Chinese Government Tries To Ban Wordplay And Puns In The Media

The State Administration for Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television “has banned wordplay on the grounds that it breaches the law on standard spoken and written Chinese, makes promoting cultural heritage harder and may mislead the public – especially children.” Problem is, puns have been enmeshed in every single aspect of Chinese culture, from the New Year’s menu to wedding gifts to people’s own names – for a few thousand years now.