Spring and Autumn unrighteous war.
At that time, there were constant brutal wars of plunder among the nobility.
Mozi was close to the laborers, sympathetic to the small producers and small proprietors, and had a deep understanding of their suffering in the war, so his ideological feelings against the war of aggression were also very strong. He resolutely and ruthlessly exposed the disasters brought to the broad masses of the people by the war of aggression at that time. In the book "Mozi", it is written:
to attack the innocent country, enter its borders, cut its crops, cut down its trees, mutilate its cities, suppress (fill) its ditches, burn its ancestral temples, and kill its sacrifices. Those who are of the people (those who resist) are pulled out (killed); Those who do not qualify will be tied up and returned (pulled back with a string of ropes). The husband thinks it is a servant, 圉 [yuyu], xu, and mi, and the woman thinks it is a servant, a chieftain (servant, 圉, xu, 靡, 舂, chieftain refer to slaves who do different jobs). ("Under the Chronicles")
The book Mozi describes in detail the suffering of the people who were besieged in the city: men, women, and children all participated in the defense of the city, and all the useful goods such as grain, cloth, money, cattle, horses, and livestock were requisitioned by the government. Since the day of the siege, the people have not had enough to eat, and they have eaten an average of just over three liters of grain a day, which is about half a liter today.
There are both combat casualties and hunger and bankruptcy. The heavy burden of forced labor and incalculable property damage were already staggering, and if the war did not end for a long time, the besieging people would suffer even more. Due to the long-term stalemate with the invaders' army, sometimes they even got "Yi Zi and eat, and dissect the bones and plan" ("Zuo Chuan: The Fifteenth Year of Xuan Gong"). As for the breaching of the city, the fate of the people will be even more miserable.
In short, in a war, whether won or lost, it is always the people on both sides who suffer.
Needless to say, the fate of the people of the invaded and defeated countries is very tragic, but what kind of life do the people of those powerful aggressor countries live? Their fate and suffering are not much better than those of the people of the weakened and small countries that have been invaded, and the fate of disease, trauma, bankruptcy, and death awaits them. It was the princes who made the victorious fortunes; The unlucky ones are still the masses of the people and small producers. Mozi also ruthlessly exposed the disasters brought by the war to the people of the aggressor country:
In the spring, the people are wasted to cultivate arboriculture, and in the autumn, the people are wasted. Now there is only one time to waste, and the people will die of hunger, cold, and cold, and they will be innumerable. Today, I tried to count the army (according to Sun Yirang Xiao, the word "Shang" should be the word "out"), bamboo arrows, feathers, curtains, armor shields, and dial [jiejiejie] (according to Wu Yujiang's "Mozi School Note" changed "robbery" to "jie"), and the cold intestines (according to Bi Yuan, "cold intestines" is "rotten"), those who do not oppose are innumerable; and with the spear and the halberd and the sword in the chariot (set out in a neat manner), and those who were broken and did not rebel were innumerable; With its cattle and horses, those who are fat and barren and opposite, and those who die and do not rebel are innumerable; Instead of Tu Dao's cultivation, the food will be cut off, and the people will die, and there will be countless deaths; The restlessness of their dwellings, the occasional eating, the intemperate hunger and contentment, the sickness of the people, and the death of sickness, are innumerable; There are countless mourners, and there are countless mourners. …… If the state develops (abolishes) the government, the use of the people, and the benefits of the people, if this is very large, but what is it? ("Not Offensive")
Evil wars are harmful to most countries and to most people. Mozi once used a vivid metaphor to illustrate the harm of war. He likened war to healing, saying that if there is a medicine that 10,000 people have to eat, but only four or five people have to eat, this medicine is ineffective and harmful. If the result of the war is only cheaper than the king of Jing Wu and the king of Qi and Jin, it is certain that the war is extremely harmful, so it should be opposed ("Non-Offensive"). Mozi once vividly and exhaustively demonstrated that war is self-benefiting at the expense of others:
Today, there is a person who enters the garden and steals his peaches and plums, and the public hears that it is not the case, and the politician will be punished. Why is this also self-interested? As for those who are scrambled with people, dogs, pigs, chickens and dolphins [tuntun], their injustice is even more into the garden to steal peaches and plums. The more people are lost, the more unkind they are, and the more sinful they become. To enter the human stable, take people, horses and cattle, their unkindness and even people, dogs, pigs, chickens and dolphins. The more people are lost?
The more people who are lost, the more unkind they are, and the more sinful they become. To kill innocent people, to drag their clothes, to take the sword, their unrighteousness even into the pen to take people, horses and cattle, why is this also because of the loss of more people. The more people who are lost, the more unkind they are, and the more sinful they become. At this time, all the gentlemen in the world know that it is not righteous, and it is called unrighteousness.
Now that the country is greatly attacked, it will know what is wrong, so it will be praised and called righteousness. What is the difference between righteousness and unrighteousness?
We can see that the reason why Mozi opposed the war was entirely to oppose the aggression and plunder of the ruling class, and to think about the interests of the laborers and small producers. The facts could not be clearer: as long as there is a war, whether it is a big country or a small country, whether it is a victorious country or a defeated country, it is always the common people who contribute money and effort that suffer first. Therefore, Mozi hoped to achieve peace, hoping that "the hungry will have food, the cold will have clothing, and the laborers will have rest", and the laborers can obtain a minimum living conditions. His claim is just, so it is correct.
This fine tradition of hating wars of aggression and yearning for peace continues to inspire us to this day. If there is one sentence to sum up the essence of Mozi's philosophy, it is his idea of loving peace and resisting aggression. Mozi embodies the simple, kind, and unswerving character of the ancient Chinese working people.
Mozi's idea of "non-offensive" is not to unconditionally oppose all wars, but to oppose the unjust wars of "the strong bullying the weak and the tyrannical widows". He was not opposed to wars that resisted violence and defended peace. Not only do they not oppose it, but they also take concrete actions to support the side that resists violence and defends peace. He believed that the war between Tang and Wu was a just act of eliminating brutality and violence on behalf of the people. Tang is for Ji, and King Wu is for Xu, although he uses soldiers, it cannot be regarded as aggression (attack), but should be regarded as a crusade (punishment). The crusade against the enemy of the people is fundamentally different in nature from a war of aggression, and if the fundamental difference between the two is confused, it is ignorance of the "kind".
If we look at Mozi's thoughts on opposing wars of aggression in light of the social and historical conditions at that time, we will find that there is a contradiction between his subjective aspirations and the path of historical development. Historical development requires a shift from a situation of decentralization and division to a situation of unified centralization. It is only when the situation of fragmentation and secession is quickly ended that the war will be truly reduced, and the only way to end the fragmentation is through annexation wars. Ancient history embodies the inevitable laws of historical development from many actions that seem blind on the surface. History always follows the law of necessity and moves in a given direction. Mozi's subjective aspirations are good, and he deserves to be regarded as a thinker and political activist who sympathizes with the people and has a high degree of good intentions.
However, he was unable to scientifically understand the inevitable direction of historical development, so his ideal of opposing war certainly reflected some realities (such as the suffering caused by war), but he proposed extremely unrealistic methods to eliminate or avoid war, which was epitomized in Mozi's doctrine of "contemporaneous love".
The theoretical basis of Mozi's "non-offensive" proposition is the doctrine of "simultaneous love".
Mozi not only opposed all wars of aggression, but also tried to eliminate the root causes of all wars of aggression. He argues:
The saint who rules the world will also know the place of chaos
From the beginning, Yan (is) can cure it, and if it does not know the place of chaos, it cannot be cured. …… When we look at chaos, why do we not love each other? The unfilial piety of the courtiers is the so-called chaos. The Son loves himself but not the Father, so he loses himself to the Father and benefits himself; The younger brother loves himself and does not love his brother, so he loses his brother and benefits himself; The minister loves himself and does not love the king, so he loses the king and benefits himself, which is the so-called chaos. Although the father is not kind to the son, the brother is not kind to the brother, and the king is not kind to the minister, this is also the so-called chaos in the world. The Father loves himself, but does not love the Son, so he loses his son and benefits himself; The brother loves himself, but he doesn't love the younger brother, so he loses his brother and benefits himself; Jun loves himself, not his minister, so he loses his ministers and benefits himself. Why don't they love each other? ("Also in Love")
Based on the above inference, Mozi believed that the wars between countries at that time were all due to "not loving each other". If you want the world to rule without chaos, then you can only achieve "love and mutual benefit", and replace "don't" with "concurrent". In Mozi's view, "concurrently" is a noble quality of selflessness, non-distinction between each other, and concern for others as much as care for oneself. A taxi with this noble quality, Mozi called him a "scholar"; A monarch with this noble quality, Mozi called him a "concurrent monarch". In opposition to "" is the bad quality of selfishness that only cares about oneself and does not think about others, which Mozi calls "don't". A taxi with this bad quality, Mozi called him "another scholar"; A monarch with such a bad quality, Mozi called him "another king". Later, the Mohists even divided into several factions, and they called each other the Mohists of other factions "Beimo".
However, Mozi attributed the origin of war and the irrational phenomena of society to the problem of moral character, but he completely treated the objective practical problems with subjective speculation.
Mozi proceeded from good intentions to oppose unjust wars, and placed the theoretical basis of opposition to war on the doctrine of "love and love", but he failed to find the social roots of wars of aggression and mutual competition, believing that the reason why there are wars in the world is because people do not understand the truth of "love and love". Mozi's attribution of the root cause of social chaos to human cognitive errors is obviously inconsistent with the facts.
Mozi made a mistake in principle to regard the relationship between father and son and brother and the relationship between the king and the people as the same kind of relationship at that time. Because it was impossible for the king and the people at that time to "love and benefit each other", in fact, in addition to the interdependence of the relationship between them, there was also a confrontational side. Under certain circumstances, this kind of confrontational relationship may also be greatly intensified and turn into a large-scale violent conflict. The truth of Mozi's "concurrent love" is not difficult to understand, but with Mozi's perseverance and the wide spread of Mozi for hundreds of years, he has not encountered a single "concurrent monarch", but has educated some people who dare to die to serve the monarch loyally, and the truth is worth pondering.
Mozi's idea of "love and love" attempts to make the ruler and the ruled peaceful coexistence, and try to achieve "the strong do not rob the weak, the people do not tyrannize the widows, the deceit does not seek foolishness, and the noble do not be arrogant and lowly", but according to Mozi's method, the distinction between the superior and the inferior and the old order actually exist and cannot be changed.
Of course, we should not just rely on the mistakes of Mozi's thinking and methods, and even write off Mozi's reflection of the reasonable aspirations of the broad masses of the people for survival, peace, and anti-aggression, which is unfair to the evaluation of Mozi and Moxue, and is also inconsistent with the actual situation at that time.
It is precisely because opposing a war of aggression reflects the righteous aspirations of the broad masses of the people that Mozi's proposition of "non-offensive" constitutes a powerful core part of his doctrine. Mozi's understanding of the war of aggression was profound, and he fully understood the suffering caused by the war to the small producers and laborers at that time. Because of this, he came into contact with the truth on the issue of "non-offensive". In any case, the people have the right to question the brutal war of aggression waged with the lives of millions of people and the wealth created by the broad masses of the people. The people had the right to protest against the fight for the lives of millions of people over a city and the destruction of what was most lacking at the time—people, in exchange for land that was not lacking at that time.
The theoretical basis of Mozi's opposition to wars of aggression is the doctrine of "love."
According to the above analysis, Mozi's "contemporaneous love" is to treat the social relationship between people from the spiritual aspect and psychological state. Mozi placed the just cry of millions of people – against wars of aggression – on the basis of a good will, which created a fatal weakness in theory. This was not possible for Mozi to recognize himself, but instead he regarded "contemporaneous love" as the active proposition of him and his school, and regarded "non-offensive" as a means of realizing his ideal of "contemporaneous love" and "heavenly ambition" (Mozi's "contemporaneous ambition" proposition, see the following chapter), which is obviously upside down. Mencius discovered this problem and attacked the doctrine of "contemporaneous love" with all his might. Mencius, for the benefit of the hereditary aristocracy, also put forward some slogans against war. He also opposed the wars of "fighting for cities" and "fighting for land", and also opposed the excessive exploitation of the people by the aristocracy. However, Mencius was worried that the aristocracy would collapse if it continued like this, and believed that everyone had a "heart that could not bear others" and could not live with a conscience, so he should not kill people. This is different from Mozi's advocacy of serving the great interests of the people and the people in terms of basic standpoint.
In short, Mozi's "non-offensive" proposition is based on facts and is the essence of Mozi's theory.
However, Mozi is wrong to place the righteous proposition of "non-offensive" on the basis of subjective aspirations such as "simultaneous love" and "heavenly will". It is true that Mozi's proposition of "non-offensive" expressed the subjective demands of the masses of the people at that time, but because Mozi was limited by the historical conditions at that time, it was far from being possible to understand the significance of the war from the overall interests of social development. Although Mozi also used "attack" and "punishment" to divide between righteous and unjust wars, he placed the standard of justice on the will of "heaven", believing that only tyrants who disrespected ghosts and gods and violated the will of "heaven" became the object of crusade.
In this way, the criterion of justice or injustice in war is reduced to the will of the elusive "God" or "ghost", and human beings cannot grasp it. This incorrect view must be pointed out.