The three pillars of the aristocratic spirit: cultural upbringing, social responsibility, and free soul
Philosophical Path 2022-01-15 08:00
Spiritual aristocrats are not necessarily rich, and rich people are not necessarily aristocrats. The spirit of nobility is not something that money can buy.
Many wealthy people in China send their children to aristocratic schools abroad, hoping that they will become aristocrats after graduation. As a result, they found that even the students of Eton College, the best school in Britain, had to sleep on hard beds, eat rough tea and light meals, and undergo very rigorous training, even more difficult than the students of civilian schools.
They could not understand how these ascetic lives were connected to the spirit of nobility.
In fact, this is not unusual, because the aristocratic spirit advocated by the West is not the spirit of "upstarts", but a pioneering spirit with a series of values such as honor, responsibility, courage, and self-discipline as the core.
Stills from the British TV series Downton Abbey
▌ Rich and expensive are not the same thing
The purpose of such strict and arduous management and training in the world-famous aristocratic schools is to cultivate students' sense of cooperation and self-discipline. True aristocrats must be full of self-control and strong spiritual strength, which needs to be cultivated from an early age.
Eton College did produce many good people in this way, such as General Wellington, who defeated Napoleon. During the decisive battle with Napoleon, he braved artillery fire to observe the enemy situation on the front line, and his staff repeatedly advised him to withdraw early, but Wellington was not moved. The staff officer had to ask him, what last words do you have in case you die? Wellington said without looking back, "Tell them that my last words are to stand here like me." ”
In the eyes of most Chinese, Wellington is self-pleading, but in fact, this is the expression of the aristocratic spirit they advocate. In the consciousness of most Chinese, the rich are the same as the rich, and there is no difference. But in fact, these are two different things. Rich is material, expensive is spiritual.
The spirit of nobility, first of all, means that this person must exercise self-control, self-denial, dedicate himself, and serve the country.
Britain's Princes William and Harry were sent to the Army Officer School at a young age. After graduation, Prince Harry was also sent to the Afghan front as a machine gunner. The royal family naturally knew the nobility of Prince Harry's status and the dangers of the front. But they all see it as their duty to dedicate themselves to the country and take risks.
Prince Harry served in Afghanistan
There was a photograph of The Second World War in England that was very widely circulated, when King Edward of England went to the slums in London to inspect, he stood in front of a crooked house, and said to the poor old lady inside: "May I come in?" This reflects a kind of respect for the people at the bottom, and the real nobility knows how to respect others.
On January 21, 1793, King Louis XVI, facing the murderous executioner, left a frank and noble last word: "I die innocently." I forgive my enemies, and may my blood calm God's wrath. Two centuries later, At the celebration of the 200th anniversary of the French Revolution, Michelon, the president of France, sincerely stated: "Louis XVI was a good man, and it was a tragedy to put him to death..."
On October 28, 1910, an 83-year-old man, in order to save his soul who had suffered all his life, decided to give all his family property to the poor, and then he left his vast manor and ran away, with a Nekhlyudov confession, and finally died like a tramp in a deserted station... He was the great Russian writer Tolstoy.
Many years later, the famous Austrian writer Zweig lamented to Tolstoy: "This disgraceful and humble ending does not harm his greatness... If he had not suffered for those of us, then Leo Tolstoy would not have belonged to all mankind as he does today..."
Although these protagonists have different fates, they all share a common identity: nobility.
Leo tolstoy
▌ The nobility represented dignity and character
In the West, the nobility continued to play an important role until the 18th century. Today, Britain still retains the titles and titles of the nobility. When the aristocratic society in the West was transferred to the common people's society, the bourgeoisie did not set off a spiritual wave of negating and criticizing aristocratic culture, on the contrary, sending its children to the aristocratic school to study, buying the ornaments and badges of the nobility, buying the titles of the nobility, and trying to inherit the mantle of the nobility in all directions.
Chu Anping, a famous newspaperman in China, said in the "British Collection" that the reason why britain's aristocratic system can continue to this day is because it has been recognized by everyone. The common people of Britain generally believe that the spirit of nobility represents a dignity, a superb character.
Many of the wars of the Western Middle Ages are very similar to the Spring and Autumn War in China, where they are opponents on the battlefield and are still friends when they go off the battlefield. So a lot of wars at that time, today it seems a bit like a child living at home.
In 1135, King Henry I of England died, and both his nephew Stephen and his grandson Henry II considered themselves entitled to the English throne. Stephen himself was in England and preemptively ascended to the throne; Henry II, on the European continent, was indignant when he heard the news, and organized a mercenary army on the European continent to attack Stephen. At that time, Henry II was very young, inexperienced, and did not have a good plan when he sent troops, so as soon as the soldiers traveled thousands of miles to the British Isles, they found that the money had been spent and there was no food.
What to do? At this time Henry II made a choice that we Chinese absolutely unexpected, and wrote a letter of request for help to his opponent Stephen, saying that I was not well prepared for the expedition, there was no food and grass, can you give me some help, let me send these mercenaries back to Europe. Stephen generously donated money and gave Henry II a sum of money. But then Henry II actually launched the same war for the second time to compete for the throne.
When people helped you, you are now killing you again, which seems ungrateful in the eyes of Chinese. But the European aristocracy took the tolerance of their opponents for granted, but it was still necessary to compete. As a result, Henry II defeated Stephen. In the end, the warring parties signed a very interesting treaty, that is, the throne was still made by Stephen, and Henry II was made crown prince, and once Stephen was a hundred years later, Henry II would inherit the throne.
China's battle for the throne has always been a matter of life and death, and people like Henry II are simply a fantasy.
King Henry II of England
There was also a war that was also very dramatic. Descendants of Edward III's two sons, the Duke of Lancaster and the Duke of York, waged a civil war for the throne. The war ended in a no-fight, no deal, and the two families married and announced their union, creating the Tudor dynasty.
In European politics, there is a special tradition that a king, even if overthrown from the throne, will receive the necessary courtesy, which is also a manifestation of chivalry. So in the power struggle in Europe, there are few ideas like China's.
▌ To compete, you must be more personable
The European aristocracy would rather bear the consequences of raising tigers than lose their demeanor.
In 1688, William III attacked James II and took him prisoner. James II was kept in a castle near the sea, but William III left him a small boat. As a result, James II fled to Europe in a small boat.
The following year James II organized a mercenary army to regain his throne. At this time William III was organizing a war with France and had to free up a hand to fight back home. In the end, although he defeated James II, he lost the Anglo-French War.
As the Dutch historian John Shezinha put it, "Although the introduction of gunpowder shattered the knightly class, the idealized chivalry embodied and idealized by the medieval knights was preserved in modern Western culture." ”
This chivalry is in fact part of the spirit of nobility, and as a moral ideal, it has a lasting influence on the national character of Westerners.
After the West entered the civilian society, the tradition of the aristocracy being open-ended was still preserved in high-level politics.
For example, in the American Civil War, when the Confederate Army was about to face defeat, some officers proposed to disperse to the homes of ordinary people and enter the mountains to fight guerrilla warfare. However, General Robert E. Lee, the Supreme Commander of the Confederate Army at that time, disagreed, saying: "War is the profession of soldiers, and if we do this, we will be pushing the responsibility for war to innocent people." Although I am not a good soldier, I will never agree to do so, and if I can exchange my life for the peace of the people in the south, I would rather be executed as a war criminal. ”
His opponent was the well-known Lincoln, who also showed magnanimity and nobility. He was supposed to deal with Robert E. Lee in accordance with military law, but he thought that the hatred between the North and the South should not be resolved, so he spared General Lee. As a result, General Lee was able to disarm and return to the field and write a memoir.
Lincoln with Robert E. Lee
There are many aristocratic spirits that we do not understand, for example, the low-key in the aristocratic spirit.
When the famous little Rockefeller went to college, he ironed his pants, sewed buttons, did not smoke, did not drink, did not go to the theater to see movies, and like his father, wrote down every expense in a small book. These people look frugal, but they are not stingy, because they are very generous when it comes to donating to the society. And Bill Gates, who we are all very familiar with, later donated all the property in his name to the society. Both frugal and generous, it is also a very desirable part of the aristocratic spirit.
This spirit, from one point of view is generous, from another point of view to interpret, can also be said to be a spirit of responsibility, a sense of social responsibility. Therefore, in the mainstream consciousness of today's Western society, what moves us most is this ubiquitous spirit of responsibility.
For example, there is an unwritten rule in the Western navigation industry that when a ship encounters danger and is about to sink, the captain must be the last to leave, or some captains simply choose to sink with the ship, which is a spirit of commitment that continues from the spirit of nobility.
In the movie "Titanic", the captain chose to coexist with the ship, which is a spirit of responsibility. The lead musician of the band pulled up a new piece of music when the ship sank, and the musicians who had gone far away heard the music and invariably returned to the chief musician, and everyone began to play again, soothing the emotions of the guests. The ship was about to sink, everyone shook hands with each other, and the chief musician said: "Tonight, it is my lifelong honor to be able to work with you." ”
This is the best interpretation of the spirit of nobility, which tells us that there is a kind of death that is greater than ordinary life.
Principal violinist in Titanic
▌ The essence of the aristocratic spirit
Chu Anping recorded his observations on the British nobility and aristocratic society in his Records of The English Anthology, saying: "Any truly aristocratic gentleman looks down on money... The Englishman thought that a true aristocratic gentleman was a truly noble man, upright, unselfish, not afraid of difficulties, and even able to sacrifice himself for the sake of others, he was not only a man of honor, but a man of conscience. ”
In Tocqueville's words: the essence of the spirit of nobility is honor.
Aristocratic spirit and material conditions can sometimes be said to have nothing to do with each other. For example, Zhang Ailing said that the elevator worker of the old Shanghai apartment must be well dressed before he is willing to come out and open an elevator for customers, which also reflects an aristocratic demeanor. For example, Professor Xu Jilin said that there is a laid-off tricycle driver, relying on his own meager income from pedaling a tricycle, feeding dozens of orphans, one by one sending them to school, we can also say that this person has a certain aristocratic spirit.
Therefore, the spirit of nobility is far away from us, and it is close to us, and each of us can become a spiritual nobleman.
"Commoner nobleman" Bai Fangli old man
The spirit of nobility includes noble temperament, generous love, compassion, clean spirit, courage to bear; as well as tenacious vitality, human dignity, human conscience, not flattering, not coquettish, not begging, not pitying; always abide by the principle of "virtue and honor above all else".
Therefore, it is not necessarily monopolized by the "nobility", and ordinary commoners can also become people with "aristocratic spirit" as long as they continue to study hard and insist on shaping their personality states.
What we want to emphasize is the "aristocratization of the spirit", not the aristocratic lifestyle of gold worship. This is more of a formalistic aristocratic life and does not express man's pursuit of spirit and aesthetics.
The mass media in the era of consumption conveys to us a kind of "aristocratic illusion", which is a vain, naïve, superficial and rough formal atmosphere that has nothing to do with the real aristocratic culture.
The true spirit of nobility should have three important pillars:
◎ First, cultural upbringing, resisting the temptation of materialism, cultivating noble moral sentiments and cultural spirit;
◎The second is the responsibility of society, strict self-discipline, cherish honor, support vulnerable groups, and assume the responsibility of the community and the country;
◎ The third is a free soul, independent of will, intellectual and moral autonomy, not enslaved by political power or mainstream opinion.
The affirmation of nobility, whether by title or substance, must be consistent with his character, his knowledge, and his conduct. Otherwise, even if its power is overwhelming and its wealth is invincible to the country, it will not be able to enter the ranks of the nobility.
The nobility of the aristocratic spirit is to live cleanly, gracefully, with dignity. He will not betray his faith and do whatever it takes for some immediate practical interests.
In this sense, the spiritual aristocracy and the so-called rich should have nothing to do with each other. Spiritual aristocrats are not necessarily rich, and rich people are not necessarily aristocrats. Because this aristocratic spirit is not something that money can buy.
Therefore, the spirit of nobility cannot be achieved overnight through power and wealth in a short period of time, but a long process of civilization evolution.
It can be said that civilization is not only the soil that nurtures the spirit of nobility, but also a concrete expression of the spirit of nobility. For example, the civilization of the "Axial Age" created the world's earliest batch of "nobles"; the medieval caiyi system in Western Europe became the hotbed of chivalry; and the beginning of modern civilization such as the Renaissance and the Age of Enlightenment also created a variety of modern spiritual aristocrats.
As the famous historian Will Durant said at the beginning of The Story of Civilization: "Civilization is the soul of generations of races... But civilization was not created by great races, but rather, great civilizations created nations. ”
In The Story of Civilization, Durant sorts out the complexities of human civilization into five chains: Eastern, Greek, Roman and Christian, Renaissance, and European civilizations. They have their own characteristics, but they have one thing in common, that is, they have all given birth to the greatest spiritual aristocracy in human history.
If history is written from a different perspective, the traditional view of history will be subverted. If the aristocratic spirit is taken as an important yardstick for evaluating historical figures, those who were originally badly evaluated, especially the losers of history, are different. The most prominent was Louis XVI, whom Durant commented on as having "possessed almost all virtues."
Durant tells the story of civilization with the elegant brushwork of the master, from which every ordinary person can perceive the beauty and greatness of human civilization and reflect on himself. As the New York Times commented, the set of books is about historical stories, and "the real essence is to narrate the thinking of contemporary people." Durant won the Pulitzer Prize and the Medal of Freedom Award.
To this end, Philosophical Road and The Prophet Bookstore sincerely recommend Will Durant's The Story of Civilization to find the true spirit of nobility in the story of civilization.