Statue of Luban
The most powerful craftsman in ancient China is none other than Luban. Lu Ban's surname is Gong Wan, the name Ban (also known as The General or Pan), because it was a Lu people in the Spring and Autumn Period, so it was called "Lu Ban". Luban's most outstanding achievement was the invention of many tools and instruments. For example, the curved ruler, ink bucket, axe, saw, planer, chisel, concealment, etc. used by carpenters are all inventions of Lu Ban. Stone mills, mills, locks, etc. commonly used by farmers in the farming era are also the scientific research results of Lu Ban. Lu Ban also dabbled in the field of military industry, and developed military equipment such as hook settings and ladders. Luban even developed a wooden drone that can fly for three consecutive days without landing. Therefore, Lu Ban was revered by later generations as the ancestor of hundreds of workers, the originator of architecture, and the originator of carpenters.
However, there is a sky outside the sky, and there are people outside the people. The awesome Luban also has times when his skills are inferior. Mozi, who is about 30 years younger than Luban, is Luban's nemesis. Mozi, whose real name was Mo Zhai, was a member of the Song Dynasty in the late Spring and Autumn period and the early Warring States period, and served as a doctor of the Song Dynasty. He advocated peace, opposed war, and was a great humanitarian. Mozi studied Confucianism in his early years, and later found that Confucius's set of theories was not only cumbersome, but also hypocritical. He eventually abandoned Confucianism and established himself to form the Mojia School. Mozi was not only a thinker, educator, and military scientist. He has made achievements in mathematics, astronomy, physics and so on. For example, the discoveries of light propagating along straight lines, small hole imaging, and the lever theorem in "Mozi" were the world's leading research results at that time.
As the two top masters at that time, Lu Ban and Mozi had a sharp duel. This competition is not only a contest of technical levels, but also a fierce collision of two ideological concepts.
Mozi statue
Around the forty-fourth year of King Hui of Chu (445 BC), Lu Ban came to the State of Chu from the State of Lu to seek employment and received the weight of King Hui of Chu. At that time, the State of Chu had just destroyed the State of Qi, and was preparing to attack the State of Song. King Hui of Chu asked Lu Ban to develop a cloud ladder to attack the city. After several years of research, Lu Ban successfully built a ladder. In the fiftieth year of King Hui of Chu (439 BC), King Hui of Chu decided to put Yunti into the battlefield and launch an attack on the Song state.
Mozi, who was in the state of Lu at this time, after receiving the news that the State of Chu was preparing to attack the State of Song, was impatient and immediately set off for the State of Chu, hoping to stop the war. Mozi's obligation to act as a messenger of peace is because he regards anti-war as his ideal in life. Mozi believes that the chaos in the world is because people are unequal and unfriendly, so he advocates "simultaneous love". To achieve equality and fraternity, we must first "non-attack", that is, the princes of the world cannot bully the strong and bully each other and attack each other. In fact, Mozi spared no effort throughout his life to oppose the annexation wars of the princes.
Mozi traveled day and night, and arrived at the capital of the Chu kingdom of Yingdu ten days later. He first went to visit Luban. Lu Ban asked him, "What noble work does sir have?" Mozi said, "There was a man in the north who insulted me, and I wanted to kill him with the help of your power." "Lu Ban's profession is carpentry, and he is certainly not happy that you actually asked him to cut people." Mozi then said, "I am willing to give ten gold as a reward." Lu Ban resolutely refused: "I will not do the work of killing people!" In this dialogue, Mozi digs a pit for LuBan and forces Luban to declare that he will not kill.
Ladder restoration diagram
At this time, Mozi got up and saluted Lu Ban and said his true intentions: "I heard in the north that you have built a cloud ladder and want to attack the Song Kingdom. What is the sin of the Song Kingdom? Now that the Chu state has more than enough land and a small population, it is obviously not wise for you to help the Chu state to compete for the land that has been surplus, causing the destruction of life. The State of Song was innocent, and the State of Chu attacked it, which was undoubtedly unkind and unjust. You understand this truth, but if you do not argue according to reason, you cannot be regarded as loyal to the King of Chu. Failure to achieve the purpose of dissuading the King of Chu cannot be regarded as firm will. It is really unreasonable that you are unwilling to help me kill one person, but you are willing to help the King of Chu kill more people. ”
Mozi said something, and Lu Ban was dumbfounded. Lu Ban was silent for a while and then said, "Sir's words are indeed reasonable, but I have promised the King of Chu, and I can't change it." Mozi said, "Then take me to see the King of Chu." ”
Lu Ban then took Mozi to see King Hui of Chu. Mozi said to King Hui of Chu, "I saw a man who had a luxury car and did not use it, and preferred to steal the neighbor's broken car; he did not wear a brocade robe, but he wanted to steal the neighbor's old coat; he had a big fish and meat and did not eat it, but he wanted to steal the neighbor's chaff." How can there be such a person? King Chu Hui laughed when he heard this: "This guy is only afraid of stealing things and getting addicted." Obviously, MoZi repeated the trick and dug a pit for King Hui of Chu.
Next, Mozi went straight to the theme: "The Chu Kingdom has a radius of five thousand miles, and the Song Kingdom is only five hundred miles, which is like a luxury car and a broken car; the Chu State has a cloud dream of Daze, the land of fish and rice, and the world is rich, while the Song Kingdom has poor land and poor people, which is like fish and meat and chaff; the Chu State is rich in products, and the Song Country is poor in resources, which is like brocade and old coats." Now that the king is going to attack the Song Kingdom, what is the difference between him and this addicted person who steals things? King Hui of Chu knew that he had fallen into the pit preset by Mozi, so he played a bully: "What you said may be reasonable, but Lu Ban has already built a cloud ladder for me, and I must take down the Song Kingdom." ”
Ladder restoration model
Mozi saw that King Hui of Chu was still obsessed, so he reminded him: "The thing about the cloud ladder is not omnipotent. The king has a ladder, and I also have a way to deal with the ladder. Otherwise, let Master Lu Ban try it out with me. King Hui of Chu was full of confidence in Lu Ban, and quickly agreed to Mozi's request, letting Lu Ban practice with him on the spot and test offensive and defensive techniques.
Mozi then took off his belt and formed a circle on the ground as a city wall. Lu Ban found a few bamboo sticks as a ladder to siege the city. The two sides began to play each other. Lu Ban used nine methods to attack the city, all of which were cracked by Mozi one by one. In the end, Lu Ban's siege equipment had been exhausted, and Mozi's method of defending the city was more than enough. That is, Luban lost.
However, after the competition, Lu Ban did not pay tribute to Mozi, but instead smiled mysteriously: "I thought of a way to deal with you, but I will not say." Mozi replied, "I know what you're going to do with me, and I won't say." King Hui of Chu listened to the clouds and asked what was going on. Mozi explained to King Hui of Chu, "Master LuBan's intention is to kill me. When I die, the Song Kingdom will not be able to hold the city, and the Chu State will surely be able to win. However, Master Lu Ban probably did not expect that my disciple Bird Slippery and three hundred others had already taken my defensive equipment and waited at the head of the Song Kingdom city for the Chu State to attack. Even if you kill me, you won't be able to kill the people who defend the Song Kingdom. At this point, King Hui of Chu had no choice but to obediently admit defeat: "Boy, count you cruel!" I will not attack the Song Kingdom anymore. ”
Ladder siege scene
According to historical records, Mozi not only successfully stopped Chu from attacking the Song Dynasty, but also carried out peacekeeping operations such as stopping Qi falu and stopping Lu from attacking Zheng, and could be called the anti-war leader of the Spring and Autumn Warring States period. However, despite his lifelong commitment to peace, Mozi was so low-key that many people knew nothing about his exploits. After Mozi stopped Chu from attacking the Song Dynasty, he returned to the State of Lu from the State of Chu, and when he passed through the State of Song, he encountered heavy rain, and he thought of the Lu Gate of the Song Kingdom to avoid the rain, but he did not expect that the people guarding the Lu Gate would turn him away, which was really regrettable.
Among the Hundred Sons of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the Mo family was once a very influential school. Unlike Confucianism, which aims to serve the ruling class, Moxue mainly reflects the interests and aspirations of the people at the lower strata of society, so it has not been valued by the ruling class. Especially after the Han Dynasty implemented Dong Zhongshu's idea of "deposing a hundred families and respecting Confucianism alone", moxue was ignored for a long time.
It was not until the modern era of Western learning and eastern learning that the Chinese people re-realized the value of ink science, so they advocated "ink learning to save the country". Before and after the May Fourth New Culture Movement, the revival of ink studies reached a climax. Historian Wang Tongling exaggerated in 1922: "As far as the current situation is concerned, the spread of the Mozi doctrine is like the sunrise in the east, the flames are full of light, and there is a view of the whole world." Hu Shi described it in 1925: "Now everyone likes to talk about Mozi, and ink science has almost become a fashionable fashion. Mao Zedong also highly praised Mozi. In April 1939, Mao Zedong called Mozi "a more intelligent saint than Confucius" in a speech at the Yan'an Kang Da. (Text/Xie Zhidong)