If you open the European masterpieces, it is easy to find that in the literature depicting the Middle Ages, the figure of "knight" is very common, and there is even "Don Quixote" dedicated to the life of knights. But why is it that a "knight" like Don Quixote was born only in Europe, but there is no sign of him in the vast and culturally prosperous Oriental culture?
This is because, in medieval Europe, "knight" education was a special form of education in the medieval feudal society of Western Europe, a product of the feudal hierarchy, and a major form of secular education in the European Middle Ages. However, knightly education is not done by specialized educational institutions, but by family education, which runs through all aspects of knightly and social life in Europe.
First of all, knight education is intended to cultivate knights who are fierce and brave, who worship God, who are loyal to the king and patriotic, and who spoil noble ladies. Therefore, in addition to heroism and fearlessness, knight education is also partly secular and even vulgar, and individual educational concepts are also a bit flattering, after all, the masters of knights' service are nobles and noblewomen. Therefore, in "Don Quixote", a knight is depicted different from people's traditional impressions, with a little absurdity.
And this education continued throughout the adolescence of the Knights of Western Europe. From the moment they were born, they began to receive knightly education in their own homes, what to learn? Religious knowledge, moral education, and the maintenance and exercise of the body may later serve the feudal lords at a higher level. This is something that needs to be done at the stage of homeschooling.
By the age of seven and thirteen, often referred to as adolescence, they were educated as a waitress. As the name suggests, it is that the feudal lord sends the children to the nearby noble families with high status and strong martial arts to serve as waiters according to the rank, mainly by serving the masters and housewives of the family to obtain the so-called etiquette education. At the age of fourteen and twenty-one, he began to receive the Seven Skills of Knighthood. There are horseback riding, swimming, shooting, fencing, hunting, chess, and poetry. At the age of twenty-one, through solemn ceremonies, the attendants were awarded knighthood.
In summary, it can be seen that the purpose of knight's education is to cultivate loyal defenders of the feudal ruling class, and its content pays attention to religious and moral qualities, with the main purpose of cultivating military conquest ability, and cultural knowledge is lacking. The content of knight education is not to educate people, but to cultivate practical talents. What's more, knight education is not uncommon in Europe, almost comparable to the Confucian education of ancient China.
As a result, knighthood became the representative of the European Middle Ages, chivalry also influenced Generation after generation in Europe, many Western movies will have two duels scenes also originated from this, the gentleman's education of later generations, the respect for women also stemmed from this. Therefore, later Generations of European literature will tirelessly describe him, or praise him. However, with the development of the times, some inappropriate parts of chivalry began to be discovered, so there were also literary works that satirized chivalry, and the above-mentioned "Don Quixote" was an outstanding representative of it.