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Laughter in early China: The Zhuangzi and beyond

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 September 2021

Ai Yuan Open the ORCID record for Ai Yuan [Opens in a new window]
Ai Yuan*
Affiliation:
School of Humanities, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
*
yuanai@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn
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Abstract

Traditionally, in both East and West, laughter, and in particular its causes, have been studied under the category of humour. However, ideas on and practices of laughter itself have been largely ignored. This paper intends to lead readers beyond the topic of humour and focus on the act of laughter in the Zhuangzi as a starting point for the study of laughter in early China. It examines frequently ignored areas, such as how laughter draws readers into the text; how it functions to exclude people with different social value judgements; how it is used as a tool to challenge political power; how it serves rhetorical functions as a means to construct a conversation among people of different social or political status; and how it is used as an important signal and marker for a change of perspective. By examining questions such as: “What are the types of laughter?”, “What are the functions of laughter?”, and “How does laughter operate in different situations, and between different persons?” we can see a new idea of laughter in the Zhuangzi with multi-layered philosophical significance. Using the Zhuangzi as a case study, we can envision a series of well-crafted, intentional practices of laughter for various purposes throughout early Chinese texts.

Keywords

LaughterHumourZhuangziEarly China
Type
Article
Information
Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies , Volume 84 , Issue 2 , June 2021 , pp. 321 - 340
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of SOAS University of London

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Footnotes

1

This article is an interim result of the National Social Science Fund Junior Project 國家社會科學基金青年項目, under the programme name Zhuangzi mingyun guan de kua wenhua yanjiu 莊子命運觀的跨文化研究 (Program Number: 20CZX025). I am indebted to Albert Galvany, Bernhard Fuehrer, Barend ter Haar, Carine Defoort, Christoph Harbsmeier, Dirk Meyer, Jacqueline Louie, Josephine Khu, Mercedes Valmisa, Michael Schapers, Rens Krijgsman, and two reviewers for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of this article.

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