cashew | Funny Chinese word-play

Sorry, just had to share this story about Chinese nerds insulting each other. XD

TL;DR — 纪晓岚 (a historical ~~nerd~~ calligrapher) was pressured by the prime minister 和珅 for a calligraphy scroll. Since the man despised 和珅, he chose to write "竹苞". The surface meaning is "lots of bamboo", the metaphorical meaning is "highly educated" (bamboo is a metaphor for education because originally books were written on bamboo strips and brush pens are made of bamboo stalks). However, splitting the characters into their components, you get "个个艹包", which becomes "个个草包" (艹 is the radical form of 草). The meaning of 个个草包 is "everyone is a bag of grass" or, metaphorically, "a family of idiots".

LOL

And speaking of Chinese nerds, did you know Chinese emperors who liked poetry too much tend to be the ones that destroy their dyansty? (Turn on English subtitles if you don't understand Chinese.) There's apparently a slew of historical texts that bitched about emperors spending too much time playing around with poetry and music, and not enough time spent on dealing with the Realpolitik. Too much time being a nerd, not enough time being a socialized political leader. XD Ancient Chinese people complained about some really weird things.

(Unsolicited plug: I quite like Frank贾's channel, as he focuses on explaining history in relation to the popular period dramas that are airing and corrects some of the popular misconceptions that plague current pop culture regarding Chinese history. He also makes funny asides and commentary when discussing the attitudes of ancient people in a modern context, without being disparaging about the ancient people's achievements. I wouldn't say he's the final authority, but I think he does a good job of staying mostly even handed.)