Chapter 4 Chapter 4 Non-Gong and Jianai

Spring and Autumn without justice.There were constant and brutal wars of plunder among the nobility.Mozi is close to laborers, sympathizes with small producers and private owners, and has a deep understanding of their sufferings in wars, so his thoughts and feelings against aggressive wars are also very strong.He resolutely and ruthlessly exposed the disasters that the war of aggression brought to the broad masses of the people at that time. In Mozi it is written: To attack the innocent country, enter its borders, mow its crops, cut down its trees, destroy its walls, suppress (fill) its ditches, burn its ancestral temples, and kill its sacrifices.Those who are qualified by the people (resisting) will be pulled out (killed); those who are not qualified will be tied up and returned (pulled back with a rope).Husbands think of servants, Yu (yuyu), Xu, Mi, and women think of Chong and chieftains (servants, Yu, Xu, Mi, Chong, and chieftains refer to slaves who do different jobs). ("Under the Will of Heaven")

The book "Mozi" described in detail the painful experience of the people who were besieged in the city: men, women, old and young all participated in the defense of the city, and all available items such as folk food, cloth, money, cattle, horses and livestock were requisitioned by the public.Since the day of the siege, the people have been starved of food. On average, they only eat more than three liters of grain a day, which is about half a liter today.There are not only combat casualties, but also starvation and bankruptcy.The heavy labor burden and immeasurable property losses are already astonishing. If the war does not end for a long time, the people in the besieged city will suffer even more.Due to the long-term stalemate with the invader's army, sometimes they even got "changing sons and eating them, dissecting bones and cuan [cuan]" ("Zuo Zhuan Fifteen Years of Xuan Gong").As for the city being breached, the fate of the people will be even more miserable.In short, in war, regardless of victory or defeat, it is always the people on both sides who suffer.

Needless to say, the fate of the people of the defeated countries that were invaded is very tragic, but what kind of life do the people of those powerful aggressor countries lead?Their fate and experience are not much better than those of the people of the weak and small countries that have been invaded. The fate of disease, trauma, bankruptcy, and death is also waiting for them.It is the princes and lords who make the fortune; the unlucky ones are the masses and small producers.Mozi also ruthlessly exposed the disasters that the war brought to the people of the aggressor country: In spring, people's farming and arboriculture will be abolished, and in autumn, people's income will be abolished.Now if it is not abandoned for a while, the people will die of hunger, cold and hunger, innumerable.Today, I have tasted Ji Junshang (according to Sun Yirang, the word "shang" should be "out"), bamboo arrows, feathers, tent screens, armor shields, dial Jie (jiejie) (according to Wu Yujiang's "Mozi Xiaoyan" changed to " Jie" is "劼"), and it goes to the evil and cold (according to Bi Yuan, "cold" means "rotten"), and there are countless people who don't rebel; Neatly set off), there are countless people who are broken and broken but not reversed; instead of cattle and horses, they are fattened, barren and reversed, and died but not reversed, there are countless people; If people stop and continue, the number of people who die is innumerable. Compared with the uneasiness of living quarters, the timing of meals, the lack of restraint in hunger and fullness, the people's way of life and disease, the number of people who die is innumerable. The teacher is absolutely invincible... If the state promulgates (abolishes) the government, seizes the people's use, and abolishes the people's benefits, if there are so many people, why do they do it? ("Unoffensive")

Evil wars are harmful to most countries and most people.Mozi once used a vivid metaphor to illustrate the harm of war.He compared war to healing a disease. For example, if ten thousand people took a medicine and only four or five people died, the medicine would be ineffective and harmful.If the result of the war is only to benefit the kings of Jing and Wu and the kings of Qi and Jin, it is certain that war is extremely harmful, so it should be opposed ("Fei Gong Zhong").In "Fei Gong Shang", Mozi vividly and exhaustively demonstrated that war is self-interested at the expense of others:

Today there is a man who enters someone's garden and steals his peaches and plums. If the public hears about it, he will be wronged, and if the ruler gets it, he will be punished.Why?It is also self-interest at the expense of others.It is even more unrighteous to steal peaches and plums from people's gardens.What is the reason?The more you injure others, the more unbenevolent it is, and the greater the crime.In the case of entering someone's stable and taking the person's horses and oxen, the unbenevolence and righteousness are even greater than taking the person's dogs, hogs, chickens, and pigs.Why?The more people suffer because of it.The more you injure others, the more unbenevolent it is, and the heavier the crime.In the case of killing an innocent person, stripping him of his clothing, and taking his spear and sword, the unrighteousness is even greater than entering someone's stable and taking the person's horses and oxen.The more people suffer because of it.The more you injure others, the more unbenevolent it will be, and the heavier the crime will be.At this moment, all the gentlemen in the world know that it is wrong, and they call it unrighteous.

Nowadays, when great efforts are made to attack the country, they do not know what is wrong, so they praise it and call it righteousness.Is this the difference between righteousness and unrighteousness? We can see that the reason why Mozi opposes war is entirely to oppose the aggression and plunder of the ruling class, and for the benefit of laborers and small producers.The facts are clear enough that as long as there is a war, no matter whether it is a big or small country, whether it is a victor or a defeated country, the first to suffer losses are always the people who contributed money and effort.So Mozi hopes to achieve peace, hoping that "the hungry will get food, the cold will get clothes, and the laborers will get rest", so that the working people can get the basic living conditions.His claim is just and therefore correct.This fine tradition of hating aggressive wars and yearning for peace still inspires us today.If you use one sentence to sum up the whole essence of Mozi's philosophy, it is his thought of loving peace and resisting aggression.Mozi embodies the simple, kind, and unswerving character of the working people in ancient China.

Mozi's idea of ​​"non-offensive" is not to oppose all wars unconditionally, but to oppose unjust wars in which "the strong bully the weak and the many oppress the few".He is not opposed to wars against violence and in defense of peace.Not only do not oppose, but also use practical actions to support the party that resists violence and defends peace.He believed that the wars of Tang Fajie and King Wu against Zhou were just acts of eliminating cruelty and violence on behalf of the people.Tang used troops against Jie, and King Wu used troops against Zhou, but they could not be regarded as aggression (attack), but should be regarded as crusade (punishment).Crusades against the enemies of the people are fundamentally different in nature from aggressive wars. If you confuse the fundamental difference between the two, you will be ignorant of the "kind".

If you look at Mozi's thoughts of opposing aggressive wars in light of Mozi's social and historical conditions at that time, you will find that there are contradictions between his subjective wishes and the path of historical development.Historical development calls for a transition from a situation of decentralized separatist regimes to a unified and centralized situation.Only after the situation of scattered separatist regimes is quickly ended can wars be truly reduced, and the only way to end decentralized separatist regimes is through annexation wars.Ancient history embodies the inevitable law of historical development from many seemingly blind actions.History always follows the inevitable law and advances in the established direction.Mozi's subjective wishes are good, and he is worthy of being a thinker and political activist who sympathizes with the people and has a high degree of kindness.However, he was unable to scientifically understand the inevitable direction of historical development. Therefore, although his ideal of opposing war reflected part of the real situation (such as the pain caused by war to the people), he proposed an extremely unrealistic method for eliminating or avoiding war. One point is concentrated in Mozi's "universal love" theory.

The theoretical basis of Mozi's "non-aggression" proposition is the theory of "universal love". Mozi not only opposed all aggressive wars, but also tried to eliminate the root causes of all aggressive wars.he thinks: A sage who regards ordering the world as his business must know where chaos arises, and how he can bring it under control; if he doesn't know where chaos arises, he cannot order it... You should find out where chaos comes from?I don't love each other.The dishonesty of the courtiers to the ruler and father is the so-called chaos.A son loves himself but does not love his father, so he benefits himself at the expense of his father; a younger brother loves himself and does not love his brother, so he benefits himself at the expense of his elder brother;Although a father is not kind to his son, a brother is not kind to his younger brother, and a ruler is not kind to his ministers, this is what is called chaos in the world.A father loves himself and does not love his son, so he benefits himself at the expense of his son; an elder brother loves himself and does not love his brother, so he benefits himself at the expense of his brother; a ruler loves himself and does not love his ministers, so he benefits himself at the expense of his ministers.What is it?They all love each other. ("Fall in Love")

Based on the above inferences, Mozi believed that the wars between countries at that time were all due to "not loving each other".If the world is to be governed without chaos, the only way is to "love each other and benefit each other" and replace "don't" with "both". "Concurrent", in Mozi's view, is the noble quality of being selfless, regardless of each other, and caring for others as much as oneself.A scholar with such a noble quality, Mozi called him "Jianshi"; a monarch with this noble quality, Mozi called him "Jianjun".The opposite of "Jian" is the bad quality of selfishness that only cares about oneself and does not think for others. Mozi called this quality "Don't".A scholar with this bad quality, Mozi called him "Bie Shi"; a monarch with this bad quality, Mo Zi called him "Bie Jun".Even later, Mohism split into several factions, and they called each other Mohism "Bie Mo".

However, Mozi attributed the origin of wars and unreasonable phenomena in society to issues of moral character, but treated objectively existing practical issues with purely subjective conjectures. Starting from a good wish, Mozi opposed unjust wars, and put the theoretical basis of opposing wars on the theory of "universal love", but failed to find the social roots of aggressive wars and mutual competition. He believed that the reason for wars in the world is that It is because people do not understand the principle of "universal love".Mozi attributed the root of social chaos to human misunderstanding, which is obviously not in line with the facts. Mozi regarded the relationship between father and son, brothers, and the relationship between the monarch and the people as the same kind of relationship, which is a mistake in principle.Because it was impossible for the monarch and the people at that time to "love each other and benefit each other". In fact, the relationship between them not only had an interdependent side, but also a confrontational side.Under certain circumstances, this confrontational relationship may be greatly intensified and evolve into a large-scale violent conflict.The principle of Mozi's "universal love" is not difficult to understand, but with Mozi's persistent spirit and the widespread dissemination of Mohism for hundreds of years, he has not met a "simultaneous monarch", but he has educated some. The truth of a brave man who serves the monarch loyally is worth pondering. Mozi's idea of ​​"universal love" is an attempt to make the ruler and the ruled live in peace and coexist peacefully, and try to achieve "the strong do not rob the weak, the many do not oppress the few, the deceitful does not seek the foolish, and the noble does not become arrogant". However, according to Mozi's method, the distinction between high and low and the old order actually existed and could not be changed. Of course, we should not just write off Mozi’s reasonable desire to reflect the people’s survival, love of peace, and anti-aggression based on the mistakes of Mozi’s thinking method. This is an unfair evaluation of Mozi and Mohism Yes, it is also inconsistent with the actual situation at the time. Precisely because opposition to aggressive wars reflects the just wishes of the masses of the people, Mozi's "non-aggression" proposition constitutes a powerful core part of his theory.Mozi had a deep understanding of the war of aggression, and he fully understood the pain that the war brought to the small producers and laborers at that time.Because of this, he came into contact with the truth on the issue of "non-gong".In any case, the people have the right to question the lives of millions of people and the wealth created by the masses to carry out cruel wars of aggression.The lives of millions of people are used to compete for a city, and the people that are most lacking at that time are destroyed in exchange for the land that is not lacking at that time. The people have the right to protest. The theoretical basis of Mozi's opposition to aggressive wars is the theory of "universal love".According to the above analysis, the "universal love" mentioned by Mozi treats the social relationship between people from the aspect of spirit and psychological state.Mozi put the righteous voice of millions of people—against aggressive wars—on the basis of a good wish, which caused a theoretical fatal weakness.It is impossible for Mozi himself to realize this point. Instead, he regards "universal love" as a positive proposition for him and his school, and regards "feigong" as the realization of his "universal love" and "the will of heaven" (Mozi The idea of ​​"Tianzhi" (see the discussion in the special chapter below) is an ideal means, which is obviously on its head.Mencius discovered this problem and attacked the theory of "universal love" with all his strength.Mencius also put forward some slogans against war for the benefit of the hereditary nobility.He also opposed the wars of "struggling for cities" and "struggling for land", and also opposed the excessive exploitation of the people by the nobility.But Mencius was worried that the aristocrats would collapse if they went on like this, and he believed that everyone had a "heart of not being able to bear others" and could not bear their conscience, so they should not kill people.This is fundamentally different from what Mozi advocated for the great benefit of the common people. In short, Mozi's "non-attack" claim is based on facts and is the essence of Mozi's theory.But it is wrong for Mo Zi to place the just claim of "non-attack" on the basis of subjective desires such as "universal love" and "will of heaven".Mozi's "non-aggression" proposition certainly expressed the subjective demands of the people at that time, but because Mozi was limited by the historical conditions at that time, it was far from being able to understand the significance of war from the overall interests of social development.Although Mozi also used "attack" and "punishment" to distinguish just and unjust wars, he placed the standard of justice on the will of "heaven", thinking that only tyrants who disrespect ghosts and gods violated the will of "heaven". It is the will that becomes the object of crusade.In this way, if the standard of justice or injustice in war is attributed to the will of the unpredictable "God" or "ghosts and gods", human beings will not be able to grasp it.This incorrect point of view must be pointed out.