Every October or November, there is an opening ceremony for the British Parliament.The official official name of the British Parliament is very strange, called "Queen inParliament", the protagonist is the Queen, the Queen.The sole center of attention at this ceremony is Queen Elizabeth II.It's their national day celebration, no wonder it's a show-off ceremony.What is displayed is kingship, or national sovereignty, which is the same word in English.The whole scene is resplendent and magnificent, solemn and grand, and it can even be said to be full of arrogance.For those Londoners and tourists who crowded the roadside waiting to see the Queen's carriage pass by, this lively scene was really worth seeing.

So the same old routine is repeated every year, and the excitement continues every year.It was broadcast live on television in the United States.We usually leave the TV on, doing or doing something, just glancing at it now and then.The reason why the TV is on is waiting, waiting for the long process to develop to the most exciting moment. What is this moment? 1. Ceremony rich in meaning Before the official opening ceremony of the Congress, members of the upper and lower houses had already taken their seats in their own chambers, waiting early. In the House of Lords there was only a large red robe with a wide

Phnom Penh and various heraldic characters.Although we don't know the reason for these decorations, there must be a lot of background.The senators are not only brilliantly dressed, but also wear off-white wigs with small curly hair, which makes them look unreal and ridiculous.It is this sense of unreality that accentuates the gravitas they strive to convey, that they are demigods, bearers of transcendent worldly power.Even after waiting for a long time, these people are still unsmiling and solemn, waiting for the queen to come. In the House of Commons, it was a different story.The chamber of the British House of Commons often appears on TV, and even we are familiar with it in the United States.Now that all the MPs have arrived, the originally simple chamber of the House of Commons looks crowded and cramped, like a crowded trapezoidal classroom in a university.The elected MPs wear modern clothes, men's suits and leather shoes, and women's suits and skirts.Although in real life, it is still a rigid dress for formal occasions, but compared with the House of Lords, it highlights the modernization, civilianization and secularization of the MPs.While waiting, the MPs chatted and joked with each other, the speaker seemed to be doing nothing, and even the British Prime Minister looked relaxed at the moment.

The British prime minister is not the same as the American president.The president of the United States generally only needs to go to Congress once a year, which is almost a symbolic ceremony.The British Prime Minister must often attend the questioning of the House of Commons and fight against the Confucians.Once you walk into the House of Commons, you must be nervous and go all out, otherwise you won't be able to handle it at all.Only today, there is nothing wrong with him, and the dignified Prime Minister is just an ordinary audience at this moment. Outside the famous Westminster Abbey Houses of Parliament and on both sides of the road, there were crowds of spectators in the dark.

The Queen is leaving.Before departing, her Royal Guard (Yeomen of the Guard), said to be the oldest and most loyal warrior of the royal family, set out early to search the chambers of the upper and lower houses.The search stemmed from a 1605 plot to blow up Parliament.The search is now purely part of the ritual, but it has been meticulously repeated for four hundred years.Accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, the Queen always goes to the Houses of Parliament in a gold-plated and diamond-studded royal carriage, pulled by horses of all colors, with fast horseshoes.Along the way, the spectators cheered bursts of cheers, and some people curtseyed ladies solemnly, as if turning back time.

Arriving at the Houses of Parliament at Westminster Abbey, the Queen wore the famous crown on her head and a large royal robe with a long back.The royal robe is specially prepared for this ceremony, and the hem is so long that there must be four gentlemen dressed as gentlemen, holding the hem for the queen, and following her slowly. Someone in front of the queen is carrying a scepter representing the queen to clear the way . In the front and back, there is a long queue, full of various famous figures in medieval costumes.When the warrior dressed in ancient times stood on a high place, raised a long trumpet, and blew a series of horns to report the Queen’s overtaking, it was a really happy moment to watch. It turned out that Shakespeare’s stage ostentation, we who live in the 21st century, I was lucky to be able to appreciate it in the real world.

The queen, as always, seemed a little tired with the familiar noncommittal expression.With difficulty she made her way through the long procession to the House of Lords, where she took her seat in the middle of the throne.The opening ceremony will be held in the House of Lords. At this time, the two hundred and fifty members of the lower house were still waiting in the chamber of the lower house.The Queen never goes to the chamber of the House of Commons.She has no power to go. In 1642, King Charles I entered the House of Commons and arrested five members, causing the worst conflict between Parliament and the royal family in British history.Parliament beheaded the king and for this reason banned him from the House of Commons.For the next three hundred and fifty years, the King of England never stepped into the House of Commons.But at this moment, the queen still has to summon the MPs, because she is about to announce her policy of governing the country, and the MPs still have to serve the queen in name.

We saw on TV that a half-samurai and half-gentleman was standing upright, waiting for the queen's order.He is "Black Rod", whose official title is "Gentleman Usher · of the Black Rod", the most important ceremonial officer of the House of Lords, and he has a history of 500 years.His title comes from the half-meter-long black wooden stick that he puts on his shoulders, with a golden lion's head on the top of the stick.He received the Queen's signal, and he turned around proudly, and walked solemnly to the chamber of the House of Commons step by step. At this time, everyone's eyes were on the "Black Rod".

The camera of the TV followed him and scanned the people standing around him.The moment we've all been waiting for has finally arrived! "Black Rod" walked to the door of the chamber of the House of Commons with his head held high and his chest serious. At this time, the 250 or so members of parliament inside the door were all facing the door with a smile on their faces.This slightly mischievous lighthearted expression is familiar—it is the expression that often appears on the faces of street people in the etching illustrations of old English plays or British novels, it is a commoner expression, as if waiting to see something. Make a great joke. "Black Stick" walked with heavy steps, and was about to reach the door.At this time, I saw the two doors of the meeting hall slowly moving from the inside to the outside, and at the moment when the "Black Stick" was about to step in, they closed with a "bang", almost touching the door of the "Black Stick". nose!

"Black Rod" was locked out of the door.This scene has a profound meaning. I saw the "black stick" who was rejected by the door, raised the stick in his hand representing the queen's authorization, and used the golden decorative lion head on the stick to hit a special wooden block on the gate, making a crisp sound.One, two, three!A small door a few inches square was immediately opened on the gate, and a fine iron fence was installed on the small door.A pair of vigilant eyes appeared behind the iron fence.According to the old rules, the eyes scanned the back of the "Black Rod", making sure that the "Black Rod" did not bring any armed soldiers, and that he was just a peace messenger sent by the House of Lords. Open. "Black Rod" took a step forward and stopped in front of a white line on the floor.This is the "rule of the ancestors" again, and no one in the royal family or the House of Lords is allowed to cross this white line.

"Black Rod" raised his head, solemnly and politely announced that Her Majesty the Queen was waiting for her MPs to attend the meeting in the House of Lords. "Black Stick" finished speaking, turned around and walked back.At this time, there was a sound of "coaxing", and it was the members of the House of Representatives who were knocked on the door by "Black Rod".Everyone just got up, followed the speaker and the prime minister, chatting and laughing all the way, bustling to the House of Lords, just like the end of a movie theater. When it comes to the meeting place of the House of Lords, there are no seats for the 250 MPs.This is the site of the House of Lords. In the venue, next to the gate, there is a low railing. According to the rules, MPs are never allowed to cross this railing. Now, the Queen reads the proclamation from the central throne, the wig-robed members of the House of Lords sit and listen, and the two hundred and fifty Commons stand outside the railing.The Prime Minister and his cabinet members, who are the most powerful in modern Britain and who really manage the country, also stand in this group of people.Even Voltaire couldn't help but be amazed when he saw this scene two hundred and fifty years ago: the elected members of the British Parliament have the most power, but their status is second. The queen read the proclamation clearly, one bite at a time, what will happen to "my government".As for drafting the proclamation, it is the standing prime minister and cabinet members who really hold the real power of the country. The real power and ceremonial status of the secular government are split here.Although the abstract sovereignty and the traditional royal family are full of prestige, they have a high position but not a lot of power; elected representatives, people without hereditary titles, seem to be respectful but hold real power.The House of Commons has used the "courtesy" of treating the "black rod" unceremoniously, saying that the powers of the elected government are free from interference by the royal family.The white lines on the floor of the chambers of the House of Commons and the low railings of the House of Lords are symbols of the rules of the game in British politics.They said that power must be divided, and no matter who they are, they must abide by the contract that divides power, even if this contract comes from the tradition of five hundred years ago. In this way, the British repeat this ceremony once a year for an unknown number of years.Sociologists tell us that since humans have "politics", rituals are very important, and rituals are conveying information.We have seen all kinds of state ceremonies, most of which are to show strength, unity and so on.We have heard before that the British are the most gentlemanly, and of course they also have a lot of face.However, the Queen of England and the Parliament used this meticulous and repeated ceremony to express that they both "put the ugly words first" and conveyed to each other warnings and promises to abide by the rules of the game. They did so seriously, which is amazing.This is the "traditional discipline education" of the British.In the political history of mankind, this is the moment when the political wisdom of the Anglo-Saxons can be displayed most. 2. Undivided power is problematic power As we all know, the current relationship between the British Parliament and the royal family is formed historically. From the early aristocratic lords asking for power from the king, asking for clear rights and obligations, making promises to each other, formulating the Magna Carta, and then using strength and rules related to honor to maintain this division of power, until the 17th century. the king's head.It can be seen how difficult it is to maintain the promise in the initial stage of the contract formation. Looking at British history, you will find that it is a typical continuous and gradual history. In history, conflicts are fierce, but the issues of conflict are ancient, and the solution is slowly promoted. There are few disruptive innovations like the French Revolution.Therefore, their characters, no matter whether the times make heroes or the heroes make the times, it is difficult to see themselves as special characters who opened up the world and created a new era that has never been seen before.This is the so-called "conservative" that the British are famous for. But the United Kingdom followed a different path from France, and it also went from ancient times to modern times, and everything that should be changed has already changed. In this way, after the British beheaded King Charles I, they still found someone in the royal family to be the king in the end. During the "Glorious Revolution", they drove away a king, but they searched all over the world, and they wanted to invite the king's descendant to be the king.If this is not the case, then there will inevitably be a period of killing each other until the strongest one comes out.The one who kills the strongest is not still called the king, and is often not as good as the original king. A piece of British history is full of battles within the royal family, blood and family affection in dark castles; entanglements between the royal family and European nobles of various dynasties, as well as war and peace, which makes people confused and boring today.However, the relationship between the royal family and the parliament has always had a thread, that is, power has begun to be divided, and contracts and promises have become two-way obligations between the royal family and the people. In the past two hundred years, most of the real power has been in the hands of the lower house of parliament, that is, elected representatives.The royal family has lost power.When Voltaire went from France to England, he felt very strange: the king of England was under control, and although he still had countless opportunities to do good things, he no longer had the power to do bad things.Today's queen is not only the head of the Church of England, but also the owner of national sovereignty.The decision of the parliament requires the approval of the queen in name, but in fact the queen's "consent" It is already the "request" of the Queen by the Parliament, and the Queen must agree.The logic of having to have your consent and not being able to dissent sounds really weird.Today, British Prime Minister Blair still meets with the Queen once a week to inform the Queen of the political situation.This meeting was kept secret.Today's Queen Elizabeth II is very enlightened, and once let the TV station enter the palace to film the process of the queen approving the decree.The officials sent by the parliament stood upright and read the decree to be approved aloud. The queen sat gracefully, as if listening very dutifully.After reading one, the queen's answer is the same: approved (agreed). The royal family no longer has real power, so why do they still support members of the royal family?The royal family who lost their real power is a small group of people who are the most powerless to resist, why can't they touch it? This is the most puzzling thing for people who are used to watching revolutions.In the 21st century, the British still retain a royal family with virtual power. Outsiders often regard this as a sign of British stupidity and slowness. Today, whether the royal family is necessary to continue to exist is also a topic that the British sometimes raise.Because today's maintenance is more of a symbol of cultural tradition.Recent surveys show that most Britons still want the status quo. However, history has evolved to the present over a long period of time: from the time when the Congress and the royal family were equal in strength, the Congress was strong enough to hold real power, while the royal family began to become just a group of weak gentlemen, women and children.At this crucial moment, why didn't the Congress and the British civilians they represent drive the royal family out of Buckingham Palace, just like we drove Puyi out of the Forbidden City back then.Why do they instead let the royal family dominate the annual opening ceremony of the British Parliament, while these old men with wigs, noble titles and cheerful elected representatives in suits and leather shoes painstakingly perform such an ancient ceremony?That is the Anglo-Saxon understanding of wisdom.They are telling themselves that the contract must be obeyed, and the lessons of history must be remembered. Only a nation that abides by the contract has hope.They are also revisiting their own historical lessons: any power must be limited, and power must be constrained by power. At this time, look back at the "American Revolution": it has the appearance of innovation and change, but it sticks to a "conservative" in its bones.It is not surprising when you think about it, because the spiritual core of the United States is inherited from Britain, not from France. Americans once had the opportunity to create a whole new country.They divided the state power that could have been "unified and powerful" into three major parts: law, administration, and judiciary. The three powers are interspersed with each other, complement each other and involve each other. They call it "restriction and balance."This is a basic rule of American political structure.The whole reason for this process of operation grows from this root.And this kind of wisdom can be traced back to the moment when the "Black Rod" was shut outside the House of Commons with a "bang".