Mozi

Li Xianzhong / Jao Tsung-ICITIC Press2015

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Chapters
22
Series
CITIC Classics
ISBN
9787508649177

Tags

Philosophy and Religion Eastern PhilosophyPhilosophical Works Chinese PhilosophyPre-Qin PhilosophyPolitical OrderMohismView of WarClassic TranslationAccessible ReadingNational Studies

Summary

This is the Mozi volume in CITIC Press's "CITIC Classics" series, with introduction and translation by Li Xianzhong, professor of philosophy at National Taiwan University; the series has the eminent scholar of Chinese studies Jao Tsung-I as honorary editor-in-chief. The book is not a complete edition of all fifty-three chapters of the Mozi but a selection of representative chapters organized around several main threads of Mohist thought: "Self-Cultivation of the Scholar," "Cultivating the Self," "Dyeing," and "Standards and Models" discuss cultivation and standards; "Exalting the Worthy" and "Identifying Upward" discuss political order; "Universal Love" and "Against Offensive War" discuss ethics and views of war; "Economy in Expenditure," "Economy in Burial," "Against Music," and "Against Fatalism" discuss frugality and the rejection of fatalism; "Will of Heaven" and "Explaining Ghosts" present the religious dimension of Mohism; and the closing chapters such as "Canon I" and "Minor Illustrations," together with "Gongshu," "Preparing Against High Approaches," and "Preparing Against Water," display Mohist achievements in logic and dialectics and in defensive military technology. The introduction traces Mohism from a "prominent school" in the pre-Qin period to its long silence after Qin and Han, explains how the Mohist spirit transformed into the chivalrous tradition among the people, and discusses the contemporary relevance of ideas such as universal love, opposition to offensive war, and exalting the worthy. Each original text is followed by annotations and a vernacular translation, and an index of famous passages at the end facilitates browsing and recitation. The book aims to be accessible, allowing readers without classical Chinese to enter Mohist thought.

Editor's review

读《墨子》最怕两件事：一是原文艰涩、名物制度隔膜，读三页就放下；二是选本零散，只取“兼爱”“非攻”几句口号，看不到墨家作为一套完整学说的样子。这本“中信国学大典”版《墨子》恰好两面都照顾到了：导读由长期研究墨家哲学与先秦名学的李贤中执笔，先把墨学的兴起、沉寂与流变讲清楚，再进入篇章；正文以选篇加注释、白话译文的方式呈现，句读、词义、典故事典随文交代，初学者不必频繁查工具书。选目也颇具用心，除常见的伦理政治诸篇，还保留了“经上”“小取”这类逻辑学内容和“备高临”“备水”这类守城技术篇章，让读者看到墨家既能言辩、又能实做的另一面。书末名句索引尤其实用，通勤路上随手翻两页，就能捡到“兼相爱，交相利”之外的许多好句子。丛书同名目众多，此册以选本＋导读见长，适合作为墨学入门的第一本，而不是替代孙诒让《墨子间诂》式的全本注疏。

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Reading tips

  1. 先通读前面的“《墨子》导读”，建立墨家思想的整体地图，再进入具体篇章
  2. 按主题对读：把“兼爱”与“非攻”、“尚贤”与“尚同”成组阅读，更易看出内在逻辑
  3. 遇到“经上”“小取”等逻辑篇章可放慢速度，配合注释逐句推演，不必求快
  4. 读完用书末名句索引回看原文，挑三五句抄录或背诵，效果远胜一遍通读

About the publisher

CITIC Press China · Founded in 1988

Founded in 1988 and affiliated with China CITIC Group, CITIC Press focuses on business and economics, social sciences, literature and children's books, with common categories covering social sciences, finance, literature, Eastern philosophy and literary appreciation. Its library holds 91 titles, including Yuval Noah Harari's Sapiens trilogy, Thomas Piketty's Capital in the Twenty-First Century, Wu Xiaobo's Thirty Years of Strife: Chinese Enterprises 1978–2008, Nelly Sachs's The Weight of Butterflies: Selected Poems of Nelly Sachs, as well as New Interpretations of the Analects and Chiang Hsun's lectures on Dream of the Red Chamber. Its authors and translators include Lin Junhong, Ba Shusong, Chen Li and Chang Fen-ling. Overall, the press introduces influential works in finance and social sciences while balancing classic translation and local appreciation in literature and Eastern philosophy, combining academic depth with accessible reading.

Contents

  1. Guide to Mozi
  2. Volume One: Self-Cultivation of the Scholar
  3. Cultivating the Self
  4. Dyeing
  5. Standards and Models
  6. Volume Two: Exalting the Worthy, Part One
  7. Volume Three: Identifying Upward, Part Three
  8. Volume Four: Universal Love, Part Three
  9. Volume Five: Against Offensive War, Part One
  10. Volume Six: Economy in Expenditure, Part Two
  11. Economy in Burial, Part Three
  12. Volume Seven: Will of Heaven, Part One
  13. Volume Eight: Explaining Ghosts, Part Three (Excerpts)
  14. Against Music, Part One
  15. Volume Nine: Against Fatalism, Part One
  16. Volume Ten: Canon I and Explaining the Canon I (Excerpts)
  17. Volume Eleven: Minor Illustrations
  18. Geng Zhu (Excerpts)
  19. Volume Twelve: Gongshu
  20. Volume Thirteen: Preparing Against High Approaches
  21. Preparing Against Water
  22. Index of Famous Passages

FAQ

这本书是《墨子》全本吗？ 不是。它是“中信国学大典”中的选本，按墨家思想主线精选代表篇章并加导读、注释与白话译文，并非五十三篇全收，也未收全部守城诸篇。
这本书的导读和译注者是谁？ 导读及译注为李贤中，台湾大学哲学系教授，研究领域包括先秦名家哲学、墨家哲学与中国逻辑学；丛书名誉主编为国学学者饶宗颐。
没有文言基础能读吗？ 可以。每篇原文之后配有注释与白话译文，导读部分也先行交代背景，适合零基础读者按篇慢读。
这本书属于哪个丛书？ 属于中信出版社引进香港中华书局版权出版的“中信国学大典”丛书，同系列还有《论语》《老子》《庄子》《孙子兵法》等经典读本。
为什么书里有讲守城的内容？ 墨家擅长守御之术，选本收录了“公输”“备高临”“备水”等篇，可看到墨家军事技术的一面，与“非攻”主张互为表里。

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Li Xianzhong Author

Li Xianzhong is an author about whom limited public information is available, and his biographical details remain unclear. Judging from the works held in the collection, he contributed to the first volume and the fourteen-volume set of the CITIC Classics of Chinese Studies: The Hundred Schools of Thought, and is the author of a work on Mozi, with content concerning pre-Qin thought and Mohist studies. His writing addresses general readers and seeks to bridge classical texts and modern understanding; the language is plain and well organized, making it accessible to beginners. His works are commonly found in categories such as philosophy and religion, Eastern philosophy, and philosophical writings, and have some influence in the popularization of Chinese classics and the dissemination of the study of the Hundred Schools.

Jao Tsung-I Author · Hong Kong, China · 1917–2018

Jao Tsung-I (1917–2018), courtesy name Bo Lian and art name Xuantang, was a native of Chao'an, Guangdong (present-day Chaozhou) and an internationally renowned sinologist. He moved to Hong Kong in 1949 and taught successively at the University of Hong Kong, the National University of Singapore, and the Chinese University of Hong Kong. His research spanned oracle bone studies, Dunhuang studies, bamboo and silk manuscripts, historiography, ci poetry, and calligraphy and painting. He authored more than eighty works, received Hong Kong's Grand Bauhinia Medal, and is hailed by scholars as a "master of national learning." His scholarship valued both textual criticism and artistic practice, and he excelled in poetry, calligraphy, and painting, producing works that combine academic depth with literati sensibility. This library holds one of his works, Selected Quatrains of Jao Tsung-I with Annotations, catalogued under Eastern philosophy, which offers a glimpse of his classical-style poetry in theme and prosody. Public information on further details of his life and writing is limited, and readers may consult relevant research materials for a fuller picture.