What kind of existence was a 'clown' historically?
The YouTube channel TED-Ed uses an animation to explain what kind of role clowns, which have strong images of clowns and playing cards' jokers, have played historically.
A clown is also known as a court jester , an entertainer hired by royalty and nobility in medieval Europe. However, court jesters are not limited to Europe.
The oldest known ``original clown'' is a man named You Shi who was active in China in the 7th century BC.
Clowns have long been more than just entertainers and performers; they have had a unique relationship with power. ``Farting Roland,'' a court jester who served King Henry II of England in the 12th century, always performed in front of the king and other powerful people at Christmas by jumping, whistling, and farting at the same time. It seems that it was.
In addition to performing uniquely in front of people in power, clowns are also known to have influenced important decisions. In
Not only were clowns capable of unique performances, but they were also gifted with words. It is recorded that a clown named Jin Xinmo, who served the Chinese emperor in the 10th century, was skilled at telling impromptu stories. There is an episode in which he angered the emperor by teasingly suggesting, 'You should wear one,' and then, without begging for his life, he made a joke that made the emperor laugh and was forgiven.
In another episode, when a local administrator asked the emperor to stop hunting through farmland because it would ruin the crops, the emperor became extremely angry and summoned the administrator to execute him. So Kagami Shinma jokingly asked the emperor, ``Instead of immediately executing the administrative officials and forcing the farmers to cultivate and pay taxes, why not just destroy their crops and starve to death because they have nothing to eat?'' When he proposed this, the emperor laughed at his joke, realized his foolishness, and forgave the administrator.
There are also records of European clowns being able to make recommendations to those in power. When a French man was sentenced to death in 1596, Maturine, one of the few recorded female clowns, led the man's wife to beg
However, clowns are not powerful beings who can speak to those in power, and it can be said that clowns have always been an existence bordering on danger. Clowns were often fired or even executed because their teasing and jokes went too far. Archie Armstrong, a clown who served the Archbishop of Scotland in 1638, asked the archbishop with whom he had a bad relationship, 'Who's the idiot?' when the archbishop's revised prayer book received a lot of backlash. As a result, he was disposed of by the imperial court. Three years after the Archbishop was arrested, a book was published that made a lot of fun of him, and it was said that they were so known for their tense relationship that it was rumored that it was Archie's doing.
On the other hand, there were also clowns who openly made fun of the powerful people in the imperial court but were not punished. In the 19th century, when the king of Persia asked if there was a shortage of food, the clown Karim Shirei teasingly replied, ``I'm sure there isn't. There is a record that he replied, ``I see that you haven't taken one.''
Even in an era when it was believed that rulers were appointed by God, some clowns told the truth to those in power in the form of jokes and riddles, and questioned who was truly stupid. There was also a case. Clowns were one of the few people who could interfere with those in power, always at risk of being kicked out of the court or sentenced to execution.
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