Jokes on the Four Books: Cultural criticism in early modern China
type: CreativeWork
description: Jokes were considered low and insignificant in traditional Chinese literature. Ssu-shu hsiao is witty and provocative, different from other conventional and contemporary jestbooks for its parodic relationship with the Four Books, which were the core-texts of Neo-Confucianism and civil service examinations. The purpose of this study is to examine the late Ming jestbook, Ssu-shu hsiao, and analyze its cultural value, sociopolitical implications, and psychological concepts. This dissertation is divided into four chapters. Chapter one contains two important parts: It establishes the ground of historical studies relevant to the significance of the Four Books and Five Classics as well as the tradition of humor and jest. Part two provides an introduction of the text Ssu-shu hsiao and a description of my interpretive strategy. In order to help the reader understand the Chinese and Western theories of humor and literary tropes related to Ssu-shu hsiao, I direct my discussion to the following issues: imitation, allusion, quotation, parody, intertextuality, and paradox. Through the comparison between Ssu-shu hsiao and two other contemporary jestbooks, Hsien-hsien p'ien and Hsiao-fu, we can understand that the jokes of the late Ming were considered as public property used by people regardless of authorship. Chapter two investigates jokes in relation to the civil service examinations. Through examination books in the bookmarkets, we know the commercialized texts available for the prospective examinees; such a cultural phenomenon sheds light on the derailing of educational function from the level of self-cultivation to that of profit-making. The downward transformation of intellectual status from the Sung dynasty to the Ming resulted from defects in various factors. Jokes concerning the examination consisted of those making fun of the forms and contents of the eight-legged essays. The methods that enable one to become an expert of this type of prose include the memorization of th…
abstract: Jokes were considered low and insignificant in traditional Chinese literature. Ssu-shu hsiao is witty and provocative, different from other conventional and contemporary jestbooks for its parodic relationship with the Four Books, which were the core-texts of Neo-Confucianism and civil service examinations. The purpose of this study is to examine the late Ming jestbook, Ssu-shu hsiao, and analyze its cultural value, sociopolitical implications, and psychological concepts. This dissertation is divided into four chapters. Chapter one contains two important parts: It establishes the ground of historical studies relevant to the significance of the Four Books and Five Classics as well as the tradition of humor and jest. Part two provides an introduction of the text Ssu-shu hsiao and a description of my interpretive strategy. In order to help the reader understand the Chinese and Western theories of humor and literary tropes related to Ssu-shu hsiao, I direct my discussion to the following issues: imitation, allusion, quotation, parody, intertextuality, and paradox. Through the comparison between Ssu-shu hsiao and two other contemporary jestbooks, Hsien-hsien p'ien and Hsiao-fu, we can understand that the jokes of the late Ming were considered as public property used by people regardless of authorship. Chapter two investigates jokes in relation to the civil service examinations. Through examination books in the bookmarkets, we know the commercialized texts available for the prospective examinees; such a cultural phenomenon sheds light on the derailing of educational function from the level of self-cultivation to that of profit-making. The downward transformation of intellectual status from the Sung dynasty to the Ming resulted from defects in various factors. Jokes concerning the examination consisted of those making fun of the forms and contents of the eight-legged essays. The methods that enable one to become an expert of this type of prose include the memorization of th…
author: Huang, Ching-Sheng, 1952-
language: en_US
keywords: Literature, Asian., Anthropology, Cultural., History, Ancient.
date published: 1998
date modified: 2026-07-24T00:55:10Z
provider: University of Arizona
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: The University of Arizona.

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/10150/288885