1.
A few days ago, I saw that a really good concert was going to be performed.
However, because I booked the tickets so late, even the worst seats were sold out. So, I posted on Weibo asking for help, hoping someone had bought tickets but couldn't go, or wanted to transfer them; I was willing to pay a little extra for two tickets. This Weibo post was later reposted by some big account, and the next morning, I saw many more replies. Not a single person was selling tickets, but instead, I received a lot of sarcastic remarks. A few people commented things like, "You rich people just like to pretend to be cultured," "Heh, there are so many other things you could do with that money, why go to these kinds of shows?" and "The poster is pretentious, heh." Two or three people commented things like, "Little Apple is so much better than these concerts." Great, I didn't even get tickets and still attracted a bunch of weirdos.
Let me tell you another thing.
I know a guy who is pursuing his PhD at a very prestigious university. He was the kind of child who was naturally a bit smarter than others. While we were still struggling with math problems in textbooks, he was already a math Olympiad prodigy, winning various gold medals. He was naturally good at studying, and driven by interest, he unknowingly earned his doctorate. In recent years, there has been much prejudice against pursuing a doctorate in China. Every time he went home for the Chinese New Year, his relatives would always pull him aside and ask, "When are you going to start earning money?" "Huh? What, you're going to study for so many years? Let me tell you, studying is useless. You need to go out and find a job, earn money, and build connections." Besides the elders' lack of understanding about studying, young people have also begun to embrace the idea that "studying is useless." Various forms of mockery against doctoral candidates, especially female doctoral candidates, circulate on major social media platforms.
2.
Vulgar people begin to ridicule refined food, ignorant scoundrels begin to deny the value of a doctorate, fools mock wise people for "thinking too much," and people who never trim their nails properly criticize tidy men as effeminate. Swearing isn't a sign of being uncultured or impolite; rather, it's a sign of being straightforward and unpretentious. If a girl tells others she enjoys kaiseki cuisine, loves museums and art, she's likely to be labeled "hedonistic" or "pretentious." Conversely, if another girl says she enjoys street food, loves kebabs and spicy hot pot, she'll be seen as easygoing and genuine. I don't know when it started, but beautiful things have become synonymous with injustice, while trashy culture and food have become euphemisms for sincerity. When people begin to mock the exquisite and beautiful, terrible culture is openly and brazenly taking over.
Please allow me to bluntly point out that these people are truly pathetic. They are a group of people who have never seen or understood anything. They haven't seen truly good things, so naturally they can't understand why others are moved to tears when listening to Mahler, nor can they comprehend the profound influence of the humanities on humanity. Even if they have seen them, their narrow-mindedness prevents them from appreciating the moving power of these exquisite things. They are confused relativists, insisting that "Little Apple" and the "Goldberg Variations" are of equal quality. Their pitifully poor understanding prevents them from recognizing that others are different from them, even if there truly exists a group of people in the world who are genuinely devoted to the spiritual world and have a heartfelt love for art and good food. They cannot imagine that someone who likes to listen to Mahler simply likes to listen to Mahler, that someone who likes to discuss philosophy simply wants to discuss philosophy, or that someone who does many things out of genuine love, not just for show.
The mockery of PhDs has become a perennially popular joke; beneath this entertaining language lies anti-intellectualism and self-righteous pride. People don't respect knowledge unless you can tell them that knowledge can buy them a house on the East Third Ring Road, then they might give you a skeptical look. Meddling men worry about female PhDs not being able to get married, forgetting that female PhDs will never marry them, or even give them a second glance. A group of people worrying about the marriage prospects of another group that doesn't even respect them—such enthusiasm is truly touching.
3.
When I lived in Shanghai, I knew an elderly lady who was over seventy years old, yet she maintained a remarkably refined manner of speaking and dressing. When she went out, she would wear a hand-embroidered cheongsam, layered with a grey knitted cardigan, her hair neatly combed, and a pearl necklace. Every Sunday, she insisted on attending services at Xujiahui Church. She told us about those most difficult and arduous years, when her family was destitute and survival was a pressing issue, yet she still kept her few clothes spotless and always maintained a clean and tidy appearance. Some people ridiculed her for putting on a show, for indulging in petty-bourgeois sentiments. But she viewed these actions as a ritual, a constant reminder to herself not to forget the pursuit of beauty, and that even when mired in hardship, she would never give up and become part of that hardship. Compared to succumbing to despair, choosing to uphold such a belief is clearly more difficult and challenging. This belief sustained her through the long river of time, transforming her into an elegant woman who has withstood the test of time.
I truly admire this old lady. Upholding beauty, adhering to beliefs and lifestyles related to beauty, is inherently difficult; coupled with the ridicule of those around us, continuing to defend one's beliefs requires immense courage. Trashy culture doesn't easily disappear, and popular culture experiences wave after wave of trends; but some things, some experiences, are beautiful yet extremely fragile. If we don't defend them, they may be permanently destroyed and vanish from this world.
Mocking knowledge and aesthetics at eighteen is a form of teenage rebellion, a path most people inevitably take. However, to remain at the cognitive level of an eighteen-year-old at thirty is truly unfortunate. In our youth, we reject sophistication, knowledge, and the admission of ignorance, and we reject aesthetic preferences that lean towards the gaudy—all of this is fine, and no one will truly blame us; but as we grow older, we must begin to acknowledge our "ignorance" and gradually learn to hold beauty and wisdom in awe.
One can choose a vulgar lifestyle, but one shouldn't ridicule those who live a more refined life. I've met people who, upon seeing others reveling in exquisite things, immediately fly into a rage, accusing them of pretentiousness.
They can tolerate their own taste remaining forever stuck in time-travel novels and "Love for Sale," yet they absolutely cannot accept someone else liking Karajan. They believe that the gutter oil fish hotpot in hole-in-the-wall restaurants is the most delicious, mocking men and women eating high-class cuisine, completely failing to understand that the dining experience is also part of physical and mental pleasure. Anything they cannot understand or haven't tried, they consider hypocritical and pretentious. Beneath that incurable narrow-mindedness lies a mind that refuses to explore, filled with anti-intellectualism, and unaware of its own limitations.
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