Collection of Jokes

AnonymousThe Commercial Press · ChinaJun 2024

2.5

Word count: 6.4K words
Chapters: 25

Summary

A: Your inn has only a little over a hundred beds, yet a hundred thousand people came last year. That's astonishing. B: What's so strange about that? The vast majority just took one look and left.

Editor's review

This Joke Collection is made up of short dialogues and everyday anecdotes. The pieces are brief and the language plain, with humor arising from contrasts and misunderstandings in conversation, showing folk humor in its unadorned form. The selected examples center on inn lodging scenes and close with exaggerated numbers and light twists. They are easy to read, require no complex background, and suit dipping into in spare moments. Their value lies in offering a humorous angle on the gaps in daily life and in serving as samples of how folk jokes are expressed. This edition reproduces the original Commercial Press printing from the Republican era, carrying the linguistic flavor of old publications, so readers can sense the joke taste of a different age. There is no need to follow a continuous plot; casual browsing is enough. For research or teaching, note the dialogue structure, exaggeration, and colloquial style, and compare with other joke texts. Overall, this is a small volume for leisure reading and piecemeal appreciation, suited to commuting and breaks, and also a lightweight source of folk language material.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Casual readers who enjoy short jokes and light reading
People who want easy reading on commutes or in spare moments
Readers interested in folk language and old publications
Those who need humorous material for spoken-expression practice

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking long plots and in-depth literary analysis
Readers expecting systematic joke theory or academic research
Readers uncomfortable with old-fashioned language and typography

Reading tips

No need to read straight through; open to any piece and read a few sections.
Pause at amusing points to savor the dialogue structure and the use of contrast and exaggeration.
For speaking practice, try retelling a joke and adjusting the tone, observing how the effect changes.
Read alongside other joke texts of the same period to compare subjects and techniques.

About the publisher

The Commercial Press China · Founded in 1897

"Republic-era Commercial Press Original Editions" refers to original books printed by The Commercial Press during the Republican period, not a separate publishing house. Judging from the 300 titles held in the collection, its publishing focus centers on classical poetry and lyrics, literary appreciation, classic works, military texts, prose and miscellaneous writings, and Eastern philosophy. Representative titles include Wang Guowei's Renjian Cihua, Zhong Rong's Shipin, the lyric collections of Xin Qiji and Liu Yong, Sun Wu's The Art of War, and Lü Buwei's Xianshi Lan. Its author resources are mainly classical writers, together with modern scholars such as Li Jingbang and Guo Huaruo, whose collations and annotations are also represented, giving the list a character centered on original texts while attending to annotation and appreciation. Public information on the precise Republican-era catalog and printings is limited; this overview is based only on the titles held in the collection.

版权信息
笑话（一）
笑话（二）
笑话（三）
笑话（四）
笑话（五）
笑话（六）
笑话（七）
笑话（八）
笑话（十）
笑话（十一）
笑话（十二）
笑话（十三）
笑话（十四）
笑话（十五）
笑话（十六）
笑话（十七）
笑话（十八）
笑话（十九）
笑话（二十）
笑话（二十一）
笑话（二十二）
笑话（二十三）
笑话（二十四）
笑话（二十五）

FAQ

What is the style of the jokes in this book?

Mostly short dialogues and everyday scenes, with humor created by exaggerated numbers, misunderstandings, and light twists. The language is plain, the pieces are brief, and they carry the simple charm of folk jokes and the colloquial flavor of an older era.

Is it suitable for reading in one sitting?

Not really. A joke collection is better browsed in fragments, a few pieces at a time to keep them fresh. Reading straight through can tire you out from the density of the humor and actually weaken the pleasure.

What should I watch for when reading the Republican-era original edition?

Note the old-style typesetting, character usage, and expressions of the time; some wording differs from today's speech. Where something is unclear, use the context to make sense of it rather than judging it by modern standards.

Comments

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About the author

Anonymous Author

Anonymous is not a real personal name but a general Chinese designation for authors whose names are unknown, lost, or unsigned. Neither nationality nor dates of birth and death can be verified, and available public information is limited, so the works attributed to this name are the only basis for description. The collection holds 2,078 works under Anonymous, spanning medicine, classics, historical readings, ancient poetry, classical literature, and philosophy. Representative works include The Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon: Lingshu, Mencius, The Book of Documents, Nineteen Old Poems, Complete Song Ci, and The Peacock Flies Southeast. Most of these works took shape through long transmission and editing, emerging either from collective folk creation or from authors whose names were lost over time. In ancient China, the Book of Songs, the Great Learning, and many popular storybooks and plays were signed Anonymous because their authors could not be traced. Anonymous works cross the classics, histories, philosophical writings, medical texts, and poetry; their subjects are broad, and their styles vary from archaic simplicity to clear naturalness, making them important and influential sources for understanding ancient Chinese thought, medicine, and literature.