Chapter 23 5. The gentleman and the villain

Gentlemen and villains also come from patriarchal clan and feudalism. According to the patriarchal system, the second sons and bastard sons of the nobles can also "create a clan and establish a sect", but the eldest son is called "Dazong", and the second son and bastard son are called "Xiaozong".But according to the feudal system, the son of heaven's Xiaozong is the princes, which is the Dazong of the nation.In the same way, a doctor is the minor sect of the nation and at the same time the major sect of the clan; a scholar is the minor sect of the clan and at the same time the major sect of the clan.So scholars can have "one wife and one concubine".Even if the family of a scholar is large, his second son and bastard son can still become the patriarch of the family.

But as long as a calculation is made, everyone knows whether there are more or less in this world.Moreover, as long as the generations of nobles are long enough, the clan will split, and the number of small clans will increase.This forms a special class with a large number of people - the villain. A villain is a "person of Xiaozong". In contrast, the eldest son is always a nobleman.The eldest son of a prince is the monarch, and the eldest son of a doctor is the monarch of the family.Well, the son of the king of Zhou is the "prince", the son of the duke is the "gongzi", and the son of the family lord is the "junzi".This, it doesn't matter about the concubines.Even the patriarch of the clan, because he is "like a monarch", his son can also be called a "junzi", at least the eldest son.

A gentleman is the "son of the monarch". (see this chart) This is the original meaning of a gentleman and a villain—the son of the big clan and the person of the small clan.At this time, as aristocrats, the people of Xiaozong were also "human beings", and their status was at least higher than that of "people".The people are commoners and slaves.However, the gentleman's luster will be cut for the fifth generation.As time goes on, the sons and grandsons, the sons of the bastards of the bastards of the nobles, not only can only be Xiaozong's Xiaozong's Xiaozong, they are no longer "human beings".This is especially true for the Xiaozong of the low-level nobles.

This leads to the second meaning: a gentleman is an aristocrat, and a villain is a commoner. Nobility and civilians are "classes" and "levels".Because it is a grade, it later refers to "grade", that is, a gentleman is noble, noble, and elegant, and a villain is vulgar, vulgar, and vulgar.The reason is also very simple: cultural resources are not the same as educational resources.A gentleman can receive a good education, of course the "three highs"; a villain who can't even receive formal education, of course the "three vulgarities". Later, the meaning of class disappeared, and the meaning of rank also weakened, becoming a "category": a gentleman is a good person, and a villain is a bad person.In other words, a gentleman has high morals, while a villain has bad qualities.Class is about status, class is about status, class is about taste, and category is about quality. Gentlemen are high and villains are low.

This is the third meaning of gentleman and villain. There is no doubt that there is discrimination in it, but it does not mean that it is meaningless.The meaning is right.Because the son of a king is a prince, and the son of a prince is a prince.The so-called "junzi" mainly refers to the son of a doctor, that is, the "son of a family monarch", that is, a "scholar".A scholar, but a swing between nobles and commoners.If you keep striving for self-improvement, you will still be a gentleman; if you are willing to degenerate, you will become a villain.Therefore, it is necessary to establish the virtue of a gentleman and promote the style of a gentleman.Although the final result is nothing more than becoming a "spiritual nobleman".

Yet it's important. In fact, only with "spiritual aristocracy" can there be "noble spirit".The aristocratic spirit is not about showing off, acting like a baby, or putting on airs, but about being noble, self-disciplined, keeping the bottom line, independent, free, and dignified.For this reason, they don't fall down, they can be killed but not humiliated, and they would rather kill themselves to become benevolent than live by idling. Such a spirit is a precious cultural heritage of our nation. Hence, just as a society cannot exist without a middle class, so a society cannot exist without a spiritual aristocracy.However, throughout Chinese history, from the pre-Qin period to the Tang and Song dynasties, although there was no middle class, there was a spiritual aristocracy.But after the Ming and Qing Dynasties, autocracy became more and more prosperous, the gentleness was swept away, and the spiritual aristocracy and aristocratic spirit became increasingly scarce, and were even driven to extinction.The spirit of Chinese civilization is hanging by a thread!

But this is something for later, we still look at the Western Zhou Dynasty now. ◎Patriarchal Clan Inheritance of the Zhou Dynasty