Mozi lived at a time when wars among the various states that made up ancient China were frequent. Mozi viewed these wars as "the greatest of evils," according to Herrlee G. Creel (Chinese Thought From Confucius to Mao Tse-Tung, p. 53) Creel tells us that "[Mozi] attacked the problem of war in two ways. The first was to try to persuade the rulers of states that war was unprofitable" (pp. 53-54). The second way was to promote the idea of jianai or "universal love." William Theodore de Bary describes "universal love" as Mozi's "most characteristic doctrine" (Sources of Chinese Tradition, Volume 1, p. 34). Mozi's advocacy of "universal love" was grounded in his belief in Heaven (Tian in Chinese). Heaven can be defined as the supreme entity governing the universe. While some Chinese philosophers tended to conceive of Heaven as an impersonal force, Mozi viewed Heaven as something like a personal being. "Believing in Heaven as an active power manifesting love for all men, [Mozi] urged that men follow Heaven in this by practicing universal love" (de Bary, pp. 34-35). If men practiced "universal love," then wars would cease. As Mozi argues:
Now, when everyone regards the states of others as he regards his own, who would attack the other's state? One would regard others as one's self. When everyone regards the cities of others as his own, who would seize the others' cities? One would regard others as one's self. When everyone regards the houses of others as he regards his own, who would disturb others' houses? One would regard others as one's self. Now when the states and cities do not attack and seize each other, and when the clans and individuals do not disturb and harm one another--is this a calamity or a benefit to the world? Of course it is a benefit. (as quoted in de Bary, pp. 40-41).
As Creel notes, in advocating this "universal love," Mozi was differentiating himself from the Confucians. As he points out, the Confucians:
...emphasized love of one's parents and relatives, and said that, by analogy with this, one should love all men, though in lesser degree. This putting of the family first has always, from the most ancient times we know until the present, been present in Chinese culture. It is responsible for some of its greatest strengths and for some of its chief weaknesses, such as nepotism. [Mozi] saw only the weaknesses of family loyalty and condemned it utterly. Everyone, he believed, ought to love everyone else in the world, without distinction. (p. 56).
As mentioned above, Mozi's doctrine of "universal love" would appear to parallel the teaching of Jesus that we should love others as ourselves. However, this similarity is actually superficial. This is because Mozi and Jesus provided different rationales for practicing love for others. Mozi argued for "universal love" based entirely on its practical benefits. On the other hand, Jesus clearly connected love for others with love for God. He stated that the two greatest commandments in God's law were to love God with all our heart and all our soul and all our mind and all our strength and to love others as ourselves (Mark 12:30-31). This implies that the reason why we should love others is that we love God.
In the end, Mozi's idea of "universal love" did not gain wide acceptance among the Chinese people. Instead, the Confucian emphasis on loyalty to the family prevailed, and continues to prevail today. Nevertheless, it is difficult not to respect Mozi's efforts to find a solution to the problems of humanity.
Image of Mozi from Wikipedia