ENTERTAINMENT / Hot Pot Column
Why Chinese humor is so damn funny
By Patrick Whiteley (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-01-18 21:52
I enjoy reading Hot Pot columnist Wang Xiaofang's pertinent observations
on modern Chinese society but yesterday my learned colleague made the
bizarre claim that Chinese people do not have a sense of humor.
Wang, you've got to be kidding?
Chinese are hilarious and have been making the world laugh for ages. One
of the funniest books I have ever read was penned by a Chinese man 500
years ago. Journey to the West by Wu Cheng'en is a marvelous mix of
folk-lore, allegory, religion, history and anti-bureaucratic satire. The
story is about a monkey who leads a monk, a pig and fish to India to
retrieve Buddha's scrolls in an effort to find enlightenment.
Monkey is a boastful genius who offends every monster or deity he meets.
His standard greeting is: "I suppose you want to fight me, don't you?"
Then he thrashes them senseless. In the early 1980s, my brother and I
watched the English version of the Monkey TV series every day after
school. The ridiculous antics of this ancient Chinese comedy traveled
through time and space and had us Aussie kids in stitches. Pigsy was my
brother's favorite. The porker only wanted to eat banquets and chase
pretty girls. For about a year, my brother and his little mates called
themselves "Pigsy!"
I re-read the Wu classic recently and it's even funnier 25 years later.
When monkey finally reaches India, Buddha's scroll keepers demand a
bribe. Monkey refuses, so the corrupt officials give him blank paper. The
pilgrims cannot understand why Buddha would employ such rogues. "As a
matter of fact," Buddha says to them, "blank scrolls such as these are
the true scriptures." That Buddha always gets the best punch lines.
Fast forward 500 years and Stephen Chow's Kung Fu Hustle keeps the
Chinese chuckles coming. His movie has magic, monsters, and just like in
Monkey, lots of nonsense too. In one scene, Chow's side-kick throws
butter knives at a crazy woman and the blunt blades keep bouncing off the
walls and landing in Chow's body. It happens three times, and each time
is funnier than the last. Simple gags are the best gags.
Wang claimed Chow's exaggerated style was an example why the Chinese do
not have much of a sense of humor (I'm presuming Wang is exempting
himself from this sweeping generalization). It's kind of ironic, that
someone such as Wang, who is renowned as an online funny guy, can be so
damn serious and critical about everybody else's humor. That's not very
funny Wang.
One fact we all know of is that the Chinese sense of humor did not
coincide with blogging.
I'm sure Peking Man who lived in the capital 400,000 years ago chuckled
when he saw his buddy slip on a banana peel.
Laughter is a timeless joy and is not limited by race or even age.
A friend told me about his 8-year-old son's outrageous prank. He asked
his boy to take a picture of something funny. The boy ran away with a
digital camera in hand and soon returned with a big grin. The cheeky boy
had taken a picture of his bottom. Father and son looked at the picture
and laughed themselves silly.
A sense of humor, my dear Wang, is a matter of opinion and to paraphrase
Clint Eastwood, my favorite Hollywood comedian: "Opinions are like
bottoms, everybody's got one."
(China Daily 01/18/2007 page20)
Top Entertaiment News
� Paris Hilton's private items sold on Internet
� Universal music downloads for all players long way off
� Alba and Cruise team up for horror film
� Lil' Oscars: Breslin, 10, wins nom
� Spears and Cohen still going strong
Today's Top News
� Darfur on the agenda for Hu's Sudan visit
� Former drug head faces graft probe
� Mineral finds take pressure off imports
� Neighbors to help tidy up Beijing's air
� China set to curb foreign waste imports
Most Commented/Read Stories in 48 Hours
Learn Chinese, Chinese language, Learning Materials, Mandarin audio lessons, Chinese writing lessons, Chinese vocabulary lists, About chinese characters, News in Chinese, Go to China, Travel to China, Study in China, Teach in China, Dictionaries, Learn Chinese Painting, Your name in Chinese, Chinese calligraphy, Chinese songs, Chinese proverbs, Chinese poetry, Chinese tattoo, Beijing 2008 Olympics, Mandarin Phrasebook, Chinese editor, Pinyin editor, China Travel, Travel to Beijing, Travel to Tibet
No comments:
Post a Comment