Unity Before Unification

This article uses Liang Qichao’s 梁啟超 (1873–1929) comparison between Mozi 墨 and Thomas Hobbes as a starting point to examine the different versions of the “Elevating Uniformity” ( Shang Tong 尚同) chapter, which has been central to the ensuing debate about whether Mozi’s account of the origins of human government aligns with social contract theory. By focusing on the second half of the third, “lower” version of the chapter, the author argues that the agents credited with selecting the first Son of Heaven are “all under Heaven” ( tianxia 天下) rather than “Heaven” ( tian 天), as critics of Liang’s comparison have often suggested. The article further defends the view that the third version presents a social contract theory argument and contextualizes its unconventional vision of establishing and re-establishing sociopolitical unity within the historical evolution of the Mozi text. The author contends that the third version reflects an earlier stance within the Mohist school, influenced by the political climate of the transition from the Spring and Autumn (771–453) to the Warring States period (453–221). By contrast, the first and second versions exhibit indications of having been composed at a later point, when Mozi’s argument was already starting to lose its persuasive force

Argument (complex analysis) · Government (linguistics) · Heaven · Mohism · Political philosophy · Politics · Social contract · China's Socioeconomic Reforms and Governance · Chinese history and philosophy · Environmental and Cultural Studies in Latin America and Beyond

• The World of Thought in Ancient China

  Benjamin Isadore Schwartz•World of Thought in Ancient China•1985

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