"The Witty Courtiers, Memoir 66"

The “Guji liezhuan” 滑稽列傳, Chapter 126 of the Shiji 史記, is among the last chapters of the category “traditions” (liezhuan) appearing in Sima Qian’s 司馬遷 (c. 145–c. 90 B.C.E.) work. In the history of Chinese literature it holds a peculiar position, because it has been interpreted as one of the main early sources to investigate the topic of “humour” in classical China. In fact, it contains several anecdotes in which the protagonists are jesters (you 優), in particular, it has been said that this chapter records their “humorous” speeches. Since these anecdotes are embedded in a text which has been considered, certainly not without reason, as “historical”, the chapter has not only been used as an historical source to analyse the figure of the court jester in ancient China, but also to investigate the beginning of Chinese drama, in which the jester is considered a key figure. The chapter presents the first annotated translation in a Western language of the "Guji liezhuan" and an essay that explains the meaning of the text.