郭尚賢嘗云服餌導引之餘有二事，乃養生大要，梳頭、浴腳是也。尚賢每夜先髮後腳方寢，自曰：“梳頭浴腳長生事，臨臥之時小太平。” Guo Shangxian once suggested that, in addition to taking medicine and practising gymnastics, there are another two crucial matters for cultivating one’s life: hair-combing and foot-bathing. Every night, he would not rest before [attending to] his hair and then his feet. As he remarked: Combing hair and bathing feet are to cultivate longevity: A grain of serenity at the moment of repose.   * From Tao Gu 陶穀  (903-970

An unusual incident from the Tang dynasty

A joke from the Ming dynasty.

An autumn delight.

A fly-fighting story.

An idiosyncratic solution to the summer heat.

From Feng Menglong's Xiaofu 笑府.

Starting 5th May 2025

Just a funny little story.

An anecdote from Feng Menglong's 馮夢龍 (1574-1646) Gujin xiaoshi 古今笑史.

Something to bear in mind before consuming ginger.

In an attempt to learn more about the beast before our next encounter in my backyard.

A familiar story about modernity from the Ming Dynasty.

A tippler's remedy to toothache.

From Qing bai leichao 清稗類鈔.

Little things that make life better...

From Xiaolin guangji 笑林廣記.

A bit of cultural misunderstanding.

A joke from the Qing dynasty

Some useful tricks for a moonless Mid-Autumn Festival.