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The Chinese philosopher Mozi, who lived in the 5th century BC, argued that people should care about other families and states as well as their own. If everyone favoured only their own group, he said, they would excuse harming others for its sake. His idea of inclusive care asked people to count the interests of strangers too.

Mozi

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The story behind the card

Mozi (c. 470–391 BC) was born shortly after Confucius died and founded Mohism, a school that for about two centuries rivalled Confucianism. Confucians taught that care should be graded, strongest for one's own family; Mozi saw that partiality as a root of feuds and wars. He also opposed wars of conquest. The book named after him tells how he walked for ten days to the state of Chu to stop an attack on the small state of Song, then beat Chu's military engineer, Gongshu Ban, in nine mock sieges until the king gave up the plan. Mohists also wrote on logic, geometry and optics, including the principle of the pinhole camera. The school faded after China was unified in 221 BC and was rediscovered by modern scholars.

Türkçe oku
MÖ 5. yüzyılda yaşayan Çinli filozof Mozi, insanların yalnızca kendi ailelerini ve devletlerini değil, başkalarınınkini de gözetmesi gerektiğini savundu. Ona göre herkes yalnızca kendi grubunu kollarsa, onun uğruna başkalarına zarar vermeyi de mazur görürdü. “Herkesi kapsayan özen” fikri, yabancıların çıkarlarının da hesaba katılmasını istiyordu.

Mozi (MÖ 470 dolayı–391), Konfüçyüs'ün ölümünden kısa süre sonra doğdu ve yaklaşık iki yüzyıl boyunca Konfüçyüsçülükle yarışan Mohizm okulunu kurdu. Konfüçyüsçüler sevginin derece derece olması gerektiğini, en güçlü sevginin insanın kendi ailesine duyulacağını öğretiyordu; Mozi ise bu kayırmacılığı kan davalarının ve savaşların kaynaklarından biri sayıyordu. Toprak kazanmak için yapılan savaşlara da karşı çıktı. Onun adını taşıyan kitaba göre, küçük Song Devleti'ne yapılacak bir saldırıyı önlemek için Chu Devleti'ne on gün yürüdü. Orada Chu'nun askerî mühendisi Gongshu Ban'ı dokuz kuşatma denemesinde yendi ve kral saldırıdan vazgeçti. Mohistler mantık, geometri ve optik üzerine de yazdılar; iğne deliği kamerasının ilkesini anlatan metinler de bunlar arasındadır. Okul, Çin'in MÖ 221'de birleşmesinden sonra söndü ve ancak modern dönemde yeniden keşfedildi.

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Background reading: Mozi
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