Generally speaking, the people of Japan have dual personalities.
As we all know, Japan is a civilized country that pays great attention to etiquette.
However, at the same time, Japan is also a country that advocates force.
The dual character of Japanese citizens is actually very direct related to the evolution of Japanese aristocraticism.
In Japanese history, first the nobles of the Yamato era, then the public aristocrats of the Lure era dominated the politics of Japanese society as ruling classes, then the martial aristocrats of the Shogunate era became the center of the Japanese political stage, and to the new nobles formed after the reorganization of the identity system in modern times, the Chinese people became the main body of Japanese politics.
Whether it is a public, a warrior, or a Chinese, they all hold the title of aristocrat.
It can be seen from this that the Japanese aristocrats were not given by later historians, but have always existed since ancient times.
Therefore, the evolution of Japanese aristocrats with social development is a dominant factor in the development of dual character for the Japanese people.
1. The public aristocrats in the main text influenced the Japanese character with their upbringing and culture
In Japan in Nara and Heian eras, as the tyrants and public aristocrats of the ruling class, although they did not make much contribution to politics, they created a very brilliant Japanese aristocratic culture and aristocratic education.
Although Japan was almost in a cultural desert in the Yamato era, it brought no foreign culture thanks to mainland immigration from China and the Korean Peninsula.
Under the influence of Chinese culture, Japanese public aristocrats began to develop the idea of paying attention to education and upbringing. They not only required other aristocrats to learn knowledge and culture, but also constantly emphasized the performance of their words, deeds, clothes and dresses, and to be in line with the etiquette and behavior of the nobles.
For a long time, Japanese aristocrats formed a standardized expression of education characterized by intelligence and elegance.
Under the rule of such a nobleman who attaches importance to education and upbringing, the Japanese people naturally formed a cognition of intellectuality and elegance as the norms of behavior, and were engraved in the national characteristics.
In addition, the education and quality accumulated over the years became the expertise to subsidize the family when the public aristocracy was later oppressed by the shogunate warriors, which played a practical role, making the public aristocracy pay more attention to the importance and cultivation of these education.
and gradually became a "sectarian family" in various fields. Not only can you obtain money through teaching to maintain the daily life of the nobles, but you can also always maintain the advantages of public and aristocrats in these fields, so that the noble temperament can continue to be passed on.
Although these seem very far away for the Japanese citizens, they are full of longing, which further deepens the image of aristocratic education in the hearts of the Japanese citizens, making them more consciously regulate their daily behavior with the aristocratic education behavior.
At the same time, the temperament and upbringing of these nobles have also transformed from a spiritual culture to a specific principle that affects daily life.
The main manifestation is that in order to move closer to aristocratic culture, the people are very enthusiastic about receiving education, and almost everyone is willing to learn and read.
Especially in the Edo era, the Tokugawa shogunate advocated governing the country by culture, and there were 15,000 temples in the country (where to teach and learn characters, that is, the current school).
At the same time, under the promotion of education, the national literacy rate in the Edo era was very high. 40% of men could read and read, and 10% of women could read and read.
This is already a very high literacy rate for Japan in a feudal society.
The literacy rate of citizens has increased, which is very important for the progress of Japanese society.
2. The martial nobles who presided over the martial arts influenced the Japanese character with loyalty and worship
For Japan, compared with the civilized time of the public nobles, more time is actually ruled by the martial nobles who advocated the martial arts.
1185, the Kamakura Shogunate was established, ending the civil administration period ruled by public nobles, and began the warrior rule for more than 700 years.
In Japan during the reign of the Wu family, many local daimyos were transformed from the lower class people.
They scoffed at the public nobles who hid in the castle like canaries and recited poems, believing that they stood too high that they could not see the hardships of the lower classes.
Plus, most of the public nobles are literati who focus on education and education. They are all very thin, unable to hold on their shoulders or carry them with them. For Japan, which is based on the natural economy, they are just some "idle people".
Therefore, the nobles of the Wu family look down on the public nobles from the bottom of their hearts.
At least in their opinion, things that can be solved by force do not need to be explained at all.
In such an environment, the martial aristocrats not only ruled the Japanese regime, but also fundamentally shook the educational tradition of the Japanese aristocrats.
plus the Kamakura Shogunate era began, Japan was in turmoil, the people were living in poverty, and the ruthless war continued to spread.
For the sake of the Japanese living, even if they are thin and helpless, they must learn to protect themselves.
At this time, as a special class, the warrior not only cared about his loyalty to the lord, but also became the patron saint of protecting the common people in the area.
Under the influence of these samurai classes known as the patron saint, the Japanese began to pursue martial arts.
not only requires excellent martial arts, but also absolute loyalty, with reputation first and life and death second.
This samurai character, which is based on war, has always influenced the character of the Japanese people.
The worship of cultural education is buried in my heart, but I hold a samurai sword in my hand and start a murderous act.
In the Edo period, Japan had a population of about 3 million, and about 10% of the people were samurai, that is, more than 300,000 people.
The combat power of a warrior can be about ten farmers, so even if the number of warriors is far inferior to that of farmers, these 300,000 warriors have enough power to subvert the entire Japan!
Under such a high-pressure rule, the Japanese people cannot resist even if they want to.
Plus, after all, after such a long period of war, the peace that was finally obtained, and the tough political measures adopted by the Tokugawa shogunate after taking office, made the lower-class people who were almost rubbed by the war more willing to obey the rule of the strong.
Therefore, this logical thinking of the weak obeying the strong has also influenced the entire Japanese society until now.
3. The aristocratic tradition that ranks first and focuses on inheritance has shaped the dual character of the Japanese
In Japanese history, the figures of aristocrats have appeared all the time.
From the ancient nobles, to the public nobles of the Lu Ling era, to the military nobles of the Shogunate era, the Japanese nobles have always been active in the upper political stage of society.
Although they are all nobles, the central ideas of each different noble are different.
In Japanese history, since the 9th century, the Fujiwara clan's power gradually gained an advantage. In addition, other aristocratic forces (including descendants of the royal family) who were unsuccessful in the central government and the Fujiwara clan's parallel forces began to move closer in order to seize greater power.
, but at the same time, it constantly emphasizes one's identity and status, and wants to highlight one's greater power in this way.
Plus, influenced by Chinese Confucianism, the culture with bloodline as the main way of maintaining and inheriting is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
In order to make their own forces closer and gather, many families use their bloodlines as a line to gather the scattered forces, thus forming a stronger force, and the family has become stronger.
has been over the long term, and because it is superior to other families, it has formed the definition of "noble".
However, the essence of the nobles is actually a group of people gathered to expand their power.
In order to make the nobles more united, there must be a central guiding ideology.
At the beginning, Japan was deeply influenced by ancient Chinese culture due to its lack of cultural precipitation.
At that time, the aristocrats who mainly focus on literature and claim to be "highest" naturally accepted the Chinese culture of elegance and elegance, and guided the development of the aristocrats with the standards of intellectuality and elegance.
However, later, the public aristocrats who lost their fighting spirit due to excessive pursuit of knowledge and elegance were pulled down from the Japanese political stage by the martial aristocrats who advocated solving problems by force.
At the same time, the martial aristocrats who advocated martial arts struggle stood at the center of the stage of Japanese politics, setting a new role model for the Japanese people.
Although the Tokugawa shogunate later carried out a large-scale transformation of the samurai class, it not only retained the central idea of the samurai class, but also made it continue to develop into a far-reaching "Bushido".
"Bushido" not only guides the behavioral norms of warriors, but later it even developed into the "craftsman spirit" of many town people.
Generations of world-famous Japanese "masters" are actually influenced by the "Bushido".
In addition, due to the tolerance of Japanese society and the lack of revolution, even though the public and nobles were pulled down from the center of the political stage by the martial aristocrats, they still existed in Japanese society as elites.
According to statistics, there are 137 nobles in Japanese history, about 2 million samurai in the Edo period, and 1,011 Chinese families in modern times.
After long-term historical development, the Japanese aristocrats who still survived have become elites in society and constantly influenced the Japanese people with their image as role models.
Whether it is a public aristocrat who advocates cultural education and quality education, or a martial aristocrat who advocates military struggle and absolute loyalty, it is a social model for the Japanese people.
Because they not only have their own important connotations, but also have played different social significance in different periods of social development. They are an important part of Japanese history and the main reason for the formation of the dual character of Japanese people.
Perhaps, in the hearts of Japanese people, being polite is their norm of conduct, but at the same time, being ruthless is their means to resist the enemy.
Always maintain respect and obedience is the principle of the Japanese people, but being rebellious is actually the nature of the Japanese people.
References:
Li Zhuo, Wang Fang, the evolution of Japanese aristocrats and their impact on national character [J], Japanese Issues Research, 2019, 33(4): 9-18
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