A Short History of Chinese Philosophy (9 page)

Social Background of the Mohist School

During the feudal age of the Chou dynasty, kings, princes, and feudal lords all had their military specialists. These were the hereditary warriors who constituted the backbone of the armies of that time.

With the disintegration of feudalism that took place in the latter part of the Chou dynasty, however, these warrior specialists lost their positions and titles, scattered

0 8 0 MO TZU, THE FIRST OPPONENT OF CONFUCIUS

throughout the country, and made a living by offering their services to anyone who could afford to employ them. This class of people was known as the
hsieh
or
yu hsieh,
terms which can both be translated as knights—errant. Concerning such knights errant, the
Shih Chi
says: "Their words were always sincere and trustworthy, and their actions always quick and decisive. They were always true to what they promised, and without regard to their own persons, they would rush into dangers threatening others. (Ch. 12-4) Such was their professional ethics. A large part of Mo Tzu's teaching was an extension of this ethics.

In Chinese history both the
ju
or literati and the
hsieh
or knightserrant originated as specialists attached to the houses of the aristocrats, and were themselves members of the upper classes. In later times the
ju
continued to come mainly from the upper or middle classes, but the
hsieh,
on the contrary, more frequently were recruited from the lower classes. In ancient times, such social amenities as rituals and music were all exclusively for the aristocrats; from the point of view of the common man, therefore, they were luxuries that had no practical utility. It was from this point of view that Mu Tzu and the Mohists criticised the traditional institutions and their rationalizers, Confucius and the Confucianists. This criticism, together with the elaboration and rationalization of the professional ethics of their own social class, that of the
hsieh,
constituted the central core of the Mohist philosophy.

There is plenty of evidence for the inference that Mo Tzu and his followers came from the
hsieh.

From the
Mo-tzu,
as well as from other contemporary sources, we know that the Mohists constituted a strictly disciplined organization capable of military action. The leader of the Mohisl organization was called the
Chil Tzu,
"Great Master," and had the authority of life or death over the members of the group. We are also told that Mo Tzu was the first "Great Master" of his group, and that at least once he actually led his followers to prepare for the military defense of Sung, when that state was threatened with invasion from the neighboring state of Ch u.

The story of this episode is interesting. It is said in the
Mo-tzu
that a noted mechanical inventor, Kung-shu Pan, then employed by the state of Ch u, had completed the construction of a new weapon for attacking city walls. Ch'u was preparing to attack Sung with this new weapon. Hearing of this, Mo Tzu went to Ch'u to persuade its king to desist. There he and Kung-shu Pan made a demonstration before the king of their weapons of attack and defense. Mo Tzu first untied his belt and laid out a city with it, using a small stick as a weapon. Kung-shu Pan thereupon set up nine different miniature machines of attack, but Mo Tzu nine times repulsed him. Finally, Kung—shu Pan had used up all his machines of attack, while Mo Tzu was far from being exhausted in the defense. Then Kung-shu Pan said: "l know how to defeat you, but 1 will not say it." To which Mo Tzu replied: "I know what it is, but I too will not say it.

On being asked by the king what was meant, Mo Tzu continued: "Kung-O 8 l MO TZU, THE FIRST OPPONENT OF CONFUCIUS

shu Pan is thinking of murdering me. But my disciples Ch'in Ku-li and others, numbering

three hundred men, are already armed with my implements of defense, waiting on the city wall of Sung for the invaders from Ch' u. Though I be murdered, you cannot exterminate them. To which the King exclaimed: "Very well! Let us not attack Sung." (Ch. 50.) If this story is true, it would give a good example for our present world in settling disputes between two countries. A war would not need to be fought in the field. All that would be necessary would be for the scientists and engineers of the two countries to demonstrate their laboratory weapons of attacking and defense, and the war would be decided without fighting!

Regardless of whether the story is true or not, it illustrates the nature of the Mohist organization, which is also confirmed from other sources. Thus in the
Huai—nun—tzu,
a work of the second century B.C., it is stated that the disciples of Mo Tzu were one hundred and eighty in number, all of whom he could order to enter fire or tread on sword blades, and whom even death would not cause to turn on their heels. (Ch. 2.0.) And in the
Mo—tzu
itself, no less than nine chapters deal with the tactics of fighting a defensive war and the techniques of building instruments for defending city walls. All of this shows that the Mohists, as originally constituted, were a group of warriors.

Mo Tzu and his followers, however, differed from the ordinary knights—errant in two respects. In the first place, the latter were men ready to engage in any fighting whatever, only provided that they were paid for their efforts or favored by the feudal lords. Mo Tzu and his followers, on the contrary, were strongly opposed to aggressive war; hence they agreed to fight only in wars that were strictly for self-defense. Secondly, the ordinary
hsieh
confined themselves wholly to their code of professional ethics. Mo Tzu, however, elaborated this professional ethics and gave it a rationalistic justification. Thus though Mo Tzu's background was that of a
hsieh,
he at the sametirne became the founder of a new philosophic school.

Mo Tzu's Criticism of Confucianism

According to Mo Tzu, "the principles of the Confucianists ruin the whole world in four ways": (1) The Confucianists do not believe in the existence of God or of spirits, "with the result that God and the spirits are displeased." (2.) The Confucianists insist on elaborate funerals and the practice of three years of mourning on the death of a parent, so that the wealth and energy of the people are thereby wasted. (3) The Confucianists lay stress on the practice of music, leading to an identical result. (4) The Confucianists believe in a predetermined fate, causing the people to be lazy and to resign themselves to this fate. (The
Mo-tzu,
ch. 4§.) In another chapter entitled "Anti-Confucianism," the
Mo-tzu
also says: "Even those with long life cannot exhaust the learning required for their [Confucianist]

studies. Even people with the vigor of youth cannot perform all the ceremonial duties. And even those who

0 8 4 MO TZU, THE FIRST OPPONENT OF

CONFUCIUS

have amassed wealth cannot afford music. They [the Confucianists] enhance the beauty of wicked arts and lead their sovereign astray. Their doctrine cannot meet the needs of the age, nor can their learning educate the people." (Ch.39.)

These criticisms reveal the differing social backgrounds of the Confucian— ists and Mohists.

Already before Confucius, persons who were better educated and more sophisticated had been abandoning the belief in the existence of a personal God and of divine spirits. People of the lower classes, however, had, as always in such matters, lagged behind in this rise of skepticism, and Mo Tzu held the point of view of the lower classes. This is the significance of his first point of criticism against the Confucianists. The second and third points, too, were made from the same basis. The fourth point, however, was really irrelevant, because, though the Confucianists often spoke about
Ming
(Fate, Decree), what they meant by it was not the predetermined fate attacked by Mo Tzu. This has been pointed out in the last chapter, where we have seen that
Ming,
for the Confucianists, signified something that is beyond human control. But there are other things that remain within man's power to control if he will exert himself. Only after man has done everything he can himself, therefore, should he accept with calm and resignation whaL comes thereafter as inevitable. Such is what the Confucianists meant when they spoke of "knowing
Ming."

All—embracing Love

Mo Tzu makes no criticism of the Confucianists' central idea of yen (human— heartedness) and
yi
(righteousness); in the Mo—tzu, indeed, he speaks often of these two qualities and of the man
of jen
and man of
yi.
What he means by these terms, however, differs somewhat from the concept of them held by the Confucianists. For Mo Tzu,
jen
and
yi
signify an all-embracing love, and the man of
jen
and man
of yi
are persons who practice this all-embracing love. This concept is a central one in Mo Tzu's philosophy, and represents a logical extension of the professional ethics of the class of
hsieh
(knightserrant) from which Mo Tzu sprang. This ethics was, namely, that within their group the
hsieh
enjoy equally and suffer equally. (This was a common saying of the
hsieh
of later times.) Taking this group concept as a basis, Mo Tzu tried to broaden it by preaching the doctrine that everyone in the world should love everyone else equally and without discrimination.

In the
Mo-tzu,
there are three chapters devoted to the subject of all-embracing love. In them, Mo Tzu first makes a distinction between what he calls the principles of "discrimination' and '

all-embracingness." The man who holds to the principle of discrimina tion says: It is absurd for me to care for friends as much as I would for myself, and to look after their parents as I would my own. As a result, such a man does not do very much for his friends. But the man who holds to the principle of all —embracingness says,

086 MO TZU, THE FIRST OPPONENT OF CONFUCIUS

on the contrary: I must care for my friends as much as I do for myself, and for their parents as I would my own. As a result, he does everything he can for his friends. Having made this distinction, Mo Tzu then asks the question: Which of these two principles is the right one?

Mo Tzu thereupon uses his "tests of judgment" to determine the right and wrong of these principles.

According to him, every principle must be examined by three tests, namely: Its basis, its verifiability, and its applicability. A sound and right principle should be based on the Will of Heaven and of the spirits and on the deeds of the ancient sage-kings." Then "it is to be verified by the senses of hearing and sight of the common people." And finally, "it is to be applied by adopting it in government and observing whether it is beneficial to the country and the people."
(Mo-tzu,
ch.

35.) Of these three tests, the last is the most important. Being beneficial to the country and the people is the standard by which Mo Tzu determines all values.

This same standard is the chief one used by Mo Tzu to prove the desirability of all-embracing love. In the third of three chapters, all of which are titled "All-embracing Love, he argues: "The task of the humanhearted man is to procure benefits for the world and to eliminate its calamities. Now among all the current calamities of the world, which are the greatest? I say that attacks on small states by large ones, disturbances of small houses by large ones, oppression of the weak by the strong, misuse of the few by the many, deception of the simple by the cunning, and disdain toward the humble by the honored: these are the misfortunes of the world....When we come to think about the causes of all these calamities, how have they arisen? Have they arisen out of love of others and benefiting others? We must reply that it is not so. Rather we should say that they have arisen out of hate of others and injuring others. If we classify those in the world who hate others and injure others, shall we call them 'discriminating' or 'all-embracing'? We must say that they are 'discriminating.' So, then, is not mutual discrimination the cause of the major calamities of the world? Therefore the principle of discrimination is wrong.

"Whoever criticizes others must have something to substitute for what he criticizes. Therefore I say: Substitute all—embracingness for discrimination. What is the reason why all-embracingness can be substituted for discrimination? The answer is that when everyone regards the states of others as he regards his own, who will attack these other states? Others will be regarded like the self. When everyone regards the cities of others as he regards his own, who will seize these other cities? Others will be regarded like the self. When everyone regards the houses of others as he regards his own, who will disturb these other houses? Others will be regarded like the self.

"Now, when states and cities do not attack and seize one another, and when clans and individuals do not disturb and harm one another, is this a calamity or a benefit to the world? We must say it is a benefit. When we come to consider the origin of the various benefits, how have they arisen?

O88 , MO TZU, THE FIRST OPPONENT OF CONFUCIUS

Have they arisen out of hate of others and injuring others? We must say not so. We should say that they have arisen out of love of others and benefiting others. If we classify those in the world who love others and benefit others, shall we call them 'discriminating or 'all-embracing ? We must say that they are 'all-embracing.' Then is it not the case that 'mutual all-embrae-ingness is the cause of the major benefit of the world? Therefore I say that the principle of all—embracingness is right.
(Mo—tzu,
ch. 16.) Thus, using a utilitarianistic argument, Mo Tzu proves the principle of all-embracing love to be absolutely right. The humanhearted man whose task it is to procure benefits for ihe world and eliminate its calamities, must establish all-embracing love as the standard of action both for himself and for all others in the world. When everyone in the world acts according to this standard, then attentive ears and keen eyes will respond to serve one another, limbs will be strengthened to work for one another, and those who know the proper principle will untiringly instruct others. Thus the aged and widowers will have support and nourishment with which to round out their old age, and the young and weak and orphans will have a place of support in which to grow up. When all-embracing love is adopted as the standard, such are the consequent benefits."
{Ibid.)
This, then, is Mo Tzu's ideal world, which can be created only through the practice of all-embracing love.