By the time of the rise of the Zhou Dynasty, the aristocrats in China were already very respectable, and the feudalism of the Zhou Dynasty consolidated and strengthened the aristocratic class. Aristocratic feudalism is based on patriarchal clan system. The country is the expansion of the family, and the closeness of the ancestors in the ancestral temple stipulates the status of the nobility. Music discs in ancestral halls are a political birthright. So when we look at the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, most of them are brothers with the same surname, or relatives of one kind or another.

The first task of the nobility is to learn "etiquette". "Li" covers a wide range. The earliest "Three Rites" refers to the rites of heaven, earth and people, and later refers to the three Confucian classics Zhou Li, Yi Li and The Book of Rites. Rites regulate people's thoughts and behaviors, so "people are rude." Everything from offering sacrifices to heaven and earth, to offering sacrifices to emperors, to forming alliances among countries, to meeting relatives and friends in the province and wearing hats and clothes, is bound by "courtesy". Like fighting. How tragic? We should also talk about "courtesy", including "no drum, no column", "no serious injury to the gentleman" and "no capture of twenty cents", which means that the opponent can't attack when he is not online, can't do any more harm to the injured opponent, and can't capture the old man with black and white fur. Today, this is simply pedantic, but in Zhou, this is the etiquette of war, and the opposing sides are mostly relatives of one kind or another. However, the main crowd of "rites" is very few, limited to nobles and above, sons of heaven and male nobles. This is the so-called "ceremony can't hold Shu Ren".

Respecting heaven, law and ceremony is the primary task of nobles, the core content of aristocratic spirit and an important course for lifelong learning of nobles. Nobles must receive education, and only nobles can receive education. What did you learn when you were educated? Ceremony, music, shooting, imperial, calligraphy and counting are the six arts. So don't underestimate the skill of driving. You have to be a nobleman to drive and ride a horse. Don't shoot arrows easily. Rites and music were conquered by the emperor, and nobles were qualified to go out with them. "I left yesterday, willow, a.. Today, I came to Sri Lanka and it was raining. " This is a poem written by a nobleman. Poetry is a noble tradition and an elegant art. There will be banquets, sacrifices and worship in the alliance, major occasions and personal feelings. Zuo Zhuan in the Spring and Autumn Period records many examples of poetry writing and fu writing.

The core values of the nobility are respecting the king and resisting foreigners, being loyal to the king and protecting the people. The emperor of Zhou and his vassals cultivated in China, and became a unified country with advanced culture, which was always a nomadic people under threat. Therefore, Confucius affirmed Guan Zhong's achievements and said, "I am ignorant of Guan Zhong, and I am arrogant." The respect for heaven and the ancestors of the Zhou Dynasty was unified, and so was the respect for heaven and the protection of the people. As the saying goes, "Heaven is far from humanity" and "Heaven listens to the people and Heaven looks at the people". Nobles have the duty of loyalty to the monarch and the obligation of obedience. The noble spirit is finally embodied in the order of "ceremony" and the core of "benevolence". Nobles should be polite and educated, which produces the incidental characteristics, that is, elegant manners, studious and versatile. The same is true of the so-called "elegance" and "knowledge and understanding" among the people.

This is mainly advocated or must be understood by the aristocratic cultural education in the pre-Qin period!