Philosophical Reflection On Fate Of Mohism

Separating from Confucianism, the Mohist sets up its own theory that are more widely recognized and highly supported than any other schools, it also became one of the most prominent schools during the late Warring States. The reason for this can be stated as below: the"Universal Love"ethics with anti-patriarchal and hierarchy theme reflects the interests and demands of lower-middle class and the new"significant group"in the society; the policy"Non-offensive"also reflects the strong desire of peaceful and stable life from ordinarty people in the state of war; the scientific spirit of logic advocation also meets the inherent academic requirements of"Hundred Schools of Thoughts Contend".After the Qin and Han dynasties, with the establishment and firmness of unified feudal state step by step, in particular the increasing enhancement of absolute monarchy and hierarchy, the Mohist, which was once an important school of learning, declined sharply, and disappeared eventually. The fundamental reason for this is that the ethics of"Universal Love"and science spirit of logic which were advocated by Mohist diverged from the reality of the hierarchy and the feudal autocratic monarchy. In such case, it is impossible for the Mohist to be tolerated nor accepted by the the feudal rulling class, neither to be learnt nor practiced by the majority of People. As the national salvation movement was carried out from modern times, a democratic and scientific thought was formed gradually after the May 4th Movement. Accompanied by the rise and development of this very thought, the Mohism, which claims universal love and scientific spirit, gained attention by the academic and ideological community, and became one of the most important contents of culture reassessment and research. This article attempts to research the prosperity, decline and revival in 20th century of Mohism, in order to explore the regularity which dominates the academic development. Only in such case, can we carry out academic research according to the regularity consciously.