Mozi (book)

The Mozi (Chinese: 墨子), also called the Mojing (Chinese: 墨經) or the Mohist canon, is an ancient Chinese text from the Warring States period (476–221 BC). It explains the ideas of Mohism, a philosophy started by a person named Mozi. The book talks about important ideas like treating everyone fairly, choosing leaders based on their skills, growing the economy, and not spending too much on fancy things. The language in the book is clear and easy to understand.

The book has many chapters grouped into different parts. There are 31 chapters that explain the main ideas of Mohism. Some chapters, called the "Dialectical Chapters," are important for understanding early Chinese logic. There are also chapters with stories about Mozi and his followers, as well as chapters about technology and ways to defend cities, which show how clever the Mohists were. Sadly, many chapters of the original book were lost over time. Today, we have only part of the book, and some parts are hard to read.

Authorship

Main article: Mozi

The Mozi is named after and linked to a person called Mo Di, known as "Mozi," which means "Master Mo." He lived in the 5th century BC and traveled among the Warring States to talk to rulers about stopping fights between them. Not much is certain about Mozi, but many think he came from the State of Lu. Some ideas say he might have been a worker like a carpenter.

The book talks about important ideas such as caring for everyone equally and thinking carefully about what is true, which shows that Mozi valued smart thinking and good advice.

Content

The Mozi originally had 71 chapters, but 18 of them are lost and some others are damaged. The book can be divided into six main sections.

Chapters 8 to 37 form the core chapters and explain the main ideas of Mohist philosophy. Chapters 40 to 45, known as the "Dialectical Chapters", discuss topics like logic, epistemology, ethics, geometry, optics, and mechanics. Chapters 46 to 51 contain stories and dialogues about Mozi and his followers. Finally, Chapters 52 to 71, called the "Military Chapters", offer instructions on defensive warfare.

Selected translations

Translating the Mozi has been challenging because some parts of the book are damaged. The first translation into a Western language was done in German by Alfred Forke in 1922, but it had many mistakes. Accurate translations of the later chapters only appeared in the late 20th century.

Some important translations include:

• Mei Yi-pao (1929), The Ethical and Political Works of Motse
• Burton Watson (1963), Mo Tzu: Basic Writings
• A. C. Graham (1978), Later Mohist Logic, Ethics, and Science
• Ian Johnston (2010), The Mozi: A Complete Translation
• Chris Fraser (2020), The Essential Mòzǐ: Ethical, Political, and Dialectical Writings

There are also many translations of the Mozi in modern Chinese and Japanese.