度世之金針──《笑得好》對清代社會弊病之批評

Salvation in laughter: Criticism of social issues in the Qing Dynasty expressed by It’s Good to Laugh

清代笑話書能反應民間社會的問題而廣受歡迎，本文以《笑得好》為研究對象，針對其中所指社會弊病的根源及主要形成的原因予以討論，並以社會對各階級所擔負的責任和期待，分別就三種階級身分：一、在上位者，即維繫人民利益的知縣；二、擔任社會良心，引領社會價值的文人；三、與人民生活攸關的職業所應盡的身分任務，為陳述主軸，揭示各階級多因私欲而被利益羈絆，因此於行事上未能符合應盡的職責和社會的期待，而成為《笑得好》嘲諷的命題。作者石成金自許此書為能根除、改變社會心態的度世金針，而於每則笑話後方添加評注，提出處置、面對造成這些社會問題的方式，為俗笑話中極具社會意識的作品。

In the Qing Dynasty, joke books were very popular by reflecting social problems. Focusing on the book ＂It's Good to Laugh＂, this article will discuss the root and the main causes of social issues. In the book, characters can be divided into 3 classes with different levels of responsibility and expectation given by the society: The upper class, magistrate which maintained civilian interest; the middle class, literati which delivered social value and acted as social conscience; the lower class, the life-related vocations. The book sarcastically revealed the condition of the 3 classes bounded with fetters of desire and did not conform to their social duty and anticipation. The author Shi Chengjin hoped that the book, which includes deep social consciousness, could become a strong salvation to eradicate social problems and to make changes of the society. Therefore, he added remarks under the paragraph of each joke, providing solutions to these social issues.