In the Han Dynasty, with the establishment of the dominant position of Confucianism, Mohism gradually declined. But the book Mozi, which embodies the essence of Mohism, has been preserved and spread to this day. The main versions of Mozi are as follows: ① Seventy-one pieces of bamboo slips collected by Han Mi (which do not exist today); (2) Rewriting the ancient scrolls between Han and Wei Dynasties (no longer exists today); (3) Sui and Tang volumes (now in the Palace of Japan); (4) Song version; ⑤ Books published in the ten years of Ming Dynasty (53 articles, now in Beijing Baiyun Temple); ⑥ The publication of Sebrina in Ming Dynasty; ⑦ The forty-eight-year school journal of Bi Yuan Gan Long in Qing Dynasty. The book Mozi has been handed down by all the writers of past dynasties, and has been repeatedly processed or collectively created. The time span from the early Warring States to the end of the Warring States, that is, from the fifth century BC to the third century BC, can never be written by one person, nor can it be written in an instant. So the content is more complicated. According to experts' research, among them, 24 works, such as Shangxian, Shang Tong, Non-attack and All Love, are devoted to guarding the city by Mohist school, while Master Geng records the words and deeds of Mozi and his disciples, while six works, such as Classic on and Classic under, are later works of Mohist school, and some articles, such as Dear Teacher, are miscellaneous.
Military thought occupies an important position in the whole ideological system of Mohism. Mozi's military thought is a self-defense theory in a weak position, which has two main contents: one is to attack right and wrong and oppose the unjust war of attacking, cutting and plundering; The second is to save and defend and support the just war of defending and punishing.
(1) No attack: an unjust war against attack, cutting and plunder.
Mozi believed that all wars at that time were predatory and unjust wars. In the chapter of non-attack, he complained many times about the meaning of non-attack and thought that war was a fierce thing. He said that most ancient nations perished in this attack, and only a few countries survived. It's like a doctor cured tens of thousands of people, and only a few people were cured. This doctor doesn't deserve to be called a good doctor, a relative, a friend, and war is not a good therapy. Countless rulers died in wars in history. This is tantamount to sounding the alarm for those who attempt to expand their territory and annex the world by attacking the war. Therefore, Mozi advocates serving the world with benevolence and righteousness and eliminating disasters with universal love. In Mozi's eyes, universal love can stop the attack and go to chaos. Universal love is the ethical basis of attacking right and wrong, and not attacking is the inevitable result of universal love.
Mozi advocated no attack, especially against the predatory war of "the great attacked the small, the strong bullied the weak, many thieves were few, the deceivers bullied the fools, the noble were arrogant and the rich were arrogant and poor". Taking universal love as the criterion, Mozi strictly divided war into "punishment" (punishment without righteousness) and "attack without innocence", that is, justice and injustice. The war of "loving all the people in the world", such as attacking Sanmiao, Shang Tang and Zhou, is in line with the interests of heaven, ghosts and people in China, and it is a just war with the help of ghosts and gods. On the contrary, it is a war of "attacking the big with the big, bullying the weak with the strong, being outnumbered" and "hating the world". It's not fair.
Mozi also resolutely and mercilessly exposed the heavy and endless disasters brought by the war at that time. (1) Delaying farming time and destroying production. Agriculture is the source of food and clothing for ordinary people. 2 robbing money, getting something for nothing. Stealing peaches and plums, robbing people, robbing dogs, robbing chickens, dolphins, cattle, horses, killing people and stealing goods are all "unjust". Attacking small countries, "cutting their crops and trees" are also unjust acts of "getting something for nothing". (3) Killing innocent people and plundering people as slaves. Mozi pointed out that the monarch of a big country ordered the army to attack a small country. "Those who stand in the people's position will be killed." If you fail, you will go home. Husbands think servants are arrogant, and women think chiefs. "
(b) Salvation and defence: supporting a just war of defence and punishment.
Mozi's "only non-attack, is the law of preparing for defense." Starting from "not attacking", Mozi discussed how to actively defend as a weak country. Mozi knew that a great monarch would not give up the war just because he was reasonable, so he advocated "foresight" and actively defended against the war of aggression in which the big attacked the small. These discourses on defensive operations are concentrated in the following eleven chapters of "Preparing the City Gate", forming a defensive theoretical system with the city defense as the core. In a word, it includes three aspects.
First, advocate active preparation and strive to make good preparations. "Get ready, the weight of the country. Eating is the treasure of the country; Soldiers, the claws of the country; City, so self-defense. " "So warehouse unprepared millet, can't stay fierce hunger; The library is unprepared, although it is righteous, it cannot be meaningless; The city wall is incomplete and cannot be controlled; There will be no worries and you will not die. " Only by making full preparations in material and spiritual aspects such as logistics, city defense, armament, diplomacy and internal affairs before the war can we create favorable conditions, take the initiative to defend the city and win the defensive war.
The second is the active defense guiding ideology of "the defenders of the city should put the enemy first". Mozi believes that in defending the city, we should attack while defending the middle and actively wipe out the enemy. It is the best policy to "wait for the rescue". The concrete measures to "hit the enemy hard" are: using the terrain, relying on the city, and arranging troops correctly; Taking the capital as the center, we will form a multi-level defense in depth for border towns, counties and cities and the capital, blocking them layer by layer and consuming the enemy; Combination of tenacious persistence and timely attack.
Thirdly, in the specific tactics of defensive operations, a set of tactical principles of defensive operations is put forward. In "Preparing the City Gate" and other articles, Mozi effectively defended twelve siege methods one by one by asking about birds. For example, the high-close method, the water attack method and the point attack method were all quite advanced siege techniques at that time. Mozi took ingenious measures to explain in detail the making method and using skills of guarding city equipment.
Mozi's defense theory occupies an important position in the history of China's military science. Later generations described the principles and tactics of defense, and many ancestors wrote Mozi, so all solid defenses are generally called "persistence." If Fan Li put forward a simple theory of active defense from the strategic point of view, Mozi discussed defense from the operational point of view, and formed a relatively complete theoretical system of defensive operations, which just formed a complementary relationship with Sun Tzu's theory of offensive operations and made positive contributions to the development of traditional military science.