外国语从《高文爵士和绿衣骑士》与《水浒传》.doc

从高文爵士和绿衣骑士与水浒传比较分析西方骑士精神与中国侠义精神A Comparative Study of Western Knight Spirit and Chinese Chivalry Viewed from The Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Heroes of the MarshesHu YanqiuUnder the Supervision ofLu BinghuaSchool of Foreign Languages and CulturesPanzhihua UniversityMay 2009ContentsAbstractIKey wordsI摘 要II关键词IIIntroduction1. The Spirit Core of The Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Heroes of the Marshes Respectively2A. A Brief Introduction and an Analysis of Western Knight Spirit in The Sir Gawain and the Green Knight2B. A Brief Introduction and Analysis of Chinese Chivalry in Heroes of the Marshes3. The Social Qualifications for the Emergence of the Two Spirits4A. The Historical Conditions for the Appearance and Existence of the Knight Spirit4B. The Historical Conditions for the Appearance and Existence of the Chinese Chivalry6. The Similarities and Differences between the Two Spirits7A. Similarities and Differences of Their Emergence Conditions7B. Similarities and Differences of Their Contents8C. Similarities and Differences of the Social Status of Western Knight and Chinese Knight-errant10IV. The Effects of the Western Knight Spirit and Chinese Chivalry.10Conclusion12Acknowledgements13Bibliography14Abstract Chinese chivalry is one of the most important elements of traditional Chinese culture; it has a long history in China. And Western knight spirit which has much the same as Chinese chivalry is also flowering in Western history. These two cultural spirits have showed themselves in two very important works named The Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Heroes of the Marshes. Sir Gawain who was a brave and honest knight was a representative of the knight heroes in the 14th century; he was the embodiment of the lords protector. While the 108 heroes of the marshes who came from underground people fight against those lords and protected common peoples interests, they are also called Chinese knight-errants. Different regions and classes may give birth to different cultures, and special cultures can be found in particular historical stages. In this paper, the similarities and differences between the Chinese chivalry and the Western knight spirit are analyzed from their different spirit cores. And the historical conditions for the appearance and existence of the Western knight spirit and the Chinese chivalry and the effects of the two spirits are also introduced.The analysis of the two masterpieces will have some help to a better understanding of these two precious spirit cultures.Key wordsWestern knight spirit; Chinese chivalry; spirit core; culture摘 要侠文化是中国传统文化的一个重要组成部分，在我国历史上源远流长。而在中国侠文化蓬勃发展之后，西方中世纪也出现了与之相似的骑士文化。这两种既相似而又不同的文化精神在中西方两部经典作品高文爵士和绿衣骑士与水浒传中表现的尤为突出。 中古时期的东西方有着一群极其相似的武士，他们一言九鼎，尚勇轻死，侠肝义胆，锄强扶弱。他们分别是代表东方侠义精神的侠客和代表西方骑士精神的骑士。武侠文化与骑士文化都是尚武的、粗犷的、虎虎生风、充满阳刚气息的雄性文化，在不同的人文环境中却又表现得多姿多彩。双方都有很多共同的信念，而这些信念奠定了对二者进行比较的基础，比如路见不平，拔刀相助，爱惜名誉，慷慨轻财等。他们都是一种锄强扶弱、劫富济贫利他性质的豪侠精神；他们的行为都是一种对于弱势群体的拯救和关怀，因此把他们称为东、西方之侠并不过分。但是，它们毕竟隶属于不同文化，二者又存在很大区别。武侠文化深深地影响着中国人的国民性，比如报恩、复仇、忠义思想、生死观等等，而对个人则表现为对其人格的爱护和尊重，为被压迫者和被迫害者牺牲全部力量甚至自己生命的慷慨勇敢精神。西方人注意绅士风度，强调公平竞争，注重风度、礼节、外表举止等等这些优良习惯与骑士文化的传播是分不开的。在面对这两种文化之时，如果我们能够取其精华，去其糟粕，也许这些精神有的并不过时。因此，本文将从高文爵士和绿衣骑士与水浒传所表现的精神内核出发对比分析西方骑士精神与中国侠义精神，帮助我们更好的了解和正确的对待这两种宝贵的精神文化。关键词西方骑士精神;中国侠义精神;精神内核;文化IntroductionIn the Middle Ages, there was a group of warriors in the West and the East respectively. They were all generous, brave, honest, and willing to help others. They were Chinese knight-errants who represented the orient chivalry and Western knights who represented the Western knight spirit. Chinese chivalry which has long history in China is an important element of traditional Chinese culture, and Western knight spirit which has much the same as Chinese chivalry is also flowering in the Middle Ages. These two cultural spirits have showed themselves in two very important works named The Sir Gawain and the Green Knight which is known as a masterpiece of the European romantic verse and Heroes of the Marshes which is one of the “Four Masterpiece” in China.Both the Chinese knight-errants and Western knights have the spirits as generosity, braveness, honesty, and aggressivity. However, since they have different historical and social backgrounds, they have many differences in various aspects.In this paper, the similarities and differences between the Chinese chivalry and the Western knight spirit are analyzed from the aspect of their different spirit cores. The comparison between the knight spirit and Chinese chivalry illustrates the uniqueness of the Western and the Eastern culturesThe basic reasons why they are different are that they are derived from different economic and political systems. The similarities and differences of the two spirits in aspects of their emergence conditions, contents and social status worth further study and research. In the paper, the historical conditions for the appearance and existence of the Western knight spirit and the Chinese chivalry, their similarities and differences and also the effects of the two spirits are introduced.This paper will be helpful to a better understanding of these two precious spirit cultures. . The Spirit Core of The Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Heroes of the Marshes RespectivelyA. A Brief Introduction and an Analysis of Western Knight Spirit in The Sir Gawain and the Green KnightThe Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a masterpiece of the English romantic verse. It has 2529 lines with the author unknown; it has been finished in the 14th century (Zhang Boxiang 4). The story is as follows: on a Christmas Eve, when the king Arthur held a banquet in his palace, a green knight came and said that whether there was someone who dared to cut his head and accept his revenge a year later. Sir Gawain rose to the challenge and cut the green knights head; the still-lived body picked his head up and returned his green palace. One year later, when Sir Gawain searched for the green knight as had promised, he stayed in a castle. The hostess of the castle seduced Sir Gawain when her husband was out, but Sir Gawain did not give response to her. Finally, Sir Gawain left the castle for the green palace led by a guide. To his surprise, the green knight was the host of the castle, he attacked Sir Gawain three times, but the first two did not hurt Sir Gawain and the last one only left a small scar on Sir Gawains neck. The green knight explained to him: the first two empty-attacks were the reward for his integrity and the last one is the punishment for his accepting the hostesss presenta girdle. After returning to the king Arthurs palace, Sir Gawain told the others his experience, all the other knights considered him as a hero and regarded the girdle which was given by the hostess as a symbol of chastity and holiness.The Sir Gawain and the Green Knight belongs to the legends of the King Authur and his round-table knights. Because of its huge expressive force, it reflects the ideal of the chivalry and becomes the kernel of the Middle Ages aristocrat feudalism. Therefore, it represents the highest achievement of the English verse in the Middle Ages. The experience of the knight Sir Gawain reflects the idea of nationalism. Instead of the traditional image of the knight, it includes some iron to the knight in the verse which shows us the sprout of the humanism in the Renaissance to some degree.The Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a great work which does not only describe the aristocrat life but also gives high praise of the knights braveness, pudicity, honesty, and sense of honor. In the 14th century when the feudalism was declining this story was written to reaffirm the ideal of the chivalry. The spirit core of the knight is as follows: to be loyal to monarch, to protect the church, and to help those who need their help. The knight should not only be loyal to the Christianity but also protect the country, the castles and those hostesses and lord-ladies. All these characters make up of the so-called chivalry. B. A Brief Introduction and an Analysis of Chinese Chivalry in Heroes of the MarshesHeroes of the Marshes which is written by Shi Naian is one of the “Four Masterpieces” in China; it is about an uprising which happened in the end of the Northern Song Dynasty. Because of the corruption of the government, Song Jiang led the peasants fight against the government and became the leader in Liang Shan. The story of the 108 Liang Shan heroes is known to all Chinese people; it tells about the reason and process of the 108 heroes going to Liang Shan and the beginning, process and ending of the uprising, after many hard battles with the government army, the 108 heroes finally surrendered. Although the uprising was failed, the charm which had been showed in Heroes of the Marshes became the chivalry spirit of those outlaws. All the behaviors of the heroes show the chivalry spirit of traditional Chinese folk culture.In Heroes of the Marshes we can find some kind of folk color which is a very important part of traditional Chinese folk culture. All the heroes in the marshes such as Song Jiang, Li Kui and Cai Jin have a sense of obligation; they are willing to help others with no care of return, and they are always ready to die for the benefit of the majority. It is said that bawcock is a person who strict to principle, always ready to help others, and help those who need his help.The worship to the chivalry spirit in Heroes of the Marshes reflects the common peoples psychology. They hated the corruption and the dark government; they thought it was justified to those outlaws to rob the rich and those government officials. Heroes in Liang Shan are all from common people, they are representatives of the average. They hate those dignitaries and dark government; what they want is to build a new world where there is no oppression or exploitation. . The Social Qualifications for the Emergence of the Two SpiritsA. The Historical Conditions for the Appearance and Existence of the Knight SpiritThe origin of the knight spirit is the barbarism of the Northern German nation. Before the immigration of the northern nations, there were only some incompact tribe unions in which the democracy was very popular. Barbarism has its dark side as well as some merits, such as rudeness, impartiality, religiousness, goodness, and so on. So, both rudeness and pureness can be found in a Roman. Because the farming was underdevelopment, wars happened frequently. During the wars, soldiers must be loyal to the leader and protect the head, and in order to collect fortune and higher their levels soldiers were willing to do everything on the basis of absolute allegiance which is the original mode of the chivalry system (Wang Zuoliang 57). The principle of monogyny assures the equal rights of male and female, and just because of these traditions, it becomes an important portion of chivalry to respect females. Knights romantic love becomes the most beautiful dream of most Middle Ages men. Just as Chinese courtesy, the German people are famous for their aggressiveness. So, the first principle of chivalry is aggressive, and because war is such a common thing that being aggressive is also a necessary requirement for a tribes being. On the one hand, it is the German barbarism that makes it possible to overthrow the great Roman Empire and bring a six hundred dark period to the Western Europe. On the other hand, barbarism brings aliveness and freshness to the world, so the chivalry is not only the mainstream of the Western European culture but also has great impact on the shape of the culture. Finally, during the war times of the European history knights became an important part of the army, they fight for their country people and protected their country. In the Medieval days, almost all nobles were knights, but no one was born a knightknighthood had to be earned. The training was both long and hard. A noble began his education as a page at the age of seven. He was taught to say his prayers, learned good manners and run errands for the ladies. At about fourteen, the page became a squire or assistant to a knight who became his master. He was taught the duties of a knight and practiced using a sword, lance and shield. He went into battle with his master. If the squire proved to be a good fighter, he would be made a knight at a special ceremony known as dubbing. As a knight, he was pledged to protect the weak, to fight for the church, to be loyal to his lord and to respect women of noble birth. These rules were known as code of chivalry, from which the western idea of good manners developed (Zhu Yongtao 94). In the Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, we can see that duel is a common thing between two knights. Because of the everlasting wars among kingdoms, the knights were elected by the king as the main force of his army. That period is not peace, a good knight must be a good soldier and the meaning of the knights being is that they are the protector of their country in those turbulent situations. In todays peaceful world, knights become less and less, but even the war has disappeared, the story and the spirit of knight will continue being in future.B. The Historical Conditions for the Appearance and Existence of the Chinese ChivalryDifferent regions and classes may give birth to different cultures, and special folk cultures can be found in particular historical stages. If the Western knight belongs to noble culture, the Chinese knight-errant is a reflection of underground culture in which a group of outlaws carry their activities into execution secretly. The Chinese classical novels show some special connotation and beautiful sense which can be found in Heroes of the Marshes. One of the most important connotations in Heroes of the Marshes is the saga. Saga was originally created in the form of dictation, and most of the heroic stories were spread orally through common people, and after a long time, the stories were written down by posterity.In the culture of Chinese chivalry, wushu is an important part. It translated literally, means martial arts. Its primary purpose was (and will always be) for survival. Alone, wu is just fighting, military-based attack. Combined with shu, it transcends one level and becomes an intricate, purposeful skill. Nowadays, wushu is also called kung-fu in the west. But the original meaning of kung-fu was never intended to describe martial arts. Kung-fu originally referred to the time and energy spent in learning something. In the history of China, all the monarchs would try their best to cut the throat of those so-called outlaws once they have established stable government for they were afraid that