The function of folk jokes

Folk jokes have social functions that cannot be ignored. Shi, editor of Laughing Well in Qing Dynasty, said: "Jokes wake people up", which can cure "chronic diseases" and is a "powerful medicine". It is an entertainment tool for the people and an ironic weapon in the struggle. Jokes can make clever struggles. Xi You was a joker in the pre-Qin period. When Chu Zhuangwang buried the horse as a doctor and ordered the remonstrator to behead it, Youmeng made Chu Zhuangwang realize his absurdity by joking. You Fang satirizes the painted walls of Qin Ershi, which is also an example. Under the pressure of Jiang Qing's counter-revolutionary clique, political jokes satirizing the Gang of Four and its lackeys spread like wildfire and were widely circulated among the people.

Most of the characters in folk jokes are the negative characters who are ridiculed and satirized, but there are also some positive characters who fight outside the negative characters, such as the two generations of Uighurs, Agudenba of Tibetans, Balagencang of Mongolians, Adan of Naxi, Jin Jia of Buyi, etc. They often put noble emperors, officials and rich people in the position of being laughed at and fooled, showing the wisdom and courage of the people.

However, some jokes play tricks on and laugh at the working people. Some show vulgar tastes, such as laughing at people with physical defects and promoting vulgar and obscene things. These are the dregs of jokes.