The Spiritual Contrast between Chinese Chivalry and Western Knight

【Abstract】In ancient times， either in the east or in the west， there is such a group of people， who have an effect on their respective history and culture. They are eastern chivalry and western knights. The thesis mainly discusses the similarities of the two spirits contents. Besides， the thesis also discusses the emerging conditions and the effects of the two spirits.

【Key words】Chinese Chivalry; Western Knight Spirit; Culture

【作者簡介】韩雪姣（1992-），女，汉族，陕西西安人，西安外国语大学，2017级在读研究生，研究方向：英语语言文学。

Ⅰ. Introduction

In the middle Ages， there was a similar group of people both in the West and in the East. They are Chinese chivalry and western knights.This paper discusses the contrast between the Chinese chivalry spirit and the Western knight spirit from the aspects of their content， emergence conditions， and effects respectively.

Ⅱ. Comparison of the two spirits

1.The emergence conditions. The appearance of chivalry is the need of civilian. In order to overthrow the corrupt government and build a new country， they gather together to fight against the government during such days full of battles and wars. The origin of the knight spirit is the savage tradition of the Northern Germanic ethnic. Just as Wang Zuoliang claims that “during the wars， soldiers must be loyal to the leader and protect the country， and in order to collect fortune and higher their levels， soldiers were willing to do everything on the basis of absolute allegiance（Wang， 1992：17）.” Knights take war as their business， loyal to their leaders and protecting them for the purpose of their personal status and property.

In short， Chinese chivalry culture is kind of wilderness culture， while western knight culture is a kind of noble culture. The main condition for the emergence of the western knights is the turbulent world; while the main emergence condition for the Chinese chivalry is the turbulent political situation。

2.The contents. There are some similarities between Chinese chivalry and western knight， such as bravery， generosity and defence for others. Jiao Ruowei acclaims that “one of the most indispensable qualities of Chinese chivalry is the defense for others（Jiao， 2002：79）.”There are no religious doctrines to ask them to do so. However， they takes this as their personal duty. As for western knights， it is their Christian doctrines to defense for the poor， the weak， women and children. Due to their doctrines， a knight needs to regard this as his lifelong duty.Different attitudes towards the superstructure and love， and different motivations of helping others lead to the differences of Chinese chivalry and western knight. Chivalry evolves into the spokesman of seeking justice for the common people. However， different from Chinese chivalry， western knight believes in Christian. Due to their beliefs， they are required not only be loyal to their lord but also be faithful to the pope. In the aspect of motivation， Chinese chivalries have simple value and random type of emotional factors. They attach importance to friendship. Western knights tend to regard themselves as an abstract spirit， social norms or principles of truth who have an inescapable sense of responsibility and mission. In the knights eyes， women and love are dispensable. Love affair is considered to be contrary to Chinese chivalries who are usually indifferent to women advocating hero rather than the glamour of women.

3.The effects. Since Chinese chivalry and western knight appeared， they have influenced Chinese and Westerners more or less.Although the Chinese chivalry is a kind of common culture， it still influences Chinese spirit such as their sense of obligation， loyalty， and so on. Even today， there are still a great number of people enjoy watching Chinese Kung-Fu fiction and dream to be a hero in the real life. J.R.Goodman concludes that “modern western peoples adventure spirit is from medieval knights and their spirits.”（Goodman，1998：20） For example， gentlemen， the most typical word used to refer to westerns in modern times， always follow the principle that lady should go first in any occasion.All in all， Chinese chivalry and western knight have become a very significant part of Chinese and westerners characters.

Ⅲ. Conclusion

This paper mainly discusses the contrast between the spirit of Chinese chivalry and western knight， explores the emerging conditions and the effects of the two spirits and hopes that the analyze of the two spirits will be useful to better understand these two precious spirit cultures and be helpful to make people understand each other during the modern global situation.

References：

[1]Goodman， J. R. Chivalry and Exploration [M]. England： The boydell Press， 1998.