and Philosophical Writings about Humour and Laughter

In Thankful Acknowledgment to Dr. Figueroa-Dorrego & Dr. Larkin-Galiñanes

As most of you perceptive blogviewers may have noticed, Dr. Jorge Figueroa-Dorrego and Dr. Cristina Larkin-Galiñanes' comprehensive anthology--A Source Book of Literary and Philosophical Writings about Humour and Laughter--has been the backbone of my blog and my first contact with the humor study up till now.

In chronological order, the Source Book is not only edited beginner-friendly but also academically exhaustive. It does help along my first navigation into the realm of humor and does equip me with a sense of direction in this study. Even in time of extreme fatigue, I'd like to re-read and share some passages from the Source Book by posting them intact without my own critique. Some examples among my blog posts, I believe, can best justify my act of sharing. The terse expressions, the pertinent choice of words, the classical attitude that speaks a modern mind...all these conspire together to egg me on to share their words and efforts.

This often leads to my beginning my blog post with a quasi-disclaimer, as long as I post  passages taken intact from the Source Book. Still, I have scruples. Until 10 days ago (January 10), my scruples were killed when I received a message. IT WAS FROM DR. FIGUEROA-DORREGO! He wrote to tell me I don't have to remove any article with his words in it. He believes more people can know about and hence benefit from the Source Book as a result. His reassuring and encouraging words are so rewarding to me in my first attempt at  humor study. I record here my warmest acknowledgments to him for his permission.

※ A note from Dr. Figueroa-Dorrego:

 http://alvindahn.blogspot.com/2011/01/lodovico-castelvetro-on-art-of-poetry.html#comments

※ A review of the Source Book:

 http://www.mellenpress.com/mellenpress.cfm?bookid=7805&pc=9

※ Dr. Figueroa-Dorrego's current projects at Universidade de Vigo:

http://webs.uvigo.es/angelestome/start.html

Translation Project: Biographies of Jesters (Guji Liezhuan 滑稽列傳) from The Record of the Grand Historian (Shiji 史記)

Picture joined with graphics taken from:
(upper left) 淳于髡 http://hanyu.iciba.com/wiki/342688.shtml;

(upper right) 西門豹 http://www.jpcai.com/Html/yuwen3_46_8368.html;

(lower left) 東方朔 http://www.epochtimes.com.au/b5/10/4/5/n2867151.htm;

(lower right) 優孟 http://bbs.voc.com.cn/archiver/tid-2031406-page-2.html.

January 18, 2011.

In the West, fools and jesters have enlivened numerous masterpieces of  literature; in the East, witty courtiers have dubbed the history with diverse humorous tones. While the former display the functions of humor in fiction, the latter have humor put to use in fact.

In Sima Qian's Shiji (史記), or The Record of the Grand Historian as often known in the West, a whole section is devoted to guji (滑稽), an equivalent for humor in Chinese (cf. http://alvindahn.blogspot.com/2010/09/sima-qian-biographies-of-jesters-or.html). This section is therefore entitled "Guji Liezhuan" (滑稽列傳), literally a series of biographies of the humorists, and is often translated into English as "Biographies of Jesters." Composed of biographies of seven witty historical figures, almost all directly related to the court, "Guji Liezhuan" actually comes in one single chapter instead of several. With its paragraphs echoing each other, a figure can be depicted in one paragraph as the main character and later mentioned in another as a contrast. A clear-cut separation of one specific humorous figure from another is impossible.

Because a translation of "Guji Liezhuan" is often requested, and because a complete, fully annotated on-line version is hard to find, I decided to come up with my own translation, neither because I am confident nor because I am competent, but because there is a need and I am, as a student of humor, obliged. My translation will come in the original paragraphing in case of any misunderstanding or mistakes. All text will be covered in the hope of a faithful, complete translation.

The seven humorists, or jesters, are (in Guji Liezhuan's original order): Chunyu Kun (淳于髡), You Meng (優孟 ), You Zhan (優旃), Guo Sheren (郭舍人), Dongfang Shuo (東方朔), Wang Xiansheng (王先生), and Ximen Bao (西門豹).* The annotated Chinese edition of Shiji my work of translation relies on will be:
司馬遷. 韓兆琦 注譯. 新譯史記, 第八冊. 臺北市：三民, 2008. (ISBN: 978-95-14-5001-8)
(Sima Qian. Ed. Han Zhaoqi. New Translation Shiji. vol.VIII. Taipei: Sanmin, 2008.)

*It is to be noted that some of these names are part name and part title, or part name and part honorific address. Instead of giving a detailed explanation to each, I shall explain later in the annotation to the first-mentioned paragraph.

Lodovico Castelvetro: On the Art of Poetry (1570)

Picture taken from "Dizionario del pensiero cristiano alternativo." ERESIE.IT.

http://www.eresie.it/it/id574.htm. January 8, 2011.

※ The following is taken intact from Figueroa-Dorrego & Larkin-Galiñanes's book, A Source Book of Literary and Philosophical Writings about Humour and Laughter (Lewiston, Queenston, Lampeter: The Edwin Mellen Press, 2009. 198-200), without any of my personal critique. This blog post is therefore subject to immediate removal upon notice. ※

[...] as he [Castelvetro] intends to search for the proper kind of ludicrous matter for comedy, he believes that "the proper objects for comedy to imitate are stupid or (end of Page 198) ugly persons who are neither harmed nor pained by their stupidity or ugliness." In his analysis of the risible, Castelvetro asserts that "[l]aughter is provoked by pleasurable things apprehended by the senses or the imagination," and that these may be divided into four classes. The first has nothing to do with humour, because it is the laughter produced by the pleasure of meeting beloved people again after a long absence or by the recovery of valuable things. The second type of "pleasurable things" that raise laughter is a recurrent humoristic device in comedy: deception. The reason Castelvetro gives for the pleasure caused by the representation of deceit is that the original sin corrupted our nature so much that we delight in the ills of others as we do in our own good fortune.

And no human ills delight us more than those which proceed from the faculty peculiar to man, namely, the reason; for when others are deceived in our presence we assume that we are superior to them, and superior in the very faculty which makes man akin to God and sets him far above all other creatures. (On the Art of Poetry)

Castelvetro's explanation of why people laugh when others are deceived is not, therefore, very different from that given by what will later be called the Superiority Theory of Humour. Yet Castelvetro expands on the subject and distinguishes four kinds of deception, depending on whether it is produced by: 1) ignorance, drunkenness, dreams, or delirium; 2) self-ignorance; 3) unexpected turns; or 4) machinations or chance; which is a quite good classification of the different kinds of deceits that produce risible situations in comedy.

The third category of things that give us pleasure and provoke our laughter are wickedness of soul and physical deformity. As this may sound bizarre, Castelvetro explains that it is so due to, once again, the original sin, which has made us take pleasure in the defects of others, because it contributes to our self-esteem, pride, and joy. However, we only laugh when the defects are somehow disguised and we can attribute our laughter to something else, because we are aware that such pleasure is opprobrious. And, finally, the fourth class of pleasurable things that raise laughter are sexual issues. As these lewd comments (end of Page 199) or situations are shameful, we again only laugh at them if they are somehow hidden or we are unobserved by others. Therefore, Castelvetro considers laughter too related to sinful matters, such as deception, wickedness, arrogance, and obscenity not to be kept in check. His attitude to humour then is not too different from that of Plato, the Church Fathers, the Puritans, or Hobbes. He lists many topics that may produce laughter in comedies, but ignores many other issues and devices that were pointed out by rhetoricians and that were common in contemporary plays such as mistaken identities, the conflict between appearance and reality, misunderstanding, rhetorical and dramatic irony, linguistic humour, and so on.

-- Figueroa-Dorrego, Jorge and Cristina Larkin-Galiñanes. A Source Book of Literary and Philosophical Writings about Humour and Laughter: The Seventy-Five Essential Texts from Antiquity to Modern Times. Lewiston, Queenston, Lampeter: The Edwin Mellen Press, 2009. 198-200. ISBN-13: 978-0-7734-4730-1; ISBN-10: 0-7734-4730-X.