Chapter 5 The fifth chapter is not music, not life, frugality, and festival burial

Mozi put forward the principle of frugal use from the standpoint of "the great benefit of the country and the people". As for the propositions of non-joy, non-life and festival burial, they are essentially the application of the principle of "frugal use" and specific measures to prevent nobles from wasting.Mozi believes that the biggest waste is war, so he advocates "non-aggression" and promotes "universal love".But the pain that the princes and nobles at that time inflicted on people was not limited to the war of aggression.Although wars occur frequently, there are days of rest after all, while the aristocracy's oppression of laborers and small producers is endless, and it is also the greatest cause of suffering for the people.

In order to reduce the economic burden of small producers and laborers, and to improve their basic material life, Mozi requested to increase production and increase production capacity on the one hand, and asked the nobles to limit their luxurious life on the other hand.This is the actual meaning of Mozi's non-joy, non-life, frugality, and frugal burial. Mozi himself said: Anyone who enters the country must choose a task ("service" is a problem that needs to be solved urgently) and engage in it.When the country is confused, the language is "respecting the virtuous" and "respecting the same"; when the country is poor, the language is "frugal use" and "frugal burial"; If the country is obscene and impolite, it will be said to be "respecting the sky" and "doing ghosts"; if the country's affairs are seized and invaded, it will be said to be "love" and "not offensive". ("Lu Wen")

Although Mozi's claims are divided into ten items, these ten items are not isolated, but connected.The basic idea of ​​Mozi is "Promote the benefits of the world and eliminate the harm of the world".What is "the harm of the world"?It is what Mozi said, "The hungry will not be fed, the cold will not be clothed, and the tired will not be rested" ("Fei Le Shang"). Mozi sometimes adds that "the chaos cannot be ruled."Taken together, it is to require all people in the world to live a peaceful and happy life with enough food and warm clothes, so as to realize "government of the country, rule of the people, and rule of punishment and administration" ("Shang Xian Shang").His ten propositions still say one thing.

Mozi advocated "not music", why did he advocate the abolition of the enjoyment of music and art?Mozi said that moving music is nice, but it cannot solve the most urgent life problems of the people. Listening to music cannot be used as food or clothing, so it should be opposed: The people suffer from three problems: those who are hungry cannot eat, those who are cold cannot have clothing, and those who are tired cannot rest.But if we beat the giant bell, beat the drum, play the qin and the harp, and play the yu and sheng to raise our cadres, will the people's food, clothing and wealth be secure? ("Fei Le Shang")

Mozi pointed out the harm of princes and adults enjoying music.In order to play music, a set of equipment is required, and the equipment fee is borne by the common people.With equipment, no one can play it. For example, if no one is knocking on a big bell, it is no different from a buttoned pot.But the performance still needs the musicians to work hard.Even the old and the weak are not qualified for the work of Leren, and young and strong men and women must be able to do it. The men delay farming, and the women delay spinning, which is a waste of labor.Just from the point of playing the music, the production has suffered.But that's not all, performers and dancers must not wear coarse cloth short jackets, and dancers must not eat poor food, otherwise they will be malnourished, yellow and hungry, and look miserable.These people who could have been engaged in production now have to rely on others to support them.So Mozi thinks that princes and adults appreciate music and singing and dancing is "losing people's food and clothing".

Mozi further analyzed the losses caused by the enjoyment of music and art to national politics and production: princes and adults who like to listen to music will ignore the government and cause confusion in the country; gentlemen who like to listen to music cannot perform their duties as ministers; If you listen to music well, you can’t go out early and return home at night, and cultivate hard, resulting in a shortage of Shu [shu] and millet; women who listen to music can’t sleep well at night and work hard at weaving, resulting in a shortage of cloth and silk (see "Fei Yue Shang").Finally, Mozi came to this conclusion:

Therefore, the heavenly ghosts above are not admonishable, and the people below are free.That's why Mozi said: "Today, gentlemen, gentlemen, if you want to promote the benefits of the world and eliminate the harms of the world, you should make it a thing of pleasure, and you must stop it." ("Fei Le Shang") Based on the above materials, we can see that it is completely understandable for Mozi to protest the decadent and enjoyable life of princes and adults in order to reduce the burden of small producers and laborers.In fact, less music and art activities for princes and princes can indeed reduce the burden on some workers.However, Mozi did not point the finger of criticism at the princes and nobles who used music and art to increase the burden on the people, but blamed music and art itself, which is putting the cart before the horse.According to Mozi's inference, if the princes and adults give up their enjoyment of music and art, they will set aside more time to manage the country well, which is groundless.

Because Mozi does not understand the value and function of music art, and does not understand that the production and creation of music art is due to labor and life experience, so his views on music art are one-sided.In order to oppose the extravagant life of the princes and lords, he even canceled the legitimate artistic life of the common people.Xunzi once said: "Mozi is blinded by use but does not know the text" ("Xunzi·Uncovering"), which indeed speaks of Mozi's one-sidedness, that is, he only sees the actual benefits in front of him, but does not see the impact of culture and art. important role in people's lives.

However, it must be pointed out that Mozi was right in opposing the extravagant and corrupt life of pleasure of the aristocrats at that time, pointing out that their pleasure was based on the hunger, cold and pain of the majority of laborers.Mozi pointed out that since the majority of laborers cannot enjoy it, the nobles should not enjoy it either.In this sense, Mozi pointed out that music and art are not unbeautiful, but that the urgent need to solve is the livelihood of the people suffering from hunger and cold.His kind of protest reflected the wishes of the people and called out the people's grievances.The progressive nature of his attacks on princes and lords should be affirmed.

The main purpose of Mozi's idea of ​​"non-fate" is to teach people not to wait for fate to dominate. The theory of "non-fate" also opposes the predestination of "life and death, wealth and honor" proclaimed by Confucianism. Mozi believes that a person's wealth and poverty are not born, but the result of hard work or not.Therefore, Mozi believes that what can really determine the destiny of a country or an individual is the subjective "force".At that time, to a certain extent, this view was worthy of affirmation.He begins by pointing out that it is wrong to believe in destiny:

The words of those who insist on fate are: if you live rich, you will be rich; if you live poor, you will be poor; if you live many, you will be many; if you live few, you will be few; ("Unfortunately") Oppose those who believe in fate to attribute all consequences to fate, and they do not take any responsibility for themselves.Mozi said: In the past, the poor people were greedy for food and lazy in work, and because of the lack of food and clothing, they were worried about hunger, cold and cold.I don't know and said: I strike ("strike" reads "tired", meaning incompetent) unworthy, and I am not ill in my work ("illness" means hard work), I must say: My life is solid and poor. In the past, the tyrannical kings could not bear the lewdness of their ears and eyes, their sloppy mind (mind), and their disobedience to their relatives, so they lost their country and overthrew the society.I don't know and said: I am unworthy, and my government is not good, so I must say: My life will be lost. ("Unfortunately") From Mozi's "non-life" proposition, it can be seen that when the small producers in the late Spring and Autumn Period initially formed a social force, they had a certain understanding of their own strength, although these understandings were very vague.They cannot understand the origin of the world and the constitution of society, so they regard "God" and "ghosts" as the final decisive forces, but to a certain extent, they have also begun to understand the enormous power produced by human labor. Therefore, they believe that the rise and fall of a country and the prosperity and poverty of individuals are not entirely determined by fate, but mainly rely on subjective efforts.Mozi said: The chaos caused by Jie in the past was ruled by Tang; the chaos caused by Zhou was ruled by King Wu.At this time, the world will not change ("Yu" means change) but the people will not be easy, and the government will change the government and the people will change their customs.It exists in Jie and Zhou and the world is in chaos, and it exists in Tang and Wu and the world is in order.The rule of the world is also the power of Tang and Wu; the chaos of the world is also the crime of Jie and Zhou.If you look at it from this point of view, the husband's safety, danger, and chaos depend on the superiority as politics, so how can the husband be called fate? ("Unfortunately") Here Mozi proposed that the subjective efforts of the rulers play a decisive role in the order of the world, which dealt a heavy blow to those who believe in determinism.But Mozi's view of history, like other ancient philosophers, still has a lot of subjectivity.He transferred the power to push society forward from the unknowable "fate" to the hands of a few talented saints.It is believed that Jie and Zhou can disrupt the world, and "governing the world" is also "the power of Tang and Wu".However, we cannot deny the progressive significance of Mozi's theory of "non-life" at that time. Mozi believes that not only the governance of the world depends on the subjective efforts of the king who governs the world, but also the personal wealth and poverty depends on everyone's efforts: Today, the reason why the princes and adults (early) retired from the court, listened to the prison and governed the government, and finally divided the court evenly, and did not dare to slack off, why?Said: He thinks that being strong ("strong" means hard work) will lead to order, and not being strong will lead to chaos; Today, the reason why Doctor Ye Qing exhausted his strength, exhausted his thinking and knowledge, governed the government internally, and restrained the benefits of Guanshi, mountains, forests, and Zeliang externally, so as to strengthen the government, and did not dare to be lazy, why?Said: He thinks that if you are strong, you will be honored, if you are not strong, you will be cheap; Today, the reason why farmers go out (early) and come in at dusk is better than plowing and arboriculture, gathering more uncle millet, and not daring to get tired, why?Said: He thought that if you are strong, you will be rich, if you are not strong, you will be poor; The reason why today's women are so fond of sleeping at night is that they are better than spinning and weaving. They often control hemp and tie Gexu, tie cloth (Xiao Xiao), and dare not get tired, why?Said: He thought that if you are strong, you will be rich, if you are not strong, you will be poor; ("Unfortunately") On the contrary, if one believes that everything is predestined, in Mozi's view, there will be a completely different result: Although I don’t care about the princes and adults today, if you believe that there is a destiny and execute it, you will neglect to listen to the prison and govern the government. If you neglect governing the government, farmers must neglect farming, and women must neglect spinning, weaving and weaving...then I think that the wealth of clothing and food in the world will be insufficient. ("Unfortunately") Mozi here repeatedly talks about the importance of "strength", and "strength" means hard work.Finally, Mozi considers the doctrine of predestination to be extremely harmful: Destiny is done by tyrants and tricks by poor people ("skill" means "statement"), and it is not the words of the benevolent.Today, those who are benevolent and righteous must not ignore those who are strong and wrong, this is also the case. ("Unfortunately") We can clearly see that in Mozi's "non-life" theory, he emphasizes the importance of man-made power and opposes the negative thinking of sitting on his own. In this regard, Mozi's proposition is completely correct.Mozi's theory of "non-destiny" and his "will of heaven" are compatible with each other.Mozi believes that the will of "Heaven" is to make people live in peace and work hard to produce, so Mozi believes that Confucianism believes in "destiny" and despises production, which is against the will of "Heaven".Mozi's theory of "non-fate" is against laziness on the one hand, and against Confucianism's "fate theory" on the other hand.Mozi is very concerned about the development of production and the improvement of people's lives. He has repeatedly declared that the purpose of his "non-life" is to "make the hungry get food, the cold get clothes, the tired get rest, and the chaotic get order" (" "Unfortunately.").This is extremely precious.However, we cannot deny the weakness of Mo Zi's theory of "non-life". Mozi's compromising position towards the aristocratic Shiqing made him unable to distinguish the opposite side of the interests of the laborers and the noble Shiqing.He mistakenly regarded the "cultivation and arboriculture" of the princes and adults ruling the people and farmers as being of the same nature.In fact, only the labor of the latter creates wealth.Mozi often juxtaposes princes, dukes, and laborers as a whole, as if they are two kinds of people who cooperate with each other and divide labor.It is true that within a socioeconomic system, people's socioeconomic status is different, but there is a dual relationship of interdependence and mutual confrontation between the ruler and the ruled, not just a relationship of division of labor and cooperation.On the premise of not touching the exploitation system, Mozi simply asked laborers to engage in production "not daring to be tired", and believed that people's poverty, hunger and cold were the result of not working hard.This view is obviously one-sided.In the pre-Qin period, Mencius, Xunzi, and Han Fei all had similar statements.Laozi before Mozi believed: "The hunger of the people is due to the amount of taxes on them." (Chapter 75 of "Laozi") correctly pointed out the root cause of the poverty of the people.Subjectively, Mozi defended the interests of laborers, but because of his compromising nature, some views appeared one-sided, so he said such untrue words. The central ideas of "frugal use" and "festival burial" are consistent with "non-joy" and "non-life".Mozi thinks that clothes should be "cool in winter and hot in summer", and everything necessary for life, such as food, boats, cars, and houses, should be practical.Against flashy, extravagant and wasteful.Mozi said: "Those who spend money and labor, and the people don't benefit, don't do it." It is to reduce the burden on the people and limit the extravagance and waste of princes and adults.He said: "The rich are extravagant, and the lonely and widowed are cold and hungry. Although their desires are not chaotic, they cannot be obtained." Mozi described the situation of thick burials at that time in the section "Jiebuxia": The inner and outer coffins must be heavy, the burial must be thick, the clothes must be many, the embroidery must be complicated, the hills must be huge... gold, jade and pearls are more than the body, the fabric is economical, and the chariots and horses are hidden. Mozi pointed out that those princes and lords not only lived a life of extravagance and prostitution, but also had to be buried after death, which greatly wasted social wealth. For the benefit of the laborers, Mozi put forward the propositions of "frugal use" and "frugal burial" on the negative side, and put forward a plan to increase wealth and population on the positive side.Mozi advocated that regardless of high or low, three-inch thick wooden boards should be used as coffins, and no objects for burial should be used. The body is thin and weak, and the heavy ritual of "holding up and walking, sticking and walking" is a heavy ritual that destroys the body.Mozi pointed out that thick burials, burying useful wealth in the ground, will inevitably make the people poor; prolonged mourning will destroy the body and separate men and women, which will inevitably reduce the population; As a result, "the country will be poor, the people will be few, and the criminal administration will be chaotic." ("Under the Festival") In Mozi's time, the nobles were extravagant and wasteful, and their enjoyment corrupted. At the same time, they also used the excessive enjoyment of life to show their superiority in social and political status.Mozi's exposure and criticism of the social reality at that time is undoubtedly of progressive significance.Mozi first pointed out that people rely on labor to maintain their lives.He developed a principle of great value: Those who rely on their strength live, those who do not rely on their strength do not live. ("Fei Le Shang") In Mozi's view, it is inappropriate to live without relying on one's strength. "Not reaping what one has worked for is actually a crime."Mozi did not explicitly say that parasitic life is shameful, but according to the development of Mozi's theory, it is bound to come to the conclusion that not working is shameful.In fact, Mozi's followers have formally criticized the princes and lords at that time for "strengthening the people and supporting themselves". In his propositions of "frugal use" and "frugal burial", Mozi required the living standards of the ruler and the ruled to be equal. Under the production conditions in ancient times, Mozi could only take the method of lowering the living standards of nobles and ministers.This kind of proposition is naturally beneficial to the people. Although it is impossible in fact, it is undeniable that this kind of proposition blurs the boundaries of the hierarchy objectively and shortens the gap between the nobles and the laborers. significant.We only need to look at some philosophers' attacks on him at that time, saying that he was "slow and inferior", saying that he did not know "nobility and dignity", and even viciously cursing him as a "beast" with "fatherless". , how this great philosopher touched their sore spot. Generally speaking, Mozi's economical ideas are progressive. He saw that the extravagant music and art enjoyment brought a heavy burden to the people, so he protested; Put forward the idea of ​​increasing production in order to save the people from hunger and cold; when the extravagance and waste of the nobles reached an astonishing level and made people unbearable, they put forward ideas of saving food, clothing, housing, and financial use; When the funeral ceremony developed to the point where red tape was costly and time-consuming, the idea of ​​thin burial and short funeral was proposed, and the distance between the lives of the nobles and the people was required to be shortened.These are all commendable. The main spirit of Mozi is to take care of the interests of the people first, first to ask the people to live without hunger or cold, and then to ask for improvement.On these issues, Mozi really spoke out what the people at that time wanted to call out, and this is where his greatness lies.As mentioned earlier, there are many places where his subjective desires are contrary to objective facts. There are also many contradictions and shortcomings in Mozi's philosophy. This is caused by various reasons. We just want to affirm its progressiveness and criticize its Insufficient, discover ancient excellent ideas.