Mo Zi

Mo Zi (墨子; pinyin: Mò Zi; lit. "Master Mo"; also known as Mo-Tze, Mo Tzu, Mo Tseu, Motse or even the latinised form Mocius) (470 BC - 391 BC), 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 preached strongly against Confucianism and Daoism. His real name was Mo Di (墨翟; pinyin: Mò Dí).

Mo Zi idealised the Xia Dynasty, and advocated judging ideas and objects through the human senses, by their utility and their antiquity. Mo Zi denounced offensive warfare, extravagant funerals and music, and tried to replace Chinese family and clanic structure with the concept of "impartial caring". In this, he argued directly against Confucians such as Mencius, who argued that it was natural for people to care about different people in different amounts - particularly to consider the effects of one own's actions more as they related to the family than to society. Mo Zi, by contrast, felt that individuals had to consider how their actions would affect everyone in society, not just the people they knew personally. He favoured frugality, and advocated increasing the power of the state through early marriage and a system of rewards and punishments.

Mo Zi also held a belief in the power of ghosts and spirits, although he is often thought to only worship them pragmatically. That is, that heaven, tian, should be respected because failing to do so would subject one to punishment. In this regard, Mo Zi favors government which imitates his conception of heaven.

The Mozi is also the name of the philosophical text compiled by Mohists from Mo Zi's thought.

ja:墨子 nl:Mo Zi zh:墨子