Feng Jicai's Tianjin-style wit and humor.
冯骥才天津式风趣与幽默
As the saying goes, “Beijing oilers, Wei mouthies,” Tianjin people are renowned for their eloquence.
Tianjin people are known for their humor, self-deprecation, and competitive spirit. Feng Jicai’s novels are crafted with a strong adherence to real-life portrayals in character development. His narrative style is highly refined, with a clear and deliberate approach to rhetoric, sentence structure, and style. Reading Feng Jicai’s novels imbued with Tianjin flavor, we can experience a unique, thought-provoking humor rich with local color. Feng Jicai’s sense of humor is closely tied to his personality, life experiences, artistic interests, and cultivation. Growing up in Tianjin, he has a deep understanding of the wit, humor, playfulness, and exaggerated language artistry of Tianjin people. With his superb command of language, he skillfully employs various linguistic techniques to convey humor.
For example, in Feng Jicai's humorously metaphorical writing—
In "Cold Face," a blacksmith who never smiles is nicknamed "Cold Face": "His face looked like a tin plate hammered out, both black and hard, like an iron-faced man."
In "The Master of Qingshan Tower," describing a person’s thinness, Feng Jicai writes: “This gentleman has a narrow face and a thin body, with yellowish skin and dry flesh. His arms and legs are thin and long, making him look like a piece of tofu skin hanging on a few bamboo poles from a distance.”
Feng Jicai’s writing often captures the essence of intelligence and wit in just a few words, succinctly conveying profound insights with remarkable clarity----
“Feng family members are so clever, their minds are like ivory balls carved by the Cantonese master Ong Wuchang, with each layer displaying a different design.”
Feng Jicai's Tianjin is full of exceptional talents: living gods in various trades and professions.
Dr. Hua, who "recognizes teeth, not people, and gets it right every time": "He doesn’t remember people, but that's not a flaw because he doesn’t remember people; he only remembers teeth. As a dentist, he focuses entirely on teeth, so how could his skills not be excellent?" (From "Recognizing Teeth")
Li, the painter who “doesn’t get paint on his clothes”: “The master’s arms moved gracefully back and forth, like accompanying a drumbeat and harmonizing with the melody of the qin. Each sweep of the long, paint-laden brush made a crisp, pleasant sound on the wall, seamlessly connecting each stroke.”
He Daotai, whose "心得" (insights) are considered classic: "He understands his superior's temper perfectly—knows when to speak up and when to keep quiet. When being scolded, he bows his head and listens; when being reprimanded, he nods in agreement. Such acts that seem unworthy of a person, He Daotai handles with ease and naturalness. People say that He Daotai's skills come from his innate nature. They say he is like a natural target for his superior's frustrations, a compliant donkey that can’t kick up a fuss even if it tries. Is that right?" (From "Dead Birds")
The technique of "picking up a bundle" in crosstalk is frequently seen in Feng Jicai's novels. In "Strange Stories from the Mundane World," Feng Jicai created numerous tales of odd characters and events, often adopting the crosstalk performance model. This is particularly evident in the "straight man" and "funny man" interaction pattern. For example, in "Little Dazi," a petty thief on a tram encounters a master thief and ends up being outwitted. The two engage in a contest of wits, with the middle-aged man ultimately prevailing and delivering a punchline: "You clumsy fool, thinking you can do this!" Feng Jicai uses this two-person crosstalk format to effectively drive the story, making it crisp and engaging.
In the famous piece "Clay Figurine Zhang," the opposition between Clay Figurine Zhang and Hai Zhangwu is more emblematic. The novel first introduces the conflict through the "straight man" (the nouveau riche Hai Zhangwu provokes Clay Figurine Zhang)—"the audience" is intrigued by the spectacle. The "funny man" then delivers a punchline (Clay Figurine Zhang fashions a vivid, walnut-sized replica of Hai Zhangwu using shoe sole clay)—the "straight man" counters by undermining the act ("This poor skill thinks it can make money, even cheap sales won't find buyers")—the "funny man" delivers another punchline ("Cheaply sold Hai Zhangwu"). The "straight man" continually escalates the conflict, while the "funny man" consistently delivers punchlines; the "straight man" is thoroughly defeated, and the "funny man" prevails. The comedic effect is achieved even when the "funny man" uses only actions, not words.
"Historically, Tianjin has been a bustling hub of both land and water trade, rich in folk culture," said Feng Jicai. He believes that ordinary people in Tianjin, in their daily conversations, often discuss local eccentrics and peculiar figures rather than elite individuals. These local characters reflect the collective likes and dislikes of the people, embedding the regional character deeply within the city’s culture. Feng Jicai is fascinated by uncovering and presenting this regional character, as it represents the most profound aspect of local culture. "By writing about it, outsiders gain a better understanding of Tianjin, and the city's beautiful qualities are preserved, thus maintaining the cultural spirit of the place."
"By writing about it, outsiders gain a better understanding of Tianjin, and the beautiful aspects of Tianjin's culture can be preserved, thus maintaining the cultural spirit of the place." — Feng Jicai
俗话说：“京油子，卫嘴子”，天津人的能说会道是鼎鼎有名的。
天津人幽默风趣、敢于自嘲和争强好胜，冯骥才的小说在人物形象设定上遵照生活来塑造，叙述语言非常讲究，在修辞、句式、结构和风格上都有一种明确自觉倾向。阅读冯骥才的津味小说, 我们可以感受到独特的、耐人寻味的、带有津味色彩的幽默风格。冯骥才的幽默感与他的个性、生活经历、艺术爱好和修养是分不开的。他从小在天津长大, 对天津人的机智、幽默、俏皮、夸大的语言艺术十分了解。他凭借高超的语言文字功底, 得心应手地运用多种语言技巧来表现幽默。
比如，冯骥才笔下的幽默比喻----
在《冷脸》中，有一位铁匠因为从来不笑被人取了外号“冷脸”：“他那张脸就像用铁皮敲出来的盘子，又黑又硬，赛个铁面人。”
在《青云楼主》中，形容一个人的单薄，他写道：“此君脸窄身簿，皮黄肉干，胳膊大腿又细又长，远瞧赛几根竹竿子上晾着的一张豆皮。”
更是三言两语便将聪明的要义道出……
“冯家人聪明，脑袋瓜赛粤人翁伍章雕刻的象牙球，一层套一层，每层一花样。”
冯骥才的天津城里有各种城中能人：各行各业的活神仙----
“认牙不认人，一认一个准”的华大夫：“他记不住人，不是毛病，因为他不记人，只记牙;治牙的，把全部心思都使在牙上，医术还能不高?” (《认牙》)
刷浆不沾衣的刷子李：“只见师傅的手臂悠然摆来，悠然摆去，好赛伴着鼓点，和着琴答帆音，每一摆刷，那长长的带浆的毛刷便在墙面“啪”地清脆一响，极是好听。啪啪声里，一道道浆，衔接得天衣无缝。”
有堪称经典“心得”的描写的贺道台：“摸透上司脾气，知道嘛的时候说嘛，嘛的时候不该说嘛;挨训时俯首帖耳，挨骂时点头称是……就这种不是人干的事，贺道台却得心应手，做得从容自然。人说，贺道台这些能耐都出自他的天性。说他天生是上司的撒气篓子，一条顺毛驴，三脚踹不出个屁来，对吗?”(《死鸟》)
相声的抖包袱技巧，在冯骥才的小说中有随处可见---
冯骥才在《俗世奇人》中创作了大量的奇人奇事，这种情节的描写也借鉴了相声表演的模式，这在书中主要表现为“捧哏”、“逗哏”的情节模式。如《小达子》，小达子本是电车上的小偷，有一次偷东西时遇到高人反被偷，二人针锋相对，各自“斗法”，最后中年男子得胜，抖出包袱：“你笨手笨脚也想干这个!”冯骥才用这种双人相声的形式将故事情节支撑起来，显得非常干脆、利索。
名篇《泥人张》里泥人张与海张五的对立更具有典型性。小说先由捧哏引起矛盾(暴发户海张五挑衅泥人张)——“观众”看热闹——逗哏先抛出一个“包袱”(泥人张用鞋底泥随手捏出了一个活灵活现的只有核桃大小的海张五)——捧哏再次拆台(“这破手艺也想赚钱，贱卖都没人要”)——逗哏再次抖出“包袱”(“贱卖海张五”)。捧哏不断激起矛盾，逗哏不断抛出“包袱”;捧哏完败，逗哏完胜;在逗哏没用语言只用动作的情况下达到喜剧效果。
“天津历史上就是个水陆码头，有市井文化。”冯骥才认为，天津的寻常百姓，茶余饭后，津津乐道者往往就是乡土异士和市井奇人。他们不崇尚精英，偏爱活在身边的那些非凡的凡人。这些人物的身上也就此融入天津老百姓集体的好恶，地域性格因之深藏其中。地域性格是最深刻的地域文化，对将它挖掘并呈现出来，冯骥才是很着迷的。
“写出来后，外地人更了解天津，天津人美好的东西能保留下来，也是把一个地方的文化精神保留下来。”----冯骥才
