The background of humanism.
From14th century to17th century, capitalism in western Europe sprouted and grew, and the feudal system began to collapse. At that time, Christian theology, which was dominant in ideology, seriously bound people's thoughts and hindered the development of emerging relations of production. The church also preaches asceticism to people, thinking that the evil in the world is innate, and if you want to get rid of the suffering of life completely, you must practice asceticism. Under the rule of the church's autocratic culture, people's free will was seriously destroyed and their value and dignity were completely lost. This is an extremely cruel and highly closed era, and the whole of Europe is suffering. With the germination and development of capitalist economy, the emerging bourgeoisie is gradually maturing, which inevitably requires getting rid of the shackles of theological thought on people.
The main content of humanism
During the Renaissance, bourgeois intellectuals tried to get rid of the shackles of the church on people's lives and thoughts. They look at everything not with God as the center, but with people as the center. They believe and celebrate the value, dignity, strength and greatness of human beings, and believe that people can create everything; They affirm reality and life, and point out that heaven is not after death but now, not in heaven but on earth. They believe that people should take the initiative to struggle, not passively retreat from this world. The purpose of life is not to pursue "ascension" after death, but to enjoy a better life in this world. People's desires should not be suppressed, but should be satisfied. They praised life and nature and advocated science and rationality, which constituted the basic content of the new culture in the Renaissance. Humanism is the ideological weapon of bourgeois anti-feudalism and anti-church, and the guiding ideology of Renaissance, which is revolutionary and progressive. However, it emphasizes individual will, and its material basis is private ownership, which has certain limitations.
Humanism in works
Many works in the Renaissance concentrated on humanism, advocated individual liberation, affirmed that "man" was the creator and enjoyment of secular life, and demanded that literature and art express people's thoughts and feelings. If we review the paintings, sculptures and literary works of great artists in the Renaissance, we can more directly feel the humanists' love and praise for human beauty, human beauty and human beauty. It fully expresses the spirit of the times that the humanistic spirit is organically combined with the works of art under the background of that time. Leonardo da Vinci's world-famous masterpiece Mona Lisa is a portrait of the wife of Florentine businessman Giogunda. This oil painting abandons the previous religious themes and focuses on real people. The character is very self-restrained, with a smile on his mouth and quiet. It looks a little sad and full of energy. The smiles of characters in paintings are always elusive. For hundreds of years, her smile has been described as "enigmatic smile" and "mysterious smile". However, through this faint smile, we clearly feel the innocence, joy and peace in the hearts of the characters. The perfect combination of joyful mood and classical reserve left an eternal mysterious smile. Masters focus on expressing people's feelings. Therefore, when he painted the Mona Lisa, he painted it with sincere and pure feelings. He also described her as an ideal, a symbol of beauty, a joy and light of the human world. He wants to convey his beauty and experience to all people with a brush. That smile is full of self-confidence and optimism of new people in the new era, full of their desire for the future and the desire for truth, goodness and beauty. Dante's major work The Divine Comedy is a literary heritage cherished by people all over the world. Praise freedom and rationality, personal feelings and the spirit of seeking knowledge. Dante's works widely reflect the social contradictions in Italy in the late Middle Ages, boldly condemn the greed and arbitrariness of the Pope and priests, and reveal the humanistic thought. He praised the strong will and lofty spirit of human beings, eulogized the beauty of nature and the world, and believed that good can overcome evil. He boldly praised the value and dignity of human beings. He said: "the nobility of human beings, in terms of many achievements, exceeds the nobility of angels." He believes that human beings have the ability to make achievements and innovations in all disciplines and artistic fields. He advocated that "the wise and strong are born to rule the people", thus denying the theory that religious power is higher than monarchy.
The historical significance of humanism
Promote the transformation of Europeans from god-centered to people-centered, arouse people's awakening, and shift people's attention from the world to the present world. It awakens people's enterprising spirit, creative spirit and scientific spirit, thus opening the way for the establishment of capitalist system in spirit.
In the way of thinking, humanism advocates science and rationality, opposes obscurantism and mysticism, and breaks the bondage of external authority such as medieval theology to thought. It not only abandons the vision of God, but also observes people, society and nature with human eyes. This cleared the way for future ideological progress, and since then, natural science has made great progress.
Renaissance also broke the situation that religious mysticism dominated the whole country, strongly promoted and influenced the religious reform movement, and provided a strong impetus for this movement. Humanism broke through the shackles of the feudal church during the Renaissance, and society also produced many cultural and artistic masterpieces under the influence of this thought. Humanism also played an important role in education reform, ancient books excavation and collation, which laid the foundation for modern European education and humanities research. Humanism advocates attaching importance to reality and free thought, thus providing ideological weapons for the two major historical movements in the Renaissance-the religious reform and the rise of natural science.