Gentle Exterior with a Firm Interior,Upright and Adhering to Integrity:One Facet of the Humanistic Spirit of the Scholar-Officials in Jiangnan during the Ming and Qing Dynasties
The image of Jiangnan scholar-officials in people's minds,whether they were scholars in formal attire with high hats and broad sashes,literary attendants who were good at writing magnum opuses,or those who were adept at using allusions to assist in court affairs,or refined and eloquent gentlemen,seemed to possess the spirit of elegance but lack courage,have gentleness but lack masculinity,be overly cautious and seldom enterprising.And it was even rarer for them to behead enemy generals and seize their flags on the battlefield.This is actually just one aspect of the Jiangnan scholar-officials concerning their involvement in governance and their daily behavior,and it is far from being the fundamental feature of their humanistic spir-it.The Jiangnan scholar-officials seemed weak in appearance,but were actually extremely powerful inside.Their attitudes appeared gentle and harmonious,yet their wills were extremely firm.They were often gentle on the outside but firm on the inside,with great strength and power.They were knowledgeable and refined,polite and elegant.In fact,they had a clear sense of right and wrong,and would never give in on issues of principle.They talked in a gentle and cultivated way,rarely had extreme actions.However,no matter what dangers they faced,when it came to major issues concerning the fate of the nation,they would never waver or retreat and most of them were able to disregard life and death as well as personal gains and losses.
Ming and Qing DynastiesJiangnan scholar-officialhumanistic facetgentle exterior with a firm interior
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