Chinese homophone pun 諧音梗 (谐音梗)
xiéyīn gěng · from Chinese
What is a 諧音梗 (Chinese homophone pun)?
諧音梗 (xiéyīn gěng) is a Chinese pun that swaps one word for another that sounds the same or similar, exploiting Chinese's many homophones.
Mandarin has only about 400 syllables before tones, so homophones are everywhere and puns are a national sport. 諧音 means harmonious sound and 梗 is internet slang for a running joke or gag. They drive New Year customs, advertising, internet slang and censorship workarounds, and the phrase 諧音梗扣錢 (homophone puns get a pay cut) is itself a meme.
Examples
年年有餘 nián nián yǒu yú (surplus every year) with 魚 yú (fish); 福 fú upside down: 福倒了 fú dào le sounds like 福到了 (fortune has arrived); 蝙蝠 biānfú (bat) for 福 fú (fortune)
Kungfucius says: In Chinese, a pun is not the lowest form of wit. It is basically infrastructure.