The initiator of humor translation is Lin Yutang. He was also the first person in the history of modern literature in China who advocated humor as an artistic proposition and conducted research and practice. Before Lin Yutang, Wang Guowei, a famous scholar, talked about humor in the article "The Spirit of Qu Zi's Literature" written by 1906, which translated into Chinese as "Omuya", but no one discussed it, and no one discussed it again. During the period of 1924, Lin Yutang wrote an article in the Morning Post Supplement, explaining why he chose "humor" as his Chinese translation. As a translator of loanwords, the word "humor" has nothing to do with the word "humor" in ancient China. Only with the spread of the new meaning of the word humor, humor, as the original meaning of ancient Chinese vocabulary, was gradually replaced by the new meaning of connotative aesthetic concept. Since the 1920s, Lin Yutang, together with Lu Xun, the standard-bearer of China's New Literature Movement, has used humor to carry out anti-imperialist and anti-feudal political, ideological and cultural struggles, explored the theory of humor in practice, and created prose with high tone, humorous language and sharp allegory. In his essays, novels, prose poems and stories, Lu Xun formed a unique humorous style of "feelings can be harmonious and environment can be ironic". He wrote famous works such as The True Story of Ah Q and Kong Yiji, as well as a large number of essays with profound meanings, strong feelings and spicy allegories, which shaped the immortal silent models of Ah Q and Kong Yiji full of China national characteristics. Lu Xun also put forward creative views on humor theory, which provided an example for the healthy development of China's humor in practice and theory.

In addition to Lu Xun, Lao She, Qian Zhongshu, Sha Ting, Zhang Tianyi, Zhao Shuli and other humorous satirists also appeared in the literary world of China at that time. They used humor as a weapon to portray their love and hate vividly and ironically. Their works, such as Camel Xiangzi, Fortress Besieged, Xiangju Teahouse, Mr. Warwick, Marriage of Little Black Boys, and the images they created. It occupies an extremely important position in the history of humorous literature in China. Ding Xilin and Chen's comedies Bumblebee, Oppression, Wedding March and Promotion Picture inherit the humorous style of Chinese and foreign traditional comedies. It represents the development direction of drama humor. Yuan Shuipai's satirical poetry collection "Ma Fantuo Folk Songs" is a collection of humorous ballads, which embodies the combativeness of poetic humor in a concentrated and powerful way. During this period, various art forms were infiltrated by humor to varying degrees, resulting in a number of new genres, such as essays, cross talk, comics, one-man shows, burlesque and so on. Humor magazines with the aim of advocating and spreading humor appeared for the first time in China, which shows that humor, as an imported aesthetic concept, has gradually gained a firm foothold in social, political and cultural life and been recognized by people, and its social and artistic functions have attracted more and more attention.

After 1949, humor has gone through a tortuous development path. In the early 1950s, China's humor once flourished, which was highlighted by the bumper harvest of comic works. Excellent works such as novels, dramas, folk art and movies are piling up, and humorous images emerge one after another. Novels include Chang in Zhao Shuli's Three Mile Bay, Not Enough to Eat in Exercise, Sun in Li Shuangshuang Biography, and Three Years Early Learning. The repertoires include Cheng Madman in Lao She's Longxugou, Qi Mu in Salesgirl and Looking West at Chang 'an. There are satirical comedies such as Before the arrival of the new director, The Stadium Storm, The Full Moon, The Cuckoo Crys Again, The Seventy-two Tenants, etc. There are comedies such as Li Shuangshuang, Barber's Woman, Young People in Our Village, Five Golden Flowers, Today I'm Off. Crosstalk includes buying a monkey, meeting fans, having a night outing, changing careers, Guan Gong vs Qin Qiong, and talking about drama. At the end of 1950s, due to political reasons, the doctrine of the mean declined in humorous art. At the beginning of 1960s, with the upsurge of essay writing, humorous art revived again, which was manifested in upholding justice, praising truth, goodness and beauty, and satirizing the bad writing style in essays. The Night Talk of Yanshan written by Manan Village (Deng Tuo) and Three Villages Notes written by Wu Nanxing (Deng Tuo, Wu Han and Liao Mosha) are representative works of this kind of fighting humor. During the Cultural Revolution, all artistic genres with humor as the main means, such as comedy, cross talk, comics, etc., were banned, but humor in the form of "political jokes" and "humorous poems" still circulated among the people.

Ten years after the Cultural Revolution, China's humor experienced almost all levels in the history of human humor development, from "mocking literature and art" to "rethinking literature and art" later, to "reforming literature and art" in the early 1980s and "exploring literature and art" in the middle period.

"Satire literature and art" characterized by satire and humor is aimed at the ultra-left figures and their ultra-left lines during the Cultural Revolution, and mercilessly ridicules the ugly class of history in the form of satirical comedies, cross talks, cartoons, comedies and satirical novels, thus generating strong repercussions. Works such as when the maple leaves are red, so take pictures, hat factory, antique tricks, and the laughter of distressed people are representative works at this stage.

Humor appeared in Reflection on Literature and Art in the late 1970s. It focuses on the reflection on history with comic techniques, playful style and humorous language. The main achievements of humorous art at this stage are fully reflected in such novels as Anecdotes of Director Mohammed, Building a House in Li Shun, Stupid Wang Lao and furong town.

Since the 1980s, the confident and optimistic tone of humorous art has been further promoted in literary and artistic works, and a large number of works have appeared to express the profound changes in politics, economy, ideology and culture during the reform period with humor, such as Chen Huansheng's humorous novels and the comedy Our Cow is Hundred Years Old.

"Exploratory literature and art", which emerged in the mid-1980s, injected a deeper spirit of the times and modern consciousness into its content and techniques. At this stage, humor transcends the traditional boundaries and tries to express itself accordingly. At present, the exploratory varieties in China's humorous works are mainly based on contemporary schools such as "black humor" and absurd consciousness. Among them, there are changes suitable for the artist's own style, which leads to the tendency of complexity, personalization and three-dimensional humor. The film black cannon incident, the opera Pan Jinlian, the novel You Have No Choice and Variations without Theme are all representative works of this stage.

Since 1980s, China's research on humor theory has advanced by leaps and bounds, and the scope of the research has greatly exceeded that of the past, with increasingly rich content and constantly improved level. The basic theory, genre, law, development history, artistic genre and comparison of humor between China and foreign countries have all made gratifying progress. Comedy aesthetics has gradually formed an independent discipline, with a group of accomplished scholars and experts and a large number of academic papers and works. China's humorous practice and theory, with its distinctive national characteristics, is playing an increasingly important role and value in the history of humor in the world.