Chinese eggheads huffy over comic’s gift

by Brian McKim & Traci Skene on December 13th, 2011

China Daily reports about a scholarship established by Shanghai dialect comedian Zhou Libo. He’s forking over $47,100 annually so some Chinese kids can go to school. An admirable thing, right?

Apparently, it’s “controversial.” It’s not immediately clear why. Partly because China Daily doesn’t exactly present stories using the ol’ Inverted Pyramid. (And partly, we suspect, because English isn’t the first language of the journos who file the stories.)

But a Shakespearean scholar (red flag!) says the campus “had been invaded by entertainment figures” and a teacher who declined to be identified said the “scholarship is a sign of bowing to vulgarity.”

So, basically, a bunch of eggheads are upset because a lowly comic is doing well enough to fork over the dough for a college scholarship.

Later on in the story, Libo is described as a “plebian person who always spouts empty and insincere chatter to amuse people.” The unmitigated horror!

Hey, if a comedian can’t be excused for spouting empty and insincere chatter to amuse people, just what is this world coming to? Thank God we don’t have such humorless intellectuals in this country! Right? …Right?

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