Who is Mo Tzu in Confucianism?

Mo Di (Mo Ti), better known as Mozi (Mo-tzu) or “Master Mo,” was a Chinese thinker active from the late 5th to the early 4th centuries B.C.E. He is best remembered for being the first major intellectual rival to Confucius and his followers.

How did Mo Tzu Criticize Confucius?

Mozi exhorted people to lead a life of asceticism and self-restraint, renouncing both material and spiritual extravagance. Like Confucius, Mozi idealized the Xia Dynasty and the ancients of Chinese mythology, but he criticized the Confucian belief that modern life should be patterned on the ways of the ancients.

Who was Mo Tzu and what was his message?

He spoke of “undifferentiated love and mutual profit” in one breath, and he was convinced that this principle was both the way of man and the way of heaven (tian). Mozi’s stand on religion makes him exceptional among Chinese philosophers. His call to the people was for them to return to the faith of their fathers.

What did Mo Tzu mean by universal love?

The principle of “universal love” (jian’ai) is the premise for Mozi’s condemnation of war. Mozi said that it benefits the lover and the loved, and the failure to love universally causes social turmoil. Such tolerance, Mozi said, is possible if people see others’ homelands, families and lives as their own.

What did Mo Tzu teach about the nature of Love?

Mo Tzu taught the virtues of universal love and encouraged all to follow in this principle for the benefit of not just the individual improving oneself, but for the society in general. It is through Mo Tzu that we can get a handle on comparing the teachings of Confucius and Jesus.

What was Mozi’s life like compared to Confucius?

Mozi, on the other hand, was drawn to the common people and looked much farther back to a life of primitive simplicity and straightforwardness in human relations. Mozi’s life, however, resembled that of Confucius in many important respects.

Who was the Chinese philosopher known as Mozi?

Mozi, Wade-Giles romanization Mo-tzu, also spelled Motze, Motse, or Micius, original name Mo Di, (born 470?, China—died 391? bce, China), Chinese philosopher whose fundamental doctrine of undifferentiated love ( jianai) challenged Confucianism for several centuries and became the basis of a socioreligious movement known as Mohism.

What did Mozi teach in the Ten Theses?

Mozi’s teaching is summed up in ten theses extensively argued for in the text that bears his name, although he himself is unlikely to have been its author.