Collecting Stories to Entertain

Tales of Simpletons and Literati from the Xiaolin (Forest of Laughs)

Bibliographic Data

ID20354584
AuthorsGiulia Baccini (corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume73
Issue2
Pages395-427
Publication date2025-07-03
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueMonumenta Serica (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0254-9948 • E-ISSN: 2057-1690
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/02549948.2025.2570979
OpenAlexW7108205711
LanguageEN
References cited35

The Xiaolin (Forest of Laughs), traditionally ascribed to Handan Chun (fl. 220), is considered the earliest collection of jokes in the history of Chinese literature. Most of its anecdotes, retrieved from later sources (mainly the Taiping guangji and the Taiping yulan), present narrative features similar to the illustrative examples found in the works of the Masters, while a few stories are reminiscent of the anecdotes about literati gathered in anthologies (such as the Shishuo xinyu) and recorded in the biographical sections of official histories. However, as the title Xiaolin suggests, its stories were probably collected more for entertainment purposes than to convey didactic messages or historical information. Since the status of the Xiaolin as the first work of its kind is well known but its contents are not equally familiar, this article aims to provide an overview of its narratives, highlighting the features that link the text to early and early medieval collections of anecdotes. It also aims to identify the humor within its narratives and to address the issue of the “genre” to which this text could be affiliated

China · Entertainment · Narrative · Narrative history · Official history · Chinese history and philosophy · Hong Kong and Taiwan Politics · Japanese History and Culture

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