History of Pre-Qin Famous Names

Author: Hu Shi
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2006-08-01
Features: Mozi might be one of the greatest figures to have appeared in China, but until the 20th century, no one had written a biography about him. The great historian Sima Qian, in his Records of the Grand Historian ①, only provides a vague account of Mozi with just 24 characters. Sun Yixiang, in the 1897 edition of his Biography of Mozi ②, wrote the Brief Biography of Mozi based on contemporary testimonies, documented records, and internal evidence found in the Mozi. Mr. Sun believed that Mozi was likely born during the reign of King Ding (or King Jingding, 468–441 BC) and died in the late years of King An (376–359 BC). Mr. Sun considered it highly probable that Mozi died after 381 BC, as the section of the Mozi mentions the death of the famous general Wu Qi in that year. These dates seem problematic. First, the 27th and 41st sections, which Mr. Sun relied on to build his theory, are likely later edited or contain obvious alterations. Additionally, the Lüshi Chunqiu (Chapter 19, Section 3) also mentions the death of Wu Qi, where an event directly contradicts Mr. Sun’s theory. There, we learn that in the year Wu Qi died, the leader of the Mohists, or "Jizi" ③, Meng Sheng, along with 185 of his disciples, died in the city he was defending. Before his death, Meng Sheng sent two disciples to another Mohist, Tian Xiangzi, and appointed Tian Xiangzi as the new "Jizi" of the Mohist sect. From this, it can be inferred that before 381 BC, the Mohist school had already become an organized and recognized group, and the system of "apostolic succession" (transmission of succession) was already in practice. All of this could not have been accomplished during the lifetime of the founder of the school. Therefore, a logical conclusion is that Mozi must have died long before 381 BC. Moreover, from the Tang Gong ①, we know that the famous craftsman Gongsun Peng participated in the funeral of Ji Kangzi’s mother. The fact that Gongsun Peng met Mozi is sufficient proof. We know that Ji Kangzi died in 468 BC, and his father died in 492 BC ②. His mother likely died between these two periods, probably around 488 BC. This means that Gongsun Peng must have been of a considerable age to apply his new techniques to Ji Kangzi’s mother’s tomb, thus he must have been born at least 20 years earlier, around 500 BC. His contemporary Mozi was likely born around the same time. Therefore, we can conclude that Mozi was probably active between 500 and 421 BC. He was from Lu, the same country as Confucius, and thus had contact with the Confucian school. After Confucius’s death, the Confucian school spread across the seven states. According to some records, he did receive instruction from the Confucian school. Later, Mozi became dissatisfied with the Confucians’ tendency to codify traditional customs, rituals, and moral norms into elaborate rules governing all aspects of human relationships and behavior. He had a highly religious temperament and abhorred the ancient Confucian practice of veneration for ancestors. He also disdained the extravagance and waste in funerals and burials, though he was largely an atheist and at most an agnostic ③. He could not accept Confucian fatalism.