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Chinese chivalrymanhood and western knightship are two spirits of two different cultures. Making a study of the subject contributes to illustrate the uniqueness of Chinese and western cultures and let we know why brave, generosity, helping others are still the main stream of contemporary society. What’s more, by comparing Chinese chivalrymanhood with western knightship, we can find some common good moral qualities advocated in modern times which will help Chinese and westerners understand and communicate with each other more easily.
From 16th to 19th century, studies on this subject include books and essays by S.W.Scott and C.Miles. S.W.Scott has done a comprehensive study on medieval knights. C.Miles in his book discusses the origin, characters and duties of knights and their romantic love with ladies and he emphasizes that Christianity plays an important role in knights. And there are also some domestic studies on this subject. Related paper written by Xu Jianlou has been published, and he analyses their differences from ideology, code of conduct and value orientation. Soon after, Bai Hua publishes the comparison of Chinese chivarymanhood and western knightship in the Journal of Southeast University, and studies their spiritual beliefs and code of conduct, lifestyle and influence on society. Other scholars or professors also make a study on the subject.
This paper will introduce the social conditions for the emergence of Chinese chivalrymanhood and western knightship. And the similarities and differences between Chinese chivalrymanhood and western knightship are analyzed from various aspects.
Wars and the influence of Christianity are the historical condition for the appearance and existence of western knightship. However,Chinese chivalrymen were warriors at the very beginning. In the later time, due to the turbulent era, unpeaceful situation, more and more average people appeared to fight against the social darkness. So those ordinary people advocating fairness and justice were called Chinese chivalrymen. Chinese chivalrymanhood came along with the appearance of Chinese chivalrymen.
Bravery, generosity, and protection for the helpless, the weak, women, and children are their similarities. Without those characters, a man would not be considered as a chivalryman or a knight. In a world, these similarities will help Chinese and westerners communicate with each other more easily.
On the other hand, different cultures, thinking patterns and behaviors lead to some differences between the two spirits. Chinese chivalrymanhood stands out rebellious spirit, while western knightship emphasizes enclitic spirit. The two spirits contain different attitudes towards love and women. What’s more, Faithfulness for Chinese chivalrymanhood differs from loyalty for western knightship.
This paper will be helpful to a better understanding of the two spirits and their own culture.
II. The Social Conditions for the Emergence of the Two Spirits
2.1 The Social Conditions for the Emergence of Western Knightship
The emergence of western knightship could be partly attributed to the turbulent society and frequent wars. The Europe in the Medieval Ages was turbulent and the history of the Medieval Ages in Europe was a history full of wars. Because of frequent wars, the feudal lords were all eager to possess a brave and powerful army to get the victory. Meanwhile, due to the turbulent society and unpeaceful times, the ordinary people also hope some heroes to manage and maintain the social stability. So knight became the embodiment of hero at that moment,that is to say, knights are soldier serving for the wars. At the beginning, some small landlords and wealthy farmers were willing to become knights, once the war broke out, they would ride their horses and took with their own weapons to fight for the war. In the later time, some offspring of the noble tended to join the army, they would fight for their country and protect their country. A typical example is that the knights played a significant role in the Crusades. Besides, they have also been influenced by eastern civilization and their social status has been greatly improved so that more and more people competed to become a knight at that time, even the feudal lords and the king would like to be a knight. In the Middle Ages, almost all aristocrats were knights, but no one was born to a knight. If someone wants to be a knight, he must be trained in his childhood when he was taught to say his prayers, learned good manners and run errands for ladies. As a knight, he was pledged to perform his duty of protecting the weak, children and women. Besides, he must be brave, generous and be loyal to Christianity. These regulations were known as code of chivalry, from which the western idea of good manners developed.