Mozi: Basic Writings

Mozi (fifth century B.C.) was an important political and social thinker and formidable rival of the Confucianists. He advocated universal love — his most important doctrine according to which all humankind should be loved and treated as one’s kinfolk — honoring and making use of worthy men in government, and identifying with one’s superior as a means of establishing uniform moral standards. He also believed in the will of Heaven and in ghosts. He firmly opposed offensive warfare, extravagance — including indulgence in music and allied pleasures — elaborate funerals and mourning, fatalistic beliefs, and Confucianism.