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Mozi

Early Warring States thinker who founded the Mohist school, preached impartial care and opposition to offensive war, and talked Chu out of attacking Song

Also known as Mo Di · Zi Mozi

Mozi, personal name Di, left few biographical traces: the Shiji mentions him only at the end of the biographies of Mencius and Xunzi, as a grandee of Song skilled in defence who urged frugality and lived in or after Confucius's time, while others make him a native of Lu. He founded the Mohist school, arguing for impartial care, against offensive war and for promoting the worthy, with a following drawn largely from craftsmen. The Gongshu chapter of the Mozi tells how, when Gongshu Ban built siege ladders for Chu to attack Song, Mozi walked ten days to Ying, beat Gongshu Ban nine times in a model siege laid out with his belt, and warned that three hundred disciples under Qin Guli already manned Song's walls, so Chu called off the attack. The History of the Han lists the Mozi in seventy-one chapters, of which fifty-three survive, including the Canons with passages on optics, mechanics and logic. Han Feizi named Confucians and Mohists the two prominent schools of his day.

Life and times

  1. c. 468 BCEBornZhou
  2. 500 BCEHundred Schools ContentionTook partConfucian, Mohist, Daoist, Legalist, and other thinkers debated ethics, human nature, and government across the rival states.
  3. c. 376 BCEDied

Works

  1. Literature · Prose72
    1. MoziZhouCorpus of Mo Di and the Mohists: universal love, against aggression, logic and siegecraft
    2. Mozi: Universal Love IZhou
    3. Mozi: Against Offensive War IZhou
    4. Mozi: Befriending the LearnedZhou
    5. Mozi: Self-CultivationZhou
    6. +25 more
      1. Mozi: On DyeingZhou
      2. Mozi: On the Necessity of StandardsZhou
      3. Mozi: The Seven Causes of AnxietyZhou
      4. Mozi: Indulgence in ExcessZhou
      5. Mozi: Threefold ArgumentZhou
      6. Mozi: Exaltation of the Virtuous IZhou
      7. Mozi: Exaltation of the Virtuous IIZhou
      8. Mozi: Exaltation of the Virtuous IIIZhou
      9. Mozi: Identification with the Superior IZhou
      10. Mozi: Identification with the Superior IIZhou
      11. Mozi: Identification with the Superior IIIZhou
      12. Mozi: Universal Love IIZhou
      13. Mozi: Universal Love IIIZhou
      14. Mozi: Against Offensive War IIZhou
      15. Mozi: Against Offensive War IIIZhou
      16. Mozi: Economy of Expenditures IZhou
      17. Mozi: Economy of Expenditures IIZhou
      18. Mozi: Economy of Expenditures III (lost)Zhou
      19. Mozi: Simplicity in Funerals I (lost)Zhou
      20. Mozi: Simplicity in Funerals II (lost)Zhou
      21. Mozi: Simplicity in Funerals IIIZhou
      22. Mozi: Will of Heaven IZhou
      23. Mozi: Will of Heaven IIZhou
      24. Mozi: Will of Heaven IIIZhou
      25. Mozi: On Ghosts I (lost)Zhou
    7. Open all works→
  2. Literature · Sayings7
    1. Success Achieved, Fame WonZhouIdiom from the Mozi: deeds accomplished and fame won
    2. CountlessZhouIdiom from the Mozi: too many to count
    3. Striking a Stone with an EggZhouIdiom from the Mozi: striking a stone with an egg
    4. Harming Others to Profit OneselfZhouLine from Mozi's Against Offensive War: theft begins with harming others for gain
    5. Clinging to Old Rules Like Mozi Holding a CityZhouIdiom rooted in the Mozi: from Mozi's famous defence to rigid clinging to old rules
    6. +2 more
      1. The Greatest Wrong Called Right: Mozi Against Aggressive WarZhouFamous line from the Mozi: attacking a state is the greatest wrong of all
      2. Condemning Offensive War: Mozi's Argument from Stolen PeachesZhouFrom the Mozi's Against Offensive Warfare: the case against wars of aggression
  3. Literature · Fables1
    1. Throwing an Egg Against a RockZhouEpisode in the Mozi: Mozi ignores a diviner and likens refuting him to throwing eggs at a rock

Connections

  1. Shared events7
    1. Confucius (Kongzi)551 BCE–479 BCE
    2. Mencius (Mengzi)c. 372 BCE–c. 289…
    3. Laozi (Lao-Tzu)Dates unknown; la…
    4. Xunzic. 313 BCE–c. 238…
    5. Zhuangzi (Chuang-Tzu)c. 369 BCE–c. 286…
    6. Han Feizic. 280 BCE–233 BCE
    7. Zi SiDates unknown; ea…

Records

Mo Di, a grandee of Song who urged impartial care and frugality

Warring States period

The Shiji adds a note on Mo Di at the end of its biographies of Mencius and Xunzi, calling him a grandee of Song who was skilled in defense and urged frugality, living either at the same time as Confucius or after him. The Mozi chapter on impartial care asks whether any son would still be unfilial if all people loved others as they love themselves, and closes by urging that people must not fail to encourage love for others.

References (2)