Mozi (book)

Mozi

A page from the 7th volume
Author	(trad.) Mo Di
Original title	墨子
Language	Classical Chinese
Genre	Philosophy
Publication date	5th–3rd centuries BC
Publication place	China
Published in English	1929
Media type	manuscript
Dewey Decimal	181.115
LC Class	B128 .M6
Translation	Mozi at Wikisource

Mozi
"Mozi" in seal script (top) and regular (bottom) Chinese characters
Chinese	墨子
Literal meaning	"[The Writings of] Master Mo"
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Mòzǐ Gwoyeu Romatzyh Mohtzy Wade–Giles Mo4-tzŭ3 IPA [mwô.tsɨ̀] Wu Romanization Meʔ tzy Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Mahk-jí Jyutping Mak6-zi2 IPA [mɐk̚˨.tsi˧˥] Southern Min Tâi-lô Ba̍k-tzú Middle Chinese Middle Chinese Mok-tsí Old Chinese Baxter–Sagart (2014) *C.mˤək tsəʔ

The Mozi (Chinese: 墨子), also called the Mojing (Chinese: 墨經) or the Mohist canon,^[1][2] is an ancient Chinese text from the Warring States period (476–221 BC) that expounds the philosophy of Mohism. It propounds such Mohist ideals as impartiality, meritocratic governance, economic growth and aversion to ostentation, and is known for its plain and simple language.

The book's chapters can be divided into several categories: a core of 31 chapters, containing the basics of Mohist philosophy; several traditionally known as the "Dialectical Chapters", among the most important in early Chinese texts on logic; five sections containing stories and information about Mozi, his disciples, and his followers; and eleven chapters on technology and defensive warfare, on which the Mohists were expert and which are valuable sources of information on ancient Chinese military technology.^[3] There two other minor sections: an initial group of seven chapters that are clearly of a much later date, and two anti-Confucian chapters, of which one has survived.

The Mohist philosophical school went into decline in the 3rd century BC, and copies of the Mozi were not well-preserved. The modern text has been described as "notoriously corrupt". Of the Mozi's 71 original chapters, 18 have been lost, and several others are badly fragmented.^[4][5]