Humor in The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons (continued)

In “Xieyin(諧讔)” (Chapter 15), the paragraph on humor opens with a definition:

“Humor in words resorts to common understanding.
    Its wording is lucid to all
    And the humor in it tickles all”
   (“諧之言皆也;辭淺會俗,皆悅笑也.”).

It is followed by various examples from Chinese history to justify, not the definition, but the function of humor and humoristic discourse. Liu Xie later comments that it is pardonable “even if there are twists and turns in words which aim to serve a righteous cause” (辭雖傾回,意歸義正也.). Humor, when otherwise exercised, constitutes nothing but “a scornful language and an insolent attitude” (詆嫚媟弄). To conclude, when humor is worded and put to use, not in a good cause which justifies the unusual use of language, it merely produces a foul language that frustrates the moral purpose of rhetoric” (“曾是莠言,有虧德音”). The paragraph on yin is likewise developed and structured.

Liu Xie’s viewpoint of humor in The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons reveals a strong teleological streak. Humor, after all, arises from an anomaly of language. This anomaly is allowed only when it serves a moral, righteous cause. It is almost a necessary evil that comes in handy when an official approach fails. Humor proceeds from where a moral purpose prevails. Humor is deemed a peripheral device, an alternative means, a tool, to do justice. It is “allowed flexibility” under certain circumstances, but it is not encouraged in its own end without a moral purpose. Humor is, to Liu Xie, teleological, or purpose-oriented.