Mohism and Confucianism: The Mozi vs. The Analects

“...He urged that all people follow Heaven in this by practicing universal love. But this has nothing to do with love between persons or human affectivity. His standard of action is strictly based on utility; love for all human beings is demonstrated by satisfying their immediate material needs and by abandoning all forms of activity and expense that do not contribute to the feeding, clothing and housing of the people.” -The Mozi
"One should abide in loyalty and trustworthiness and should have no friends who are not his equal." -The Analects

Mohism’s central belief in Universal Love creates a mutually benefiting alliance between Mohist believers during China’s Warring States period, while taking a jab at what was believed to be Confucianism’s pretentious and impractical doctrine of bettering oneself by keeping only equally- or better-educated friends.

The Mohist philosophy of Universal Love is expanded on to stress the “utility” of friendship, a focus that sets a behavioral guideline for Mohist believers while also setting this mutually benefiting relationship against the ambitious friendships encouraged in Confucianism. Universal Love, the belief that all actions of a person should directly help someone else, is the essential doctrine in governing behavior in Mohism, and was an especially attractive guideline to Chinese civilians during the chaotic Warring States period. As territorial skirmishes raged on in every part of the country, the practical nature of relationships encouraged by Mohism was appealing to civilians searching for order in their communities, as well as for basic survival necessities. Confucianism’s decree to “have no friends that are not [one’s] equal” does not satisfy the immediate priority of basic survival to the Chinese in the practical way that Mohist relationships can. The mutual satisfaction of basic needs within a Mohist relationship clashes with the selfish gains of knowledge and social graces through friendships valued in Confucianism. The “utility” stressed by Mohism’s Universal Love directly spurns Confucian ideals of education, ritual and etiquette, beliefs that seem to be out of place in a society scrambling to survive.

Mohism’s goal of fulfilling the needs of individuals within friendships, and therefore ultimately of a community, not only garnered many Mohist followers during the Warring States period, but also openly made cuts at Confucianism’s elaborate system of social and etiquette rules that seemed to lack perspective in a time of uncertainty and confusion across China.