A Tribute to Dramatic Praise Comedy: The Pinnacle of All, the Only Literary Form That Reaches the Heights

Nantai

Writers aspiring to scale the heights or summit of world literature, and readers seeking truly high-quality literary works, must understand this: comedy is not only the most noble, but also the hardest to write. This is universally acknowledged, so when you encounter a good comedy, you must cherish it. 

 

Why is it so difficult? This is evident from the portrayal of heroic characters. Heroes in serious dramas are praised directly, while heroes in comedies require "dramatic praise" (xizan). Though both involve "praise," comedy includes an additional "dramatic" process compared to serious drama, making it more difficult. Tragedies make people cry, but comedies make people laugh until they cry. While both end in tears, comedy involves an extra "laughing" process, making it harder than tragedy. This is why comedy is the most challenging to create. It is commonly said that comedy is the art of masters—precisely because comedy involves more twists and turns than serious dramas or tragedies. 

 

Comedy is noble, beautiful, vivid, interesting, hard to write, and popular; it is the golden pinnacle of the literary art pagoda. Thus, comedic novels are the "kings" among novels. However, the comedy family is not a single entity; it has three branches: negative satirical comedy, neutral humorous comedy (neither negative nor positive), and positive dramatic praise comedy. These are like the "army, navy, and air force" of comedy—a complete system (note the word "system"; it is extremely important. China’s first world-leading figure in this field achieved success precisely because of this "system"). Satirical comedy is like the army, humorous comedy like the navy, and dramatic praise comedy like the air force—the only one among the three "brothers" that can "reach the sky." 

 

To put it another way: comedic novels are the "royal family" of novels. Satirical comedy is the "prince," humorous comedy is the "crown prince," and dramatic praise comedy is the "emperor." The prince, though in a subordinate position, outranks all officials. The prince is more powerful than ordinary officials, the crown prince has greater authority than the prince, and the emperor is the most powerful of all. For literature to reach its peak: the "prince" (satirical comedy) has more advantages than ordinary literary works, the "crown prince" (humorous comedy) has more advantages than the "prince," and the "emperor" (dramatic praise comedy) has the greatest advantages of all. Therefore, it is essential to clarify who the "emperor" of literary art truly is. 

 

In short: comedic novels are the kings of novels, and dramatic praise comedic novels are the *pinnacle of all kings* (wangzhongwang). 

 

Why? It is determined by their technical sophistication. Satirical comedy achieves "penetrating insight with one stroke," humorous comedy "hits two birds with one stone," and dramatic praise comedy "takes down three targets with a single arrow." Believe it or not? I will provide examples tomorrow. 

 

Included in #MyLiteraryViews 

Personal opinions, for reference only 

66, Ningxia, March 25, 2025, 06:32