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JOKES ON THE HUMAN BODY FROM FENG MENGLONG’S TREASURY OF LAUGHS

Abstract  Stressing the interdependence of linguistic, physical, and moral dignity, Confucian decorum warns against jests with either words or body. Therefore, truncating the body parts for comic effects is a significant breakage of the social and cultural taboos of a Confucian society. This paper selects twenty-five jokes on the human body from Feng Menglong’s (1574-1646) Xiaofu (Treasury of Laughs) to showcase the great array of Ming humorous materials that, through an inverse of the established rules of the “solemn” human body, deconstruct and reconstruct the social body. I divide them into twelve categories: Literary parody, Political satire, Social criticism, Philosophical parable, Gallows humor, Physical disabilities, Stature shortcomings, Male sexual bodies, Female sexual bodies, Inappropriate uses of the sense organs, Homosexuality, and Children’s sexual jokes. Although the jokes push the limit of civility a bit, and some are indeed quite off-color, most of them are not terribly politically incorrect even against today’s standard. They are pretty good indices of Ming sentiments, anxieties, and morals. Breaking many political and cultural taboos, they help to release tension and construct a healthier society by therapeutically discharging fear and anxiety.