The vacillation between East and West is the most important feature of Russian history. The author grasps this feature of Russia from a strategic perspective, and makes a profound analysis of Russia's geographical environment, historical process and cultural characteristics with the national emblem of the Russian double-headed eagle as the leading topic.
First, the double-headed eagle of the national emblem is the image representation of Russian national character and Russian spirit.
The two ends of the double-headed eagle look at the east and the west in two completely opposite directions, which implies that Russia is a country with both eastern and western cultural origins and reflects the rich and contradictory character of this nation. She can mix infinite profound and extraordinary sublimity with lowliness, vulgarity and inferiority, and can also combine absolute freedom with servility. Berdyaev pointed out: "Russia is the most unorganized and anarchist country in the world-anarchy is a spiritual phenomenon in Russia, which is manifested in various forms, belonging to both our left and our right." But at the same time, she is the country with the highest degree of nationalization and bureaucracy in the world, and has established the largest empire in the world. Why is this puzzling phenomenon? The answer is the antinomy in Russian national character. Other nationalities also have contradictions, but only in Russia can propositions be transformed into counter-propositions, bureaucratic state institutions be born from anarchy, extreme nationalism be born from super-nationalism, infinite servility come from infinite freedom, and eternal stagnation comes from eternal roaming. To explore the spiritual mystery of the Russian double-headed eagle, I am afraid that the two personalities are opposed to each other, mutually exclusive and incompatible. The coexistence of East and West has become the essence of Russian national spirit.
Second, the gestation of geographical environment.
The vast territory has given the Russian nation endless space. Vast expanse in this land has brought all the virtues to the Russian nation, but it has also brought many shortcomings. The breadth of the Russian nation comes from this huge space. However, the vast fields need orderly institutional management and the establishment of a powerful centralized country, which is undoubtedly an unacceptable repression for Russians with natural free habits, which in turn leads to the extreme impetuousness of Russians' personality and restricts the development of individual, group and class initiative. The free nature of Russians was completely annihilated in it. Infinite space and vast fields seem to be a heavy burden for Russians. In Russian life, there is always heaviness and sadness, but joy seems out of reach for Russians.
The great plains and black land make agriculture the economic lifeline of Russians, and also determine their production and lifestyle. Farmers are naturally the vast majority of social composition, and rural communes and feudal manors have always been the basic economic units of Russian society. Serfdom is a long-standing economic system in Russian society, and it is also a spiritual shackle that binds Russians. On the one hand, the great plains and black land, as well as the rural organizations and long-term serfdom, have branded Russia's "morality, ideals, education and freedom". On the other hand, it has also cultivated "many simplicity, frankness and sincerity, and it is not used to all affectation, all pretence, all aristocratic arrogance and all gestures". Especially by linking dedication with Russian land, to cultivate Russian people's understanding of personal value? The lack of recognition of personal values lies in the fact that Russians have long lived in village communities dominated by black land geography. Russia, which straddles Europe and Asia, lies between the east and the west of the world, "leaning against China while leaning against Germany", which makes Russia "neither belong to Europe nor Asia". Asians believe that Russia should be a western country, because its birthplace, political and cultural center and territorial center of gravity are all in Europe; In the eyes of Western Europeans, Russia has been a "non-Western" country since ancient times, because its territory is in the east of Western Europe, especially its territory occupies13 of the land in Asia. No matter how Asians or Western Europeans view Russia, the objective geographical location has determined that Russia is a bridge connecting East and West. The characteristics of this geographical location determine that in the Russian spirit, the two most important principles in the spiritual world, the rationality of the East and the imagination of the West, must be integrated, and even the history of the whole earth will be integrated into our civilization. This is one aspect of the problem. On the other hand, they vacillate between the two cultures, and even make the two cultures mutually exclusive and antagonistic, which encourages the irrationality and extreme emotions of Russians. Slavic writer Ogalev once thought that "Slavs are a great nation ... in Slavs, you will never see the German philistinism, the French shallowness, the British selfishness and the Italian impetuousness, but Slavs have everything: German speculative rationality, French humanitarianism, British pragmatism and Italian wit".
The influence of natural geographical environment on Russian cultural creation is real, multifaceted, continuous and profound, and it is an important factor affecting Russian spirit. Famous Russian scholars have long been aware of this. "There is a fact that it is above our historical movement. It runs through our whole history like a red line ... it is also an important factor in our political greatness and the real reason for our mental weakness. This fact is a geographical fact. "
Third, the casting of historical practice
Although the natural geographical environment has a great influence on the formation of Russian spirit, the formation of its spiritual characteristics depends on the historical practice of Russians.
In Russian history, western civilization and eastern civilization have been wrestling with each other, and Russia has been constantly choosing and swinging in the wrestling of these two world historical trends. In this choice and wandering, the two are sometimes harmonious and sometimes sharply opposed, which embodies the essence of Russian spirit's compatibility with eastern and western civilizations and the paradox and contradiction between the two civilizations.
The ancient Russian civilization was gradually formed under the influence of Slavs and Byzantine civilization. In the long historical process after the founding of Russia, three historical events have determined and influenced the nature and development direction of Russian civilization. First, declare Christianity as the state religion. Second, the conquest and rule of the Mongols. Third, Peter I and Catherine's "enlightened autocracy" reform. Accepting the Orthodox Church not only brought Russia into contact with the most advanced European Christian civilization at that time, but also accepted some eastern cultures from Byzantium, which is at the intersection of eastern and western cultures. The invasion and rule of Mongols injected the blood of oriental culture into the Russian nation, which was still in its infancy, and made Russia, which had just come into contact with western Christian civilization, immediately turn to the East. Peter the Great's reform is a compulsory modernization movement, which has brought Russia to the threshold of the modern world and determined the fate of Russia's attempt to return to Europe and integrate into western civilization in the next few centuries. Catherine II, the successor of Peter the Great's reform, made Russia take a step forward on the road of westernization. Although Russian civilization has become a close relative of western civilization on the surface, it has distanced itself from the core of western civilization in essence, and finally made Russian civilization more unique. In the historical development after Russia, the East and the West are always wrestling with each other, thus forming two opposing ideological trends: the Western School and the Slavic School.
Fourthly, the cultural character of binary paradox.
In the specific cultural discourse, Professor Song made a thorough and detailed analysis combining the nature of Russia's external expansion, tenacity in adversity, patience in difficulties, worship of autocratic monarchy, lingering church bells and scientific spirit of constant exploration. They all reveal the paradoxes and contradictions of the Russian nation. Such as the history of external expansion and bullying, the history of patience and revolution, the worship of absolute monarchy and the exploration of socialist democracy, the gestation of religious culture and the flourishing of scientific spirit. From the most basic natural geographical environment to the middle historical development process to the deep ideological culture, there is always a clear main line running through it.
Finally, by analyzing the Russian spirit layer by layer, the author thinks that as a nation with dual characters of East and West, influenced by the geography across Europe and Asia, Russia should find a unique way to absorb the advantages of East and West. Russia should turn the antinomy of national character into two-way coordination and complementarity, thus forming a moderate tension between the two opposing factors. At this point, the author from geography? Refinement and analysis of Ross's contradictory and complicated personality.
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