Mozi: Difference between revisions
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|align=right| ||<small>(Ch: </small>墨子; <small>Py: Mòzǐ)</small> |
|align=right| ||<small>(Ch: </small>墨子; <small>Py: Mòzǐ)</small> |
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'''Mozi''' (c. [[470 BCE]]–c. [[390 BCE]]), whose name is sometimes [[Latin|latinised]] as '''Micius''', lived in [[China]] during |
'''Mozi''' (c. [[470 BCE]]–c. [[390 BCE]]), whose name is sometimes [[Latin|latinised]] as '''Micius''', lived in [[China]] during the [[Hundred Schools of Thought]] of the [[Spring and Autumn Period]] and the [[Warring States Period]]. He founded the school of [[Mohism]] and argued strongly against [[Confucianism]] and [[Daoism]]. The school did not survive the [[Qin Dynasty]], and throughout both traditional and modern Chinese eras was viewed largely in historical terms rather than as a school of thought that was actively being developed. |
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| ⚫ | Mozi idealised the [[Xia Dynasty]], and advocated judging ideas and objects through the human senses, by their utility and their antiquity. Mozi denounced offensive [[warfare]], extravagant funerals, and [[music]], and tried to replace Chinese family and [[Chinese clan|clan]] structure with the concept of ''bo-ai'' which can be translated as "impartial caring" or "universal love". In this, he argued directly against Confucians who had argued that it was natural and correct for people to care about different people in different degrees. Mozi, by contrast, argued that one should care for all people equally, a notion that philosophers in other schools found absurd, as it would imply no special amount of care or duty towards one's parents and family. |
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Mozi came from a lower-middle-class artisan background, and was a master engineer and craftsman. He designed everything from mechanical birds that could remain aloft for hours to catapults and "Cloud Ladders" used to besiege city walls. Though he did not hold a high official position, Mozi managed to attract a large following, which at its height rivaled the Confucian school in influence. His followers were organized in a disciplined order that studied the arts of governance and self-defense. Mozi's hatred of war led him to travel from one crisis zone to another with his disciples through the ravaged landscape of the Warring States, trying to dissuade ambitious rulers from their plans of conquest. Once he walked for eighty days to the state of Chu to prevent an attack on the state of Song. At the Chu court, Mozi engaged in simulated war games with Gongshu Ban, the chief military strategist of Chu, and overturned each one of his strategems. When Gongshu Ban threatened him with death, Mozi informed the king that his disciples had already trained the soldiers of Song on his defense methods, so it would be meaningless to kill him. The Chu king was forced to call off the war. In his pacifism as well as his emphasis on improving economic conditions, Mozi often expressed his sympathy for the plight of the lower classes. For this reason he became the favorite philosopher of [[Mao Zedong]] and the Communist regime, who saw him as a proto-Marxist. |
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He favoured frugality, denouncing music and ceremony as extravagant, and advocated increasing the power of the [[state]] through early marriage and a system of rewards and punishments. |
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Mozi's political writings are distinguished from those of Confucius in their emphasis on the material and pragmatic aspects of administration. Mozi wrote chapters expounding in detail on the collection of harvests, on the defense of cities and on the legal system. He idealised the [[Xia Dynasty]], but criticized the Confucian belief that the ways of the ancients should provide a model for contemporary life. Though he did not hold a progressive view of history as did [[Han Fei Zi]] and the [[Legalists]], Mozi believed that each period of history must find the ways of life appropriate to itself. He emphasized the value of technical innovation, and advocated judging ideas and objects through the senses, by their utility and their place in history. Mozi also laid out a five-step method for testing the truth or falsehood of statements, and wrote extensively on problems of logic and reasoning. |
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| ⚫ | Mozi also held a belief in the power of ghosts and spirits, although he is often thought to have only worshipped them pragmatically. That is, he thought that heaven, ''tian'', should be respected because failing to do so would subject one to punishment. In this regard, Mozi favoured a style of government which imitated his conception of heaven. |
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Mozi's moral teaching emphasized the value of self-reflection rather than obedience to a moral code. "It is not that my dwelling is not peaceful; it is that I have no peace within myself." By reflecting on one's own thoughts and actions and refining them, one attains an inner uprightness rather than mere outward conformity with ritual. "What matters is not the quality of a funeral, but the depth of the grief felt for the departed." Mozi exhorted the gentleman to lead an ascetic life, renouncing both material and spiritual extravagance. |
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| ⚫ | Mozi |
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| ⚫ | Mozi also held a belief in the power of ghosts and spirits, although he is often thought to have only worshipped them pragmatically. That is, he thought that heaven, ''tian'', should be respected because failing to do so would subject one to punishment. |
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The ''Mozi'' is the name of the philosophical text compiled by Mohists from Mozi's thought. |
The ''Mozi'' is the name of the philosophical text compiled by Mohists from Mozi's thought. |
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Revision as of 20:16, 4 February 2006
| Mozi | |
|---|---|
| (Traditional names) | |
| Ancestral name (姓): | Jiang (Ch: 姜 ; Py: Jiāng) |
| Clan name (氏): | Mo¹ (Ch: 墨 ; Py: Mò) |
| Given name (名): | Di (Ch: 翟 ; Py: Dí) |
| (Modern scholarship) | |
| Ancestral name (姓): | Unknown² |
| Clan name (氏): | Unknown² |
| Given name (名): | Di (Ch: 翟 ; Py: Dí) |
| Styled: | Master Mo |
| (Ch: 墨子; Py: Mòzǐ) | |
Mozi (c. 470 BCE–c. 390 BCE), whose name is sometimes latinised as Micius, lived in China during the Hundred Schools of Thought of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. He founded the school of Mohism and argued strongly against Confucianism and Daoism. The school did not survive the Qin Dynasty, and throughout both traditional and modern Chinese eras was viewed largely in historical terms rather than as a school of thought that was actively being developed.
Mozi idealised the Xia Dynasty, and advocated judging ideas and objects through the human senses, by their utility and their antiquity. Mozi denounced offensive warfare, extravagant funerals, and music, and tried to replace Chinese family and clan structure with the concept of bo-ai which can be translated as "impartial caring" or "universal love". In this, he argued directly against Confucians who had argued that it was natural and correct for people to care about different people in different degrees. Mozi, by contrast, argued that one should care for all people equally, a notion that philosophers in other schools found absurd, as it would imply no special amount of care or duty towards one's parents and family.
He favoured frugality, denouncing music and ceremony as extravagant, and advocated increasing the power of the state through early marriage and a system of rewards and punishments.
Mozi also held a belief in the power of ghosts and spirits, although he is often thought to have only worshipped them pragmatically. That is, he thought that heaven, tian, should be respected because failing to do so would subject one to punishment. In this regard, Mozi favoured a style of government which imitated his conception of heaven.
The Mozi is the name of the philosophical text compiled by Mohists from Mozi's thought.
Footnotes
1 Traditionally, Mozi was supposed to be descended from the Lord of Guzhu (孤竹君), himself descended from Shennong the legendary emperor. The descendants of the Lord of Guzhu had the clan name Motai (墨胎), which later was shortened to Mo.
2 Modern scholarship suggests that "Mo" was not in fact the clan name of Mozi, as this clan name/family name is not encountered during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, but that "Mo" was rather the name of the mohist school itself, derived from the name of a criminal punishment (tattooing of the forehead of criminals; mo literally means "black Chinese ink"). The actual ancestral name and clan name of Mozi is not known. It may be that, because he was born into the lower classes (which seems to be established), he did not have ancestral or clan names. During Chinese antiquity, the vast majority of the Chinese people, who were not related to aristocratic families, did not possess ancestral and clan names.