Feng Menglong's __Treasury of Laughs__: A Seventeenth-Century Anthology of Traditional Chinese Humour

In Treasury of Laughs Hsu Pi-ching reconstructs the Chinese original and provides the only complete annotated English translation of Feng Menglong's Xiaofu, a 17th-century anthology of traditional Chinese humour with rich historical, linguistic, psychological, and anthropological connotations. The Treasury of Laughs is a treasure house from which students of literature, linguistics, history, humanities, psychology, sociology, economy, philosophy, political science, religious studies, and cultural anthropology can all retrieve precious materials. Feng Menglong systematically collected and edited more than seven hundred humorous and witty skits that presented the entire spectrum of traditional Chinese jokes, divided them into thirteen thoughtful categories, and wrote satirical and ironical commentaries of great philosophical insight. The end product is a fine anthology that offers cynical caricatures of human follies from the cradle to the grave and reveals tension in all sectors of human societies and institutions. Hsu Pi-ching reconstructs the complete Ming Chinese original with meticulous editorial work, in modern punctuated typesetting, and provides the only complete English translation available, with useful footnotes on word plays, literary allusions, and historical background. Readers should find the introductory essays on the connections between humour and emotions/states of mind particularly illuminating The Treasury of Laughs is a treasure house for students of literature, psycholinguistics, history, sociology, and cultural anthropology. Feng Menglong systematically collected and edited 700-odd humourous skits that presented the entire spectrum of traditional Chinese jokes, and wrote commentaries of great philosophical insight. The anthology offers satirical caricatures of human follies from the cradle to the grave and reveals tension in all sectors of human societies and institutions. Hsu Pi-ching reconstructs the complete Ming Chinese original with meticulous editorial work, in modern punctuated typesetting, and provides the only complete English translation available, with useful footnotes on word plays, literary allusions, and historical background. Readers should find the introductory essays on the connections between humour and emotions/states of mind particularly illuminating.