What is "pun"

Pun is a common rhetorical device. In a certain language environment, with the help of phonetic or semantic connections, a sentence is related to two things at the same time. This rhetorical method in which the words are here and the intention is there is called pun.

Shi Zhongli was a foreign minister in the Song Dynasty. He and several friends went to the imperial garden to see the lions. One of the soldiers lamented: "The imperial court feeds this lion meat every day. We officials are not as good as lions!" Shi Zhongli said: "Of course, our official title is Yuanwailang (homophone for "yuanwailang"). "Wolf"), how can it be compared with the lion in the imperial garden?

"Yuanwailang" is a homophonic pronunciation of "Yuanwailang", which refers to both Yuanwailang and the wolf outside the garden. The lions in the garden are in contrast, humorous, playful and interesting.

This kind of pun formed by the homophonic relationship (same or close pronunciation) of words is called homophonic pun.

Monkey Death. Later, he went to see the King of Hell and asked to be a human being in the next life.

The King of Hell said: "If you want to be a human being, you must remove all the hair on your body. "So he called the kid over and plucked his hair. After he had just plucked one hair, the monkey screamed in pain. The King of Hell said, "Look at you, how can you be a human being if you don't pluck even one hair? ”

This joke is based on a fable, satirizing extremely stingy and selfish people who make a fortune without doing anything for it. At the end, it raises a sharp question of “How can I be a human being?”

The literal meaning of "不pluck out a hair" is to describe being extremely stingy and selfish. This joke has two meanings: on the surface, it pretends to be scolding the monkey for refusing to pull out a hair; in fact, it means. Used to satirize extremely stingy and selfish people.

This kind of pun formed by the polysemy of words is called semantic pun.

Here Baoyu said again: "No need to iron it. I only like to eat cold food. "Aunt Xue said: "This can't be done; my writing hand is shaking after eating cold wine. Baochai said with a smile: "Brother Bao, thanks to you collecting the miscellaneous things at home every day, don't you know that wine is the hottest in nature. If you eat it hot, it will disperse quickly; if you eat it cold, it will condense inside." Wouldn't it be harmful to warm him with his five internal organs? It hasn’t changed since then. Stop eating that cold food. "Baoyu heard what he said was reasonable, so he put down the cold drink and asked someone to boil it before drinking.

Daiyu licked the melon seeds and just smiled with her lips pursed. But by chance Daiyu's maid Xueyan left Come to give Daiyu a small hand stove. Daiyu asked her with a smile: "Who asked you to bring it?" It's hard to worry about him. ——It’s so cold there!” Xue Yanqian said, “Sister Zijuan was afraid that the girl would be cold, so she asked me to bring her. Daiyu took it, held it in her arms, and said with a smile: "Thank you for listening to her!" What I usually say to you is ignored. Why do you obey him faster than the imperial edict? When Baoyu heard this, he knew it was Daiyu who was taunting him, so he had no reply, so he just laughed. Just for a while. (Chapter 8 of "A Dream of Red Mansions")

In a passage Daiyu said to Xueyan, "you" superficially refers to Xueyan, but actually refers to Baoyu; "he" superficially refers to Zicuckoo, but actually refers to Zicuckoo. Baochai is a pun. But it is different from the homophonic puns and semantic puns mentioned above. Instead, it uses the different relationships between characters in a special language environment to point at the bald man and scold the blind man. This type of pun can be called innuendo pun.

It is said that the Qing Dynasty scholar Jin Shengtan gave his son a couplet before his execution: Lotus seeds are bitter in the heart, and pear seeds are sour in the abdomen. Literally, "Lotus" and "Pear" refer to the two fruits, and the nicknames of Jin Shengtan's two sons are "Lotus" and "Pear". "Lotus" and "Pity" have the same pronunciation, and "Pear" has the same pronunciation as "Li'er". This couplet was written before execution to express the miserable and sorrowful mood of loving and pitying one's children. This is a "pun" involving three aspects.

Pun is a traditional rhetorical method in Chinese. Proper use of puns, where the words are here and the meaning is there, is the magic of killing two birds with one stone. Sometimes it is humorous and interesting; sometimes it is euphemistic, subtle and thought-provoking.