Abstract
Humor in Chinese writing is an ever so important element perhaps as ancient as the history of Chinese literature itself. It was first presented, in the form of “banter poetry,” in the Book of Songs, as early as the Qin Dynasty. Over the centuries, traces of banter poetry could be found in the literary works of every dynasty. It eventually reached its peak in the Ming dynasty, a time when, ironically enough, the ruling class began to tighten its grip on the literary community that may question its authority, and many forms of classical writing went to decline. Interestingly, though its roots can be traced back to the earliest periods of Chinese literature, the classification of banter was not formally established until late Ming. In Hu Zhenheng’s literary collection Tang Yin Tong Qian, banter was finally identified as an actual genre of poetry. The significance of this unprecedented act would later be seen in the Qing Dynasty, when the imperial government under Emperor Kangxi accepted this view and put banter poetry as an official category of poetry, thus granting it legitimacy and literary value for the first time. What quality enabled banter poetry to flourish in the iron grip of the Ming government? Why, considering its essential role, was this form of humorous writing not widely recognized earlier on? The following paper presents a perspective through the “distinctions,” a popular trend for writers in the Ming Dynasty, and its influence on the evolution of banter poetry.