A pun is a type of joke that exploits a different possible meaning of a word: using a more professional term, puns are homophonic jokes. They are very common in Mandarin because Chinese is full of homonyms: words that sound the same but have different meanings. In ancient times, many Chinese words had very different pronunciations. However, throughout the very long years of the language development they have become the same in terms of pronunciation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the examples are: \u516c\u4e8b (g\u014dng sh\u00ec, public affairs), \u516c\u5f0f (\/g\u014dng sh\u00ec\/formula), \u5de5\u4e8b (g\u014dng sh\u00ec, fortifications), \u653b\u52bf (g\u014dng sh\u00ec, the offensive state). As you can see, they sound all the same, but their meaning is totally different. However, there is more to Chinese homonyms, because there are even more words that sound the same but have a different tone. Chinese speakers are aware of these differences and often joke about a word\u2019s different meaning once you alter its tone. For instance, there is \u5171\u8bc6 (g\u00f2ngsh\u00ed, compromise), \u5171\u4e8b (g\u00f2ngsh\u00ec, work together), \u5de5\u65f6(g\u014dngsh\u00ed, man-hour). As you can see, sky is the limit when it comes to finding homonyms in Mandarin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a very famous poem exploring the richness of Chinese homonyms. It was written in 1930s by a Chinese linguist Zhao Yuanren and is titled \u201cLion-eating poet in a Stone-den\u201d (\u65bd\u6c0f\u98df\u7345\u53f2, Sh\u012b Sh\u00ec sh\u00ed sh\u012b sh\u01d0). As you might have guessed already, the entire poem is based on only one word: shi. It goes as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u77f3\u5ba4\u8bd7\u58eb\u65bd\u6c0f\uff0c\u55dc\u72ee\uff0c\u8a93\u98df\u5341\u72ee\u3002<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u6c0f\u89c6\u662f\u5341\u72ee\uff0c\u6043\u77e2\u52bf\uff0c\u4f7f\u662f\u5341\u72ee\u901d\u4e16\u3002<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u77f3\u5ba4\u62ed\uff0c\u6c0f\u59cb\u8bd5\u98df\u662f\u5341\u72ee\u3002<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u98df\u65f6\uff0c\u59cb\u8bc6\u662f\u5341\u72ee\u5c38\uff0c\u5b9e\u5341\u77f3\u72ee\u5c38\u3002<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sh\u00edsh\u00ec sh\u012bsh\u00ec Sh\u012b Sh\u00ec, sh\u00ec sh\u012b, sh\u00ec sh\u00ed sh\u00ed sh\u012b.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sh\u00ec sh\u00ec sh\u00ec sh\u00ed sh\u012b, sh\u00ec sh\u01d0 sh\u00ec, sh\u01d0 sh\u00ec sh\u00ed sh\u012b sh\u00ecsh\u00ec.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sh\u00ec sh\u00ed sh\u00ec sh\u00ed sh\u012b sh\u012b, sh\u00ec sh\u00edsh\u00ec.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sh\u00edsh\u00ec sh\u012b, Sh\u00ec sh\u01d0 sh\u00ec sh\u00ec sh\u00edsh\u00ec.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sh\u00edsh\u00ec sh\u00ec, Sh\u00ec sh\u01d0 sh\u00ec sh\u00ed sh\u00ec sh\u00ed sh\u012b.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sh\u00ed sh\u00ed, sh\u01d0 sh\u00ed sh\u00ec sh\u00ed sh\u012b sh\u012b, sh\u00ed sh\u00ed sh\u00ed sh\u012b sh\u012b.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amazing, right? The most interesting part is that this poem would be barely understandable without Chinese characters; some people claim that it was written to prove that eliminating Chinese characters from everyday use would be a bad idea. Here you can see the English translation of the poem:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a stone den was a poet called Shi Shi, who was a lion addict, and had resolved to eat ten lions.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At ten o\u2019clock, ten lions had just arrived at the market.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

He saw those ten lions, and using his trusty arrows, caused the ten lions to die.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the stone den was wiped, he tried to eat those ten lions.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When he ate, he realized that these ten lions were in fact ten stone lion corpses.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, this subtitle is partially fake: the popularity of a pun depends on the region, the time, the person and so on. Think of it as of Internet memes: some are popular because they describe a specific situation, some are liked within a certain group of people, some are commonly used as part of traditions, some are just not funny. We have prepared a list of some puns, let\u2019s see if you like them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

F\u00fa d\u00e0o le \u2013 \u798f\u5230\u4e86 \u201cfortune has arrived\u201d and \u798f\u5012\u4e86 \u201cfortune is upside down\u201d. Ever wondered why some Chinese people put this sign upside-down on their home door? Now you know: it indicates the hopes for the good fortune to arrive at their house. It is commonly seen across China. <\/p>\n\n\n

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\u751f\u83dc (sh\u0113ngc\u00e0i, lettuce) and \u751f\u8d22 (sh\u0113ngc\u00e1i, make money): this one you need to know, because it is part of the Chinese New Year tradition. As you can see, having lettuce on your table during New Year\u2019s Eve indicates a hope for wealth and prosperity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u53d1\u83dc\u201d (f\u00e0c\u00e0i, Long Thread Moss) and \u201c\u53d1\u8d22\u201d (f\u0101c\u00e1i, Get Rich). Again, this thick black algae is a common dish on the New Year\u2019s Eve table because its name its homonymous to prosperity.<\/p>\n\n\n
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8 (b\u0101) and \u53d1(f\u0101) from \u53d1\u8d22. In Chinese culture, 8 became a lucky number because its pronunciation resembles getting rich.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4 (s\u00ec), on the other hand, is an unlucky number because its sound resembles \u6b7b (s\u01d0) which means “death”. Some people may actually avoid having “4” in their phone number! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, let\u2019s see some popular Internet playwords. In China, homonyms related to numbers are among the most popular because they are easiest to write.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
520 (w\u01d4 \u00e8r l\u00edng) means \u201cI love you\u201d, because its pronunciation is similar to \u6211\u7231\u4f60 (w\u01d2 \u00e0i n\u01d0, I love you). It is very well-known in China so some may say it is already a bit old. It also makes May 20^{th<\/sup> (5\/20) a day you may send a message expressing your love to somebody. May 20^{th<\/sup> became an online Valentine’s Day in China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n}}
If you want to be even more romantic, you can respond: 1314 (y\u012b s\u0101n y\u012b s\u00ec) what represents \u201cFor ever\u201d (y\u012bsh\u0113ng y\u012bsh\u00ec,\u4e00\u751f\u4e00\u4e16).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How about some actual puns (jokes)? There are plenty. If you know Chinese well enough, you can even make some. Take a look at this cartoon (its in traditional Chinese):<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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1. There was a Chinese man who was hungry for days. 2. So he learnt Chinese kong fu (\u7a7a\u8179 k\u014dngf\u00f9 means “empty stomach” but it sounds similar to kung fu, Chinese martial arts). <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Was it funny? How about this one (traditional characters again):<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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1. Why shouldn’t you ever provoke an orangutan in a zoo? 2. Because he knocks his chest (the joke is here: \u6572\u80f8 (qi\u0101oxi\u014dng) literally means beating one’s chest, but it sounds similar to \u8d85\u5147 (ch\u0101oxi\u014dng) what means “extremely fearful”. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Want to know more funny things in Chinese? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Check out some of our articles below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n