Mozi
Mozi (/ˈmoʊˈtsiː/;[1] Chinese: 墨子; pinyin: Mòzǐ; Wade–Giles: Mo Tzu /ˈmoʊˈtsuː/;[2] original name Mo Di (墨翟); Latinized as Micius;[3] /ˈmɪsiəs/; c. 470 – c. 391 BCE[4]) was a Chinese philosopher, logician and essayist who founded the school of Mohism during the Hundred Schools of Thought period (the early portion of the Warring States period, c. 475–221 BCE). The ancient text Mozi contains material ascribed to him and his followers.
This article is about the Chinese political philosopher and religious reformer of the Warring States period. For other uses, see Mozi (disambiguation).
Mozi
墨翟
墨翟
c. 470 BCE
c. 391 BCE (aged 79)
Master Mo
Mòzǐ
Mòzǐ
ㄇㄛˋ ㄗˇ
Mohtzy
Mo4-tzu3
Mò-zǐh
Meʔ-tzy
Mahk-jí
mak6 zi2
Ba̍k-tsú
Mok-tsí
*C.mˤak tseʔ
(personal name)
Mò Dí
Mò Dí
ㄇㄛˋ ㄉㄧˊ
Mo4 Ti2
Mò Dí
Mahk Dihk
mak6 dik6
Ba̍k Ti̍k
Mok Dek
*C.mˤak Lˤewk
Born in what is now Tengzhou, Shandong Province, Mozi founded the school of Mohism, which argued strongly against both Confucianism and Daoism. Mozi's philosophy emphasized universal love, social order, the will of heaven, sharing, and honoring the worthy. During the Warring States period, Mohism was actively developed and practiced in many states, but fell out of favor when the legalist Qin dynasty came to power in 221 BCE. During the Qin period, many Mohist classics are thought to have been destroyed when the emperor Qin Shi Huang supposedly carried out the burning of books and burying of scholars. The importance of Mohism further declined when Confucianism became the dominant school of thought during the Han Dynasty, disappearing almost entirely by the middle of the Western Han dynasty.[5] Mozi is referenced in the Thousand Character Classic, which records that he was saddened when he saw the dyeing of pure white silk, which embodied his conception of austerity (i.e., simplicity and chastity).
The concept of Love (愛) was developed by Mozi in the 4th century BCE in reaction to the Confucian concept of benevolent love. Mozi tried to replace what he considered to be the long-entrenched Chinese over-attachment to family and clan structures with the concept of "universal love" (兼愛, jiān'ài). In this, he argued directly against Confucians who believed that it was natural and correct for people to care about different people in different degrees. Mozi, by contrast, believed people in principle should care for all people equally. Mozi stressed that rather than adopting different attitudes towards different people, love should be unconditional and offered to everyone without regard to reciprocation, not just to friends, family and other Confucian relations. Later in Chinese Buddhism, the term Ai (愛) was adopted to refer to a passionate, caring love, and was considered a fundamental desire. In Buddhism, Ai was seen as capable of being either selfish or selfless, the latter being a key element in growth towards enlightenment. Mozi taught that everyone is equal in the eyes of heaven. He believed that the decision of who is in power should be based on meritocracy, or those who are worthy of power should receive power. Mozi invoked heaven and called upon the Sage Kings to support his precedents.
"Mozi" is also the name of the philosophical anthology written and compiled by followers of Mozi. The text was formed by an accretional process that took place over a period of hundreds of years, beginning perhaps during or shortly after Mozi's lifetime, and lasting until perhaps the early Han dynasty.[24] During the Han dynasty, as Confucianism came to be the official school of political thought, Mohism gradually lost both its adherents and influence while simultaneously being partly incorporated into more mainstream political thought.[25] The text was eventually neglected, and only 58 of the text's original 71 books (pian) survive, some of which, notably the later Mohist Canons, contain significant textual corruptions and are fragmentary in nature.[26] The anthology can be divided into 5 main groups, which are determined on the basis of both chronological and thematic features:
The Mozi is a rich source of insight into early Chinese dynastic history, culture, and philosophy. The text frequently cites ancient classics, such as the Shang Shu, and at times departs from the received version, giving scholars insight into the textual development of such classics as well.
The texts portray Mozi as a mouthpiece for Mohist philosophy and not much else. This picture contrasts that of Confucius and Mencius found in the Lunyu (Analects) and Mengzi respectively, wherein the thinkers in question are portrayed as expressing emotions, chiding students, and even making mistakes. (Consider Mengzi's disastrous advice to the King of Qi to invade the state of Yan.)[27] To contrast, Mozi has little if any personality in the text, instead serving only as a mouthpiece for Mohist philosophy.
Mohism, like other schools of thought at the time, was suppressed under the Qin and died out completely under the Han, as its more radical adherents gradually dissolved and its most compelling ideas became absorbed by mainstream political thought. The influence of Mozi is still visible in many Han dynasty works written hundreds of years later. For example, the Confucian scholar Gongsun Hong describes the Confucian virtue of ren ("benevolence") in Mohist terms.[28] Additionally, Mohist epistemology and philosophy of language had a profound influence on the development of classical Chinese philosophy in general.[29] In fact, Mohism was so prominent during the Warring States period that philosophical opponents, including Mencius and some authors of the Daoist anthology, the Zhuangzi, lament the very prevalence and widespread influence of their ideas.[30]
In modern times, Mohism has been given a fresh analysis. Sun Yat-Sen used "universal love" as one of the foundations for his idea of Chinese democracy. More recently, Chinese scholars under Communism have tried to rehabilitate Mozi as a "philosopher of the people", highlighting his rational-empirical approach to the world as well as his "proletarian" background. The body in the Mozi is constructed by xing (形, 'body'), xin (心, 'heart'), qi (氣, 'energy') 'which is in accord with the Pre-Qin thinkers' understanding to the body. While xing refers to the flesh-bloody part of human being, the concept of xin focuses on the aspect of cognition and is closely related to the concept of shan (善, 'goodness'), ai (愛, 'love'), zhi (志, 'will') and xing.[31]
Some views claim that Mozi's philosophy was at once more advanced and less so than that of Confucius. Indeed the Mohists were radical political reformers who sought primarily to benefit the masses and challenge the practices of the ruling orthodoxy, often targeting a perceived wasteful aristocracy whom they referred to as "the gentlemen of the world." The Mohist idea of "universal love" embraced a broader idea of human community than that of the Confucians, arguing that the scope of individuals' moral concern should include all people. Opponents of this idea often claimed that "universal love" was akin to renouncing one's family,[32] and indeed more strict Mohists living in Mohist communities as the school flourished may have exhibited such behavior. However, there is some scholarly debate over just how radical the provisions of universal love actually are, and, as can be seen from the example of Gongsun Hong above, the less radical components of the doctrine were eventually absorbed by mainstream thought.
Mozi is also famous for his ideas about frugality, such as those concerning moderating expenses and eliminating wasteful ceremonies including music and funerals. A common misconception is that the Mohists eschewed all forms of art, but of course the Mohists' targets are more specifically elaborate, state-sponsored rituals that would place incredible financial burdens upon a mostly peasant population. This can be seen from Xunzi's own arguments against Mozi in book 10 of the Xunzi "Enriching the State," where Xunzi argues against Mozi that prominent displays of wealth on the part of the state is necessary to maintaining social order.
Some modern-day supporters for Mozi (as well as Communism) make the claim that Mohism and modern Communism share a lot in terms of ideals for community life. Others would claim that Mohism shares more with the central ideas of Christianity, especially in terms of the idea of "universal love" (in Greek, "agape"), the "Golden Rule", and the relation of humanity to the supernatural realm. However, Mohism is undoubtedly a product of Warring States China, a period of tremendous political violence and turmoil. The Mohists were political reformers, but they did not seek to challenge the monarchical model of government that prevailed during that time, and sought instead to reform from within by encouraging governments to hire competent people to carry out political tasks, care for their people inclusively, eliminate frivolous government spending, and halt all wars of aggression.
In many ways the influence of Mohism was a victim of its own successes, and it is fairly easy to understand its decline. The Mohists' ideas about the importance of meritocracy and universal love were gradually absorbed by mainstream Confucian thinking. Their opposition to offensive warfare became irrelevant once the various Warring States were unified under the Qin and later Han dynasty, and their religious superstitions were eventually replaced with less supernatural accounts. So their most promising ideas were metabolized by the tradition, while their more radical and anachronistic ones were gradually discarded, leading to their demise during the Han dynasty.
Mohism and science[edit]
According to Joseph Needham, Mozi (collected writings of those in the tradition of Mozi, some of which might have been by Mozi himself) contains the following sentence: 'The cessation of motion is due to the opposing force... If there is no opposing force... the motion will never stop. This is as true as that an ox is not a horse.' which, he claims, is a precursor to Newton's first law of motion.[33] Mozi also contains speculations in optics and mechanics that are similarly strikingly original, although their ideas were not taken up by later Chinese philosophers. The Mohist tradition is also highly unusual in Chinese thought in that it devoted time to developing principles of logic.[34]
He is the first to describe the physical principle behind the camera, also known as the camera obscura.[35][note 1][36]