前天去王爭家聚會，我特意請了倆俄羅斯女士，否則全是中國人肯定跟我聊不到一起，因為中國人聊的內容無非是這些——
房價、貸款、租售、裝修；子女入學、就業；父母養老、保健；COSTCO購物最新動向； 退休金、養老金、低收入補助；烹飪的調料、和麵的技巧；然後就是張家長、李家短，這是王爭尤其擅長的話題。
實話實說，隨便拉一個俄羅斯普通百姓，他能跟你聊上幾句陀思妥耶夫斯基，或者是柴可夫斯基古典音樂。
你隨便拉一個中國人，99%聊不起來貝多芬、莫紮特；莫說歐洲文藝了，就說《紅樓夢》吧，十有八九也談不出個所以然來。這是怎麽回事？
如下，人工智能有解釋：
大意是說：俄羅斯的教育注重對普通公民的文學、藝術素養的提高；而中國積貧積弱一百多年，加上無數次政治運動，人們更關注生存和務實，對精神層麵不太關注，因為不解決吃穿用度。
That perception can come from several historical and social differences, but it is highly subjective and depends on what someone means by “cultured.”
Some reasons people may perceive average Russians as more “cultured” in certain contexts:
- Strong literary tradition: Russia placed enormous prestige on literature, classical music, ballet, poetry, and philosophy. Writers like Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoevsky became central to national identity. Even ordinary Soviet citizens were often expected to know poetry, classical music, and major novels.
- Soviet education model: The USSR heavily promoted “high culture” to the masses — opera, theater, chess, classical music, and reading were subsidized and socially valued.
- Communication style: Russians are often more direct, emotionally expressive, and discussion-oriented in intellectual or artistic topics, which can create an impression of sophistication or depth.
- Urban European influence: Russian elite culture developed partly within a European intellectual framework, especially from the 18th century onward, influenced by France and Germany.
But there are major counterpoints:
- China has one of the world’s oldest and deepest continuous civilizations, with sophisticated traditions in philosophy, poetry, calligraphy, painting, cuisine, and scholarship going back thousands of years.
- Modern China underwent extreme disruption in the 20th century — war, revolution, the Cultural Revolution — which damaged traditional elite culture and intellectual life for a generation.
- Contemporary China’s rapid economic growth has emphasized pragmatism, business, engineering, and material advancement more than literary or artistic refinement in daily public life.
- Exposure matters. If someone mainly encounters Chinese tourists, new immigrants, or businesspeople under economic pressure, they may get a narrower impression than they would from meeting Chinese academics, artists, or highly educated urban professionals.
Also, “cultured” itself is culturally loaded. Different societies value different traits:
- Russians may emphasize literature, melancholy reflection, classical arts.
- Chinese culture may emphasize family responsibility, education, discipline, harmony, and practical achievement.
So the perception exists for some people, especially in Western contexts, but it is not an objective measure of cultural depth or sophistication.
想起來二十多年前北京的一段經曆。朝陽區芳草地小學附近的俄羅斯風味“阿爾巴特”餐吧從西伯利亞苦寒之地的烏蘭烏德請來幾個舞者駐場跳舞。他們當時通過俄羅斯朋友跟我認識，我幫了他們一些小忙，因此有很多接觸。
令我驚訝佩服不已的是：這不是莫斯科、聖彼得堡的正規藝術團體，且當時互聯網在俄羅斯壓根兒不普及，但是他們的編舞水平和舞蹈水平絕對是世界頂級水平。想想：如果沒有互聯網，沒有DVD，那麽他們學舞的影像資料可能就是幾盤錄像帶！
一個加拿大人看了都說：“乖乖，這就是在多倫多、蒙特利爾，都沒有這樣的水平！”
也有中央藝術團體的朋友道：“我的個去，央視春晚的舞蹈都比他們差遠了！”
猜猜編舞是誰？就是下圖中唯一的一位男舞者，名叫熱尼亞。女舞者紛紛告訴我，熱尼亞編舞很棒！她們都很服氣！
我當時還感覺：這些俄羅斯女舞者確實喜歡中國人，個個都有想嫁到中國來的意願。從修養到人品到持家，普遍比中國婦女強。若說中國人有八個心眼兒，她們可能隻有一兩個心眼兒。
