Mozi

Mozi (/ˈmoʊˈtsiː/; Chinese: 墨子; pinyin: Mòzǐ; Wade–Giles: Mo Tzu /ˈmoʊˈtsuː/; original name Mo Di (墨翟); Latinized as Micius; /ˈmɪsiəs/; c. 470 – c. 391 BCE) 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.

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. 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.