Mohism

“What the superior considers right all shall consider right; what the superior consider wrong all shall consider wrong. If the superior commits any fault, his subordinates shall remonstrate with him; if his subordinates do good, the superior shall recommend them.”

This passage from Section 11: Identifying with The Superior of ‘Selections from the Mozi’ emphasizes inability of people to have individual opinions against their superior. It is seen that people were obligated to take sides of their leader without any hesitations or objections even when he makes mistakes. This principle causes the fact that wishes of the citizens are only refer to their government through the superior, not directly from them. This authoritative voice may sound unfair, but it is crucial to achieve the absolute uniformity; one of the most important ideas in Mohism.

Because Master Mo aimed for universal love which came only by uniformity of thoughts and actions of people, he stressed on necessity of following leaders who were also led by the will of Heaven. Therefore, enforcement of law was needed in daily lives to organize immorality; unnecessary luxuries, pleasures, and thoughts. A man had to be equal to everyone else and had to treat everyone equally under any kind of circumstances. For that reason, Master Mo disliked Confucius because Confucius emphasized value of relationship of family and believed that good family would be the model of good government. This family-oriented teach was unacceptable in Mohism because Mo did not allow favoring anyone to prevent disorder in uniformity.

This philosophy gave an opportunity for China to be united. For the unity, people identified themselves as a member of the great China and were able to work for prosperity of the country in chaos. The religion also may have an influence on the communism in China. The communist in China, which still exist in some parts, believe in equality of men in terms of social and economical states. The situation has been changing currently, but consequently, their strong belief in communism suppressed domestic development in China.