Han Wangxi

TODAY, we will talk about Mozi’s non-aggression. First, let’s get to know about Mozi. His given name was Di, and he was from the State of Song. He was a very famous philosopher during the early Warring States period (475-221 B.C.).

Mencius once said, “If the world’s words do not return to Yang, they return to Mo.” Yang refers to Yang Zhu, also a great philosopher. This shows that the influence of Moism was very significant at that time.

Mozi’s goal was to “promote the benefits of the world and eliminate the harms of the world.” To achieve this harmony, countries, families and individuals must love and benefit each other, rather than attacking one another. Mozi himself was a practitioner of the non-aggression philosophy.

Today, we will talk about the story of Gongshu Pan from the book titled “Mozi.” Gongshu, better known as Lu Ban, was a craftsman and he built a hinged folding ladder for the State of Chu. The ladder was used for siege warfare. After it was built, the King of Chu prepared to use it to attack the State of Song. When Mozi heard about this, he immediately set out from the State of Qi and traveled for 10 days and 10 nights to reach Ying, the capital city of Chu, where he met Gongshu.

When Gongshu heard that Mozi had come, he knew it was not for a friendly reason, so he asked, “Sir, why have you come from such a long way?” Mozi replied, “There is a person in the north who always bullies me and makes me sad and troubled. I want to use your help to kill him.” Gongshu then asked, “How can I go and kill someone?” Mozi said: “I won’t use you for nothing. I will give you gold as a reward.” Gongshu replied: “No matter how much you offer, I cannot do it. I adhere to morality and will never kill anyone.”

Mozi smiled and said: “Since you mentioned morality, let’s talk about what ‘morality’ is. I heard that you built a ladder to attack the State of Song. May I ask, what crime has the State of Song committed? What have they done wrong? Chu is the largest state with so much land, is that not enough? Now, you want to wage war and sacrifice the insufficient population to seize the excess land. Does that count as wisdom? The State of Song has no guilt, but you want to help the State of Chu attack it and harm the people of Song. Is this an act of benevolence and righteousness?”

He continued: “You claim to adhere to morality, not killing that one person, but you are willing to kill so many innocent people. Can that be considered a wise decision? You do not understand the true meaning of ‘morality.’”

Gongshu was rendered speechless by Mozi’s words.

(The author is a cultural scholar.)

(Translated by Shenzhen Daily)