Over 120 joke collections have come down to us from the Three Kingdoms period (220--265 A.D.) to the end of the Ching dynasty (1644--1911). And the compilers were generally well-educated scholars who wrote in polished classical Chinese.
以明末有名的「三將」﹘﹘寫「諧史」的江盈科、「笑得好」的石成金、及「笑府」的馮夢龍來說，前兩位都是進士出身，馮夢龍在考場上不太得意，但也是個秀才，並曾任知縣。