The Shui Jing Zhu records that Handan Chun was a nephew of Du Shang [zh], and accompanied him when he became county magistrate in Kuaiji.
[1] In 151 Du Shang wanted to set up a stele commemorating Cao E, a girl who died trying to save her father from drowning eight years before.
[1] In early 190, Handan had a position in the court in Chang'an, but due to the turmoil in North China, he fled to Jing province the next year, serving in the staff of Liu Biao, which became an important literary salon.
At the time, Chen Ji was an important figure, so the choice to make Handan his funerary inscription's composer could imply that he had already established himself as a famous scholar.
Cao Zhi then changed clothes and started conversing with Handan Chun on topics such as the beginning of the universe and the "evaluation of men since the time of Fuxi".
Rafe de Crespigny holds the opinion that this is the reason why Cao Pi did not rank Handan Chun as one of the Seven Masters of Jian'an.
The Weilüe, quoted in Pei Songzhi's commentary on Records of the Three Kingdoms, states that Handan Chun's courtesy name was Zishu (子叔), but the Kuaiji dianlu and the Shui Jing Zhu state that his courtesy name was Zili (子禮).
[16] Handan Chun's works include Xiaolin (笑林), a collection of jokes and folk humor; "Zeng Wu Chuxuan shi" (贈吳處玄詩), also called "Dazengshi" (答贈詩), a farewell poem about him leaving Linzi to go to Luoyang; "Shang shouming shubiao" (上受命述表), which announces his other composition, "Shouming shu" (受命述), a poem praising the new Cao Wei dynasty, and "Touhu fu" (投壺賦), a fu on the traditional East Asian game of touhu.
It is considered by scholars to be the first collection of jokes in Chinese literature, and the earliest zhiren xiaoshuo (志人小説, "records of personalities").
During the Southern Song, Wu Zeng [zh] recorded in the Nenggaizhai manlu (能改斋漫录) that the imperial palace had a ten-juan copy of the Old Xiaolin (古笑林).
Qing dynasty scholar Ma Guohan [zh] collected 26 fragments in the Yuhan shanfang jiyi shu (玉函山房輯佚書).
[19] The "Zeng Wu Chuxuan shi" (贈吳處玄詩) was a farewell poem that Handan wrote upon leaving Linzi for the Cao Wei court in Luoyang, where he took on the position of erudite supervising secretary (博士給事中) in 220.
The poem is also a source of historical information, confirming the accuracy of the Weilüe's records on Handan Chun's life.