Do the ten Mohist theses represent Mozi's thought? Reading the masters with a focus on mottos

Abstract

In order to introduce Mozi's thought, almost every contemporary textbook on Chinese philosophy refers to his ten novel theses or dogmas, which have been preserved as the titles of the Core chapters (8–37): to elevate the worthy, to conform upward, to care for all, to condemn military aggression, to moderate expenses as well as burials, to acknowledge the will of Heaven and the percipient ghosts, and to condemn music as well as fatalism. Through a close reading of the Mozi and other early sources written by or attributed to masters, this paper argues, first, that these ten core ideas may not have been promoted by the earliest spokesmen of Mohism but gradually emerged while various layers of the book Mozi were written, and, second, that these ten ideas were not consistently attributed to early Mohism by Zhou and Han masters: their association of Mo with these specific mottos is limited and inconsistent. A focus on the most well-known motto – “care for all” – shows that there was no awareness of its belonging exclusively to one thinker or school. The difference between the earliest and the contemporary characterizations of Mozi sheds new light not only on early Mohism, but also on our preconceptions when reading early sources.

The Gradual Growth of the Mohist Core Philosophy

“…49). The most dominant portrayal during the almost 20 preceding centuries was that of Mo Di as a heretic master threatening the ru 儒 way of life (Defoort 2015).…”

“…14, 15, 16). As I have argued elsewhere (Defoort 2013), it is possible that Mohism started out with a less controversial plea to ai ren 愛人 (care for others) in the oldest "Jian ai" chapter, which gradually evolved toward the more demanding ideal of "care for all" or "inclusive care" in the somewhat later "Will of Heaven" triplet, where the expression jian ai 兼愛 regularly occurs in what might have become a "fixed formulation." 31 As Yoshinaga Shinjirōhas pointed out, "Jian ai, shang" (ca.…”

“…For example, the positive identification with fei X expressions does not yet exist in the relevant chapters, but only appears in the "Lu wen" string and the titles. Other pre-imperial or early imperial texts do not contain a very consistent presentation of the Mohist core doctrines either (Defoort 2014). This article could therefore be supplemented with a detailed study of the fixed formulations attributed to Mohists in other sources, 56 the later 56 A very rough count of the most often (more or less fixed) formulations attributed to the Mohists in other sources are, in diminishing order (several quoted in this article): Correspondence to: Onderzoeksgroep Sinologie, Leuven, Blijde-Inkomststraat 21bus 3318, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.…”

Five Visions of Yang Zhu Before He Became a Philosopher

“…This vision of two elaborate lineages is one of the reasons I tend to agree with a Wei Jin date for at least this portion of the "Yang Zhu" chapter. For another argument in favor of a Wei Jin dating, seeDefoort 2018, 175-77. 28 Lyell (1962 considers this the second stage in the Neo-Confucian use of the Yang Mo symbol, namely for the sake of the "systematization of beliefs".…”