The Formation Of Mozi’s Concepts- "Tianzhi" And "Minggui"

Mohism built by Mozi was prominent in the Pre-Qin period together with Confucianism. "Tianzhi " and "Minggui"are very important parts of Mozi’s thought and also play a vital role in Mohist system. Mozi implements his political policy by advocating heaven and ghosts. He pays much attention to proving the existence and authority of heaven and ghosts. Mozi is a typical pragmatic scholar who pursues the profits in reality but he depends too much on "Tianzhi" and "Minggui" which are too empty. Scholars have made a lot of study on Mozi’s behavior and in this thesis, the writer will mainly focus on the reason and process of Mozi’s concepts-"Tianzhi" and "Minggui".First, the writer will mainly review scholars’ study on "Tianzhi " and "Minggui" and talk about the meaning of this title.In Chapter One, the writer want to discuss the origin of heaven, ghosts and gods. Because in that time people’s cogmitive level, the function of heaven, ghosts and gods are exaggerated too much and used as a means of political rule. The mandate of heaven was popular in the Western Zhou Dynasty. The concept of governing the country with moral was closely connected with the mandate of heaven and people from all walks thought highly of the power of ghosts, which made heaven, ghosts, god the collective unconscious. Thus, "Tianzhi " and "Minggui" in Mozi were accepted by people easily.In Chapter Two, the writer will discuss the connection between Mozi’s concepts and the age in which he lived. The end of the Spring and Autumn period was a time for change and reform, which laid a foundation for the formation of all kinds of concepts. The development of politics and economy led to the change of the class and frequent wars. The break of "disconnection of heaven from earth" and the rising of "complaint of others" caused the confusion of people’s thinking. Mozi was greatly influenced by the culture in ZouCheng and realized the deterrent effect of ghosts which could be fully used.In Chapter Three, the writer will analyze the necessity of the formation of Mozi’s concepts - "Tianzhi " and "Minggui". The thesis will emphasize Mozi’s purpose of advocating heaven and ghosts and its influence in Mohism. Finally the writer will talk about the influence of Confucianism on Mohism. Though Mohist put forward the idea of de-Confucianism, they have some similarities concerning ghosts.In this thesis, the writer will first connect the concept of heaven and ghost with its background and then study the formation of "Tianzhi " and "Minggui" in details.