This is Randi Hacker with another Postcard from Abroad from the KU Center for East Asian Studies.

In the US, it’s all about gun control. Here in China, it’s all about pun control. First there was the government official corruption and overspending crackdown and now there’s the pun crackdown. In an effort to prevent “cultural and linguistic chaos,” by which is meant conceal and carry criticism of the government on the internet, China is banning wordplay. In a language that is homophone heavy, puns and word play are a glorious tradition. So many superstitions and blessings are based on words that have similar sounds. For example, the word for arrive, dao, sounds just like the word for upside down, dao, and so hanging the character for prosperity on your door upside is the equivalent of asking prosperity to arrive. See how it works? There are thousands of examples of this type of wordplay in Chinese history. Pun control? Or fun control? Probably both.

From the KU Center for East Asian Studies, this is Randi Hacker. Wish you were here.