Although there does not seem to be an immediate equivalent of satire in Chinese literature, it is a well-known stylistic means in China and has been employed frequently. In a society with high political and moral aspirations, from which reality differs all too often, satire has presented itself as a particularly suitable form of artistic expression, in which the cool and distanced position of the observer uncovers the chasm between "reality as imperfection" and the "the ideal as the highest idea…