2. How to End Wars with Words: Three Argumentative Strategies by Mozi and His Followers

Abstract

Those who steal buckles get to be punished; those who steal states get to be feudal lords.-ZhuangziMozi 墨子 (fijifth century BCE) and his followers were active in the socially and politically tumultuous era in Chinese history that has come to be known as the Warring States period (fijifth to third centuries BCE).Warfare naturally informs many aspects of their ideas and practices.From a genuine concern for the well-being of the common people, whose lives were endangered by the ongoing conflicts, they developed arguments against military aggression between states, they presented these arguments to belligerent heads of state, hoping to dissuade them from launching attacks, and they came to the rescue of weaker cities and states under attack, offfering their knowledge of defense tactics and weaponry.Our main source for Mohist ideas and practices is the Mozi, in which warfare * This essay was written under the fijinancial support of a grant from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientifijic Research (NWO).It studies three chapters in the Mozi 墨子 that were probably, as Graham puts it (Disputers of the Tao, 35), "written down from a common oral tradition which may or may not go back to the discourses of Mo-tzu [Mozi] himself."Their obscure provenance notwithstanding, I ascribe the views expressed in these chapters to "Mozi," because so does the Chinese text.In so doing, I do not suggest that the views can be traced to a historical Mozi, nor do I want to bypass the complex textual history of the Mozi.My motivation is merely aesthetic: "Mozi argues" is more pleasing to the eye than "those who created this Mozi passage argue," even if the latter reflects the necessary historical prudence.Unless indicated otherwise, all translations in this essay are my own.They are based on a Dutch translation of the three Mozi chapters that I made in collaboration with Burchard Mansvelt Beck.When retranslating select passages into English for this paper, I consulted the translations of Mei , The Ethical and Political Works of Motse; Watson , Mo-tzu, Basic Writings; and Johnston, The "Mozi."I am indebted to their work but do not systematically indicate where my translations draw upon or deviate from theirs.I presented earlier versions of this essay in Leiden, Bonn, and Oxford, and I am thankful for all questions and comments received at those meetings.